{"id":9432,"date":"2024-08-30T10:46:16","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T10:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/?p=9432"},"modified":"2024-08-30T10:46:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T10:46:16","slug":"security-challenges-human-rights-abuse-and-political-dysfunction-rampant-in-balochistan-during-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcp-web.org\/hrcpweb\/security-challenges-human-rights-abuse-and-political-dysfunction-rampant-in-balochistan-during-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Security challenges, human rights abuse and political dysfunction rampant in Balochistan during 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press release<\/p>\n

Security challenges, human rights abuse and political dysfunction rampant in Balochistan during 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quetta, 30 August 2024<\/em>. In its annual report, State of Human Rights in 2023, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called attention to growing unrest in Balochistan, compounded by deteriorating security, with a reported 110 militant attacks carried out in 2023 alone. A suicide attack on a police convoy in Bolan claimed the lives of nine police personnel in March 2023, while over 50 people, including civilians, were killed in a suicide attack near a mosque in Mastung in September. In November, six Punjabi labourers were shot dead by unidentified men in Turbat.<\/p>\n

As in previous years, the practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings remained a particularly serious concern in the province, with impunity for the perpetrators and indifference on the part of the government. In November 2023, young Baloch rights activists mobilized around the extrajudicial killing of a Baloch youth and marched from Turbat to Islamabad. They were subjected to harassment and their right to freedom of peaceful assembly continually violated in the form of violent police action. In Gwadar, the Haq Do Tehreek continued to demand action against state-led rights violations, including enforced disappearances and hyper-securitization.<\/p>\n

Freedom of expression remained curtailed, with journalists reluctant to speak out about press restrictions due to fears of retaliation from various actors, including security forces, separatist groups and tribal leaders.<\/p>\n

The rule of law in the province remained poor. In a case that sparked a national outcry, provincial lawmaker Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran was accused of detaining people in private jails as well as sexually assaulting and killing family members of an employee who had not complied with his wishes.<\/p>\n

The grip of the military establishment was seen mirrored in the appointment of Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker prime minister in August 2023, which many political analysts connected to his previous position within the establishment-backed Balochistan Awami Party. Local governance issues were exacerbated by the disputed delimitation of local government constituencies, preventing elections in Quetta district, while budget constraints hampered the effectiveness of local governments.<\/p>\n

Balochistan continued to witness a high number of mining accidents: at least 36 mine workers were killed and 40 injured in the province during 2023. In a positive development, however, the Balochistan government decided to give the province’s fisherfolk community the status of labour.<\/p>\n

Violence against women continued to be reported through the year. In one case, a man in Dera Murad Jamali killed his teenage daughter for refusing a marriage match, while in another instance, a teenage girl was sentenced to death by a local jirga in Chagai after being accused of \u2018illegal\u2019 relations with a man.<\/p>\n

Asad Iqbal Butt
\nChairperson<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>