Baloch genocide

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Baloch genocide
Balochistan
Location	Balochistan, Pakistan
Date	2004-Present
Target	Suppression of Baloch Insurgency (Pakistani Government) Destruction of Baloch Ethnic Group (Baloch Activists)
Attack type	Genocidal massacres, genocidal rape, deportation, torture, Death Squads, ethnic cleansing, Enforced disappearances
Victims	Baloch people
Perpetrators	Pakistan
Assailants	Pakistan Armed Forces Pakistani Intelligence community Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Lashkar-e-Taiba Frontier Corps Pakistani state backed Militias and Death Squads

Since 2001, Baloch Activists and Civilians Including Leaders have been picked up by Pakistani State Security Forces or Intelligence Agencies with many murdered after torture. Although a Proper figure is hard to get gather, The Pakistani Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances reported 5,000 enforced disappearances in Balochistan from 2014-2019. Local human rights groups say the number is up to 20,000 enforced disappearances, more then 2,500 of whom have been found dead as the figure constantly increases with daily abductions in Balochistan.^[1] Figures such as Sardar Akhtar Mengal has not even been spared and his brother is the first missing person of Balochistan.^[2]

Although there are reports that Pakistani military has been using such squads for decades now, in-depth investigations point out that since 2010s, the practice of using death squads in the name of private militias has been institutionalized, especially in the south-western districts of Balochistan. Reportedly, many of these Islamist groups in the north also have linkages with the members of death squads in the south, like that formed by the infamous Shafiq Mengal, who is credited to be one of the first to form such a private militia aka death squad in 2008. besides Shafiq Mengal, another well-known private militia aka death squad organizer is Zakria M. Hasni. He is a young man in his thirties and is believed to be responsible for assassinations and abductions of people linked to the Baloch cause not just in Khuzdar but across Pakistan. His sister is an officer in the Pakistan Army, according to highly-placed sources, however South Asia Press could not independently verify this claim. Just next to Khuzdar district, where Shafiq and Zakaria run their militias, is the Awaran district, considered to be the heart of the latest wave of Baloch insurgency.^[3]

In the Kech district, where the military has supported several death squads, led by Rashid Pathan. Rashid's brother-in-law was a key commander of the Baloch Liberation Front, a separatist organization fighting the Pakistani state and was killed in a Pakistani intelligence operation with the help of Rashid in 2010.^[4]

Besides Rashid, Samir Sabzal is another accused militia leader in the district. He recently ran into police troubles after his death squad was involved in a shoot-out that resulted in the killing of a woman and injuring her five-year-old child.^[4]

Besides these two, another accused militia chief from Kech is Sardar Aziz, who runs a religious seminary in the area since 2010.^[4]

Next door to the territory of these three death squads is the district Panjgur where Maqbool Shambezi – a drug kingpin involved in cross-border smuggling – leads a state-backed private militia. Little is known about this drug kingpin except that he is involved in the illegal trade and runs a death squad. Panjgur has witnessed a moderate insurgency in the area since the late 2000s.^[4]

Siraj was running a private militia in Mastung until his recent killing. Besides running the squad, he comes from a politically active family with his brother – Nawab Aslam Raisani serving as the former Chief Minister of Balochistan.^[4] Although the Pakistani military continues to provide support to many of these death squads in the province, journalists, activists and political sources South Asia Press interviewed say there has been a gradual policy-shift in the last few years.^[4]

Many^[who?] say post the elections of 2013, there was an attempt to shift the government policy towards Balochistan initiated by the new chief minister Abdul Malik. Credited to be the first non-tribal leader to serve as the CM, with roots in the south-west of Balochistan, Baloch political circles say he was brought in to reconcile with the insurgency that the Pakistani military was grappling to deal with despite unleashing a deadly campaign of violence against the Baloch.^[4] As Dr. Abdul Malik assumed power, he announced many measures to reconcile with the separatist Baloch including a crackdown against death squads. Just a few months into this crackdown, Abdul Malik faced his biggest challenge.^[4] On January 25th, 2014, a local shepherd while herding his cattle stumbled across mass graves in a small town of Balochistan. He alerted the local authorities who reached the site and dug out several dead bodies buried together.^[4]

Government sources say they found 17 bodies only but Baloch activists dispute this and say around 169 dead bodies were recovered, as per reports in the international media.^[4]

The Balochistan government formed a judicial commission in February 2014 to launch a probe into the discovery of these bodies. And once again Shafiq Mengal name surfaced and he became the center of attention. Local media reports say the bodies were found near his property in Khuzdar’s Tootak area, a deserted locality, and several locals have alleged his involvement in the mass graves.^[4]

Subsequently, the Pakistani Supreme Court also took notice, but to date no one has been held accountable and the government’s commission report also remained inconclusive. Many of the suspects including Shafiq Mengal refused to appear before the commission.^[4]

On January 25 2014, three mass graves were discovered in the Khuzdar district of Pakistan's western Balochistan province. The corpses were too decomposed to be identified. As the news spread, the people gathered around the graves and started digging in the nearby area, where they unearthed two more mass graves.^[5] The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) says that 169 bodies have so far been recovered from the graves. Pakistani officials, however, deny these claims, arguing that the total number of bodies amounts to only 15.Pakistan's independent Human Rights Commission, HRCP, disputes the government's figures. "The residents of Khuzdar have told us that the number of dead bodies uncovered is much higher than 15," Zohra Yusuf, the HRCP chairperson, told DW. The rights activist linked the discovery of the graves to the ongoing Balochistan conflict between the separatists and Islamabad.^[6]

According to the media,^[who?] a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said so far they have found around 56 unidentified graves and that there are many more. It is claimed that these bodies are those of Baloch missing persons.^[5]

The confirmation by government officials that over one dozen bullet-riddled bodies have been dumped in unmarked graves — many of them considered to be mass graves — in Balochistan has exposed the gross human rights abuses perpetrated by the security forces over the years in a bid to suppress a popular uprising against the government.^[7]

It was feared that more mass graves will be found in the coming days. However, the Pakistan Army, in order to hide its crimes, is not allowing any civilian or media outlets to visit the area. Anyone trying to gain access to the area comes under live fire by the Army. It is believed that the genocide of Balochs is one of the biggest mass killings of the 21st century.^[8]

Political parties such as the Balochistan National Party - Mengal and Baloch National Movement have raised the issue at national and provincial levels.^[9][10] Baloch women and civilians have continued protests against the oppression, and have endured repression leading to movements such as the Baloch Long March.^[11][12][13]