Enforced disappearances or the issue of missing persons has long been a serious problem in Balochistan. According to various organizations working for Baloch missing persons, the number of Baloch missing persons is in the thousands and protests by the families of missing persons have been a regular feature across Pakistan for the past fifteen years. The Missing Persons Commission was constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court to enquire about missing persons but it is yet to make any impact, recently, a fact-finding committee for missing persons based on parliamentary representatives was formed on the order of the court. Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, Afrasiab Khattak and others were part of this committee. The report of this committee has not been made public till now.This article shall discuss two high-profile cases of enforced disappearance. The first is that of Hafeez Baloch, who was kidnapped from Dubai and illegally deported back to Pakistan in February 2022, following which he was handed over to the Pakistani authorities. Hafeez remained missing for three months after which, his family appealed to the Sindh High Court. Following the Court’s notice, the Counter Terrorism Department produced Hafeez for the first time in a fabricated case of possessing explosives, thus revealing his detention in Karachi. Hafeez’s family took legal support and the Anti-Terror Court ordered his release after ten months of imprisonment/detention. On February 3, 2023, the court issued orders to release Hafeez Baloch from jail. According to his family, when they came to pick up Hafeez from the jail, men were waiting to abduct him once again. Family members and women resisting them were severely beaten up and injured, including Hafeez’s sister whose husband is also missing. Hafeez’s family managed to save him after sustaining serious injuries. It should be the responsibility of the judiciary to ensure the safety of Hafeez’s family.
Jameel Baloch, the PR officer of former Governor Balochistan Muhammad Achakzai, was abducted from his house in 2015 by armed men and is still missing. According to Jameel Baloch’s sister Bebo Baloch, her sister-in-law Jameel Sharif is an innocent law-abiding citizen and not involved in any kind of crime. Jameel Baloch was employed in the Governor House of Balochistan. At midnight, July 25, 2015, a large group of men entered the house of Jameel Baloch and abducted Jameel Baloch and took him with them, after which Jameel Baloch is still missing. Regarding Jameel Baloch’s forced disappearance, his family appeared in the Missing Person Commission many times, but despite this, there is no news about Jameel’s whereabouts. According to Bebo Baloch, the family has been protesting in vain for the recovery of Jameel Baloch for all these years now. All kinds of legal avenues were approached but their sufferings remain the same. Jameel has two small children, their mother is taking care of them. The conditions at home are challenging. Jameel’s father is aged and ill, grieving for his missing son. The problem of enforced disappearances is serious since thousands of young men were forcibly disappeared in both, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and this process continues to date. The Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) Central Committee on Human Rights and Truth Commission is working on it and raising voices for these missing persons. Also, the Baloch Solidarity Committee, and families of missing persons, and Voice for Baloch Missing Persons have been working on this for a long time and calling for the recovery of victims of enforced disappearance through peaceful protests. Faith in national and international human rights organizations is dwindling.