Pakistan Human Rights Commission condemns abductions of Baloch students from Karachi University

The Karachi police on Monday night arrested dozens of protesters, including women, who were staging a sit-in demonstration outside the Sindh Assembly against the abduction of the two missing students, The Express Tribune reported.

According to a statement by HRCP, the Baloch students are allegedly being picked up by law enforcement personnel, and those who demand their release are roughed up and arrested.

“In the case of two students who have just been released after pressure from their kin and civil society, it is noteworthy that their whereabouts remained unknown until the time of their release. Such enforced disappearances are not only illegal but inhuman,” the human rights group said in the statement.

HRCP also expressed grave concern over the excessive use of force by the Sindh police against activists as well as the relatives and friends of the disappeared students.

“These peaceful protesters, which included women and children, had gathered outside the Sindh assembly to demand the safe recovery of their loved ones, but were met with violence and forcibly dispersed by the police,” HRCP's statement read.

The rights group also reiterated its demand that enforced disappearances must be criminalised in line with the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

“Not only must this heinous practice be recognised as a distinct, autonomous offence and the perpetrators held strictly accountable, but the victims and their families must also be compensated for all they have suffered,” the group said.

Human rights activists allege that the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are responsible for the cases of forced disappearance in the country, reports said.

Earlier this week, a London-based rights organisation strongly condemned the use of excessive force by the police to disperse peaceful protesters at a sit-in against the enforced disappearance of two Baloch students outside the Sindh Assembly, reports ANI.

“Violently cracking down on families demanding answers to the whereabouts of their loved ones only compounds the cruelty of the heinous practice of enforced disappearances,” the rights organization said in a Twitter post.