• In the Turbat region of Balochistan, the families of the four people, allegedly killed by the Counter-Terrorism Police (CTD) are protesting; they claim that those killed were forcibly disappeared. The relatives of Balach, who was killed in the encounter, have been protesting with the body for four days. The court had ordered the registration of an FIR against the CTD on Sunday. But till the last reports came in on Monday, these orders had not been implemented. Balach’s elder brother Ajmal told Voice of America that on October 29 at 1 am, 20 to 25 armed men dressed in black jumped the wall and entered their house. They broke the door and took Balach along. According to Ajmal, “My mother fainted when my brother Balach was being taken away. The armed men told us to be quiet and not make noise. We kept quiet because of fear.” Balach’s arrest after being missing for a month was revealed when the CTD named him in an FIR on November 20 for possessing five kg of explosives. Balach’s family was informed of   his arrest through a phone call from an unknown number. A day after Balach’s arrest was announced, he was produced in court and the court handed Balach over to the CTD on a 10-day remand. Balach’s brother Ajmal said: “We were happy that at least our brother came into limelight. We could not talk much in the court because of the fear of the CTD officials, who were present. Little did we know that the next day, Balach would be killed in a fake encounter.”  

The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VOBMP), an organization working for the recovery of missing persons in Balochistan, has accused CTD of extra-judicial killings. It should be noted that four persons were killed in an alleged CTD encounter between November 22 and 23. According to VOBMP, the four persons killed are identified as the missing persons, and it has information about all the four. But Balochistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) reject these allegations. The four victims are identified as Balach Moola Bakhsh, Saifullah, Wadud and Shakoor. Balach’s relatives say that he was the youngest of five brothers. He worked in a tailor shop. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons claims that around 8,000 Baloch have been forcibly disappeared in the province. But the government does not accept these statistics as correct. Balach’s family members, civil society and political parties have been protesting along with Balach’s body at Shaheed Fida Chowk in Turbat for the past four days. They demand a judicial commission and registration of police case against the CTD. On Sunday, the Sessions Judge ordered the police to file an FIR against the CTD. According to the protesters, the FIR has not been registered yet. Balach’s body has not been cremated yet. Balach’s lawyer, Jadan Dashti said that the CTD had taken his physical remand. Despite this, he was extrajudicially killed. This case puts a question mark over the performance of the judiciary. Balochistan Bar Council boycotted the courts on November 23.

In the GSP Plus report released this month by the European Union, concern was expressed over the increasing cases of enforced disappearances in Pakistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also condemned the extrajudicial killings by the security agencies in Balochistan   and made it clear that the protection of any person’s life is the responsibility of the state?.

Sami Din, General Secretary of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, said that if people are accused, they should be produced in court. The crime should be proven. Picking up people, making them disappear, and then disposing of the mutilated corpses or killing people in fake encounters will increase hatred.  He noted that the caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar’s reported statement that the rulers do not even care about the courts. That is why they do not give importance to the problem of missing persons. 

Balochistan National Party (BNP) leader and former law maker Shakeela Naveed Dawar said her party was able to recover more than 400 missing persons when it was in power.  BNP has been pushing for a solution to the issue of Baloch missing persons. After the general elections in 2018, when Imran Khan’s federal government was established, the Balochistan National Party announced its support for his government under a six -point charter. One of these points was the recovery of missing persons. Shakeela Naveed said in a conversation with Voice of America that women and children are still protesting in Turbat. Their demands should be accepted and an FIR should be registered against CTD and a commission should be set up for judicial inquiry into the incident.  Advocate Rahab Khan Bilidi, told Voice of America that extra-judicial killings would put question marks over the judiciary. He also demanded a judicial probe to ferret out facts.

Last week, the Islamabad High Court summoned the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar to present the case of missing Baloch students. However, the Caretaker Prime Minister has excused himself from the appearance due to his overseas engagements. The court has summoned Kakar to appear the bench on November 29. 

In a statement, the CTD has claimed that Balach was a member of the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). During interrogation, he admitted his role in targeted killings and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He was taking explosive material to the other accomplices who had already readied a motorcycle and wanted to carry out a terrorist attack in Turbat. The statement further claimed that the CTD formed a raid team on Balach’s revelation. As soon as they reached the spot, the terrorists started firing. Balach was killed by terrorists. When the firing stopped, the raid team searched, and found the bodies of three other terrorists. Two of them were identified as Abdul Wadud and Mubarak on the basis of identity cards in their pockets. (Urdu Voice of America)

• According to ISPR, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a convoy of security forces and blew himself up in Bakka Khel area of Bannu district. As a result, 2 innocents were martyred while ten people including three security personnel were injured. The motorcycle-borne suicide bomber was identified as an Afghan national belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.  According to ISPR, the Afghan national entered Pakistan on the basis of Afghanistan’s identity card.   He is the 16th Afghan citizen who has been involved in terrorist incidents in Pakistan this year. (Daily Khabrain, Daily Kashmir Express, Roznama Intekhab)

• More than 4 lakh Afghan nationals have already left Pakistan for home, but they are facing multiple problems.  Shafiqullah told an American news agency that even 20 days after their arrival in Afghanistan, no one has helped them. “Many families are forced to live in one house and are in great distress. We are not getting any job here. Afghan economy is not so stable that the government could support us. Even the international community is not ready to help. There are no schools in Khoosat and our children have stopped taking education”. Others also complained that there is no arrangement of water, timber to burn during winter, no electricity and no gas. We are numb and are greatly worried about the future of our children. (Express Daily) 

• Against the non-recovery of Rashid Hussain Baloch and other missing persons, hunger strike was observed in front of the Islamabad National Press Club by the affected families. The sit-in against the alleged murder of the missing youths entered the fifth day in Turbat. (Roznama Intekhab)

• In front of the Hyderabad Press Club, residents of different areas continued to protest against the police brutality. Bebel Solangi, a resident of Brohi Mohalla Kotri, joined the protest with her children. Her husband was arrested and made to disappear three days ago. Jamshoro CIA Police knocked at her house at 3AM   on Nov 25 and picked up her husband, Ali Nawaz Solangi who is a rickshaw driver. Police whisked him away. Another protestor at the camp is Farooq Ahmed, a resident of Qazi Qayyum Road. He is a disabled person but is not being denied a job under the disabled quota since last many years. Yet another protestor is. Mohammad Ashraf of Thatta. His four acres of land has been grabbed by influential people of his area. (Urdu Point)

• In Geo TV Program Report Card, Host Alina Farooq raised a question about justice to the girl who was killed on the orders of local Jirga’ after the alleged dance videos with some boys went viral in Kohistan. He also asked why such incidents continue to happen even after the intervention of the Supreme Court. Analysts expressed the view that in the law courts of Pakistan, justice is not delivered but sold.   (Jang) 

• Kolhi community took out a protest rally against the police for stopping the wedding procession under the Sound Act violation. Because of police action, the ‘Mahurat’ time elapsed and they were unable to complete the marriage ceremony. A large number of women also joined the protest before the Mirpurkhas Press Club. The protestors said that two days ago the police in Samaru humiliated them. “The Police stopped our procession for several hours, and even registered a case against two brothers of the groom under the Sindh Sound Act.” (Jang) 

• In the northern mountainous region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, another woman has been killed in the name of honour. Masood Khan, Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) of Kolai, Kohistan, told Voice of America (VoA) that a case has been registered and an investigation has started. However, no arrest could be made as yet.  According to the case registered on November 24, the victim and another girl were accused of taking pictures on mobile phones with two youths of the area. After the photos went viral, the victim’s father and uncle shot her dead with a pistol.

There are also reports that after the photos went viral, the matter came before the local tribal jirga and the woman was shot dead by her father and uncle under the decision of the jirga. However, there is no mention of the Jirga in the FIR.

DSP Masood Khan told Voice of America that when the police received the information, they reached the remote area on time and transferred the body to the hospital for post-mortem.   The two boys, who figure in the photos, have gone into hiding while a girl who also appears in the photos was taken into protective custody and her statement was recorded in the court. The girl was later handed over to her parents. According to Masood Khan, the area, Kolai Pals, where this incident took place is a very remote area with poor communication facilities. “It is very cold and snowing there, that’s why there are difficulties in arresting the accused”.

There has been an increase in incidents of violence against women in various areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially Mansehra and Kohistan districts of Hazara Division. In 2012, a video of two boys dancing and five girls clapping at a wedding ceremony in the Ghadar Plas village of Kohistan went viral. The local Jirga took cognizance of the video and on its orders, the five girls were executed. Their brothers pursued the case but they too were killed in separate shoot outs.

DSP Masood Khan has confirmed that internet facilities and mobile phone signals are negligible in the area.

Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (R) Syed Arshad Hussain has taken notice of the latest honour killing, and called for a report from the Additional Chief Secretary (Home). (Shamim Shahid, Urdu Voice of America) ###