Protests over custodial death in southwestern Pakistan renew debate on extrajudicial killings
QUETTA: A protest in southwestern Pakistan over the alleged extrajudicial killing of a 24-year-old ethnic Baloch man entered its seventh day on Thursday, in an ongoing saga that has renewed debate over extrajudicial detentions and deaths and police impunity in Balochistan province where such incidents are not uncommon.
Last week, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Balochistan issued a statement, seen by Arab News, saying Balach Baloch had confessed in custody to being a militant and carrying out a number of attacks. He was arrested on Nov. 20, as per the statement, in possession of five kilograms of explosive materials. Baloch was later killed in a raid on a militant hideout in the city of Turbat, the CTD said.
His family, which finally buried him on Wednesday but vowed to continue protests, has refuted CTD claims, saying Baloch was not involved in any unlawful activities but was picked up by the CTD on Oct. 29 and killed in a “fake encounter.”
Political leaders, human rights activists and families of victims have for decades spoken against killings by the police and other security agencies in staged encounters, a practice where officials claim the victim was killed in a gunfight though they were executed. Authorities deny involvement in such incidents.
“Things are in progress,” a senior official in a “fact-finding” committee set up to probe the case told Arab News, declining to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the inquiry.
The body has five members and has been tasked to submit a report within 15 days.
“The families of the deceased blame others, but the Chief Minister Balochistan has constituted an inquiry commission to ascertain the circumstances,” Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters on Wednesday. “There are actions that need to be taken under the law, we can’t speak on assumptions.”
A spokesperson for the government of Balochistan and the deputy commissioner’s office did not respond to Arab News queries.
“SIT-IN WILL TURN INTO MOVEMENT“
Baloch’s killing has triggered outrage in cities across the Makran division, with a complete shutter down strike observed in Turbat and other towns on Wednesday while roads leading from the area to Pakistan’s main business hub, Karachi, were blocked by protesters.
Following a demand by Baloch’s family, a local court in Turbat had ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR), or police complaint, against the CTD team involved in the operation in which the 24-year-old was allegedly killed.
“Now we are protesting because despite court orders, why are the authorities not registering an FIR against the people who killed my brother,” Balach’s elder sister Najma Baloch told Arab News.
On the government’s inquiry tribunal, she said:
“Neither do I know anything about the inquiry committee nor has anyone from the committee contacted us.”
“Now hundreds of people have joined the protest and are demanding registration of FIR against the CTD team,” she added, saying her family’s “clear demand” was that Baloch’s murderers be punished.
Waseem Safar, a local member of the Baloch Yakjehti Council (BYC) that is organizing the protests, said the protest would continue in Turbat and be expanded across the province if the police case was not filed.
“Now the sit-in will turn into a movement until authorities register an FIR against the personnel involved in Balach’s murder,” he said. “We will expand the protest across Balochistan against this extrajudicial killing.”
Senior analyst Dr. Amir Rana, who is the director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, said extrajudicial detentions and killings would continue as long as the pattern of releasing suspects involved in such crimes continued.
“If the authorities register an FIR against the CTD team involved in the recent Turbat killing, the state and its institutions, including the courts, will release them,” Rana told Arab News, adding that those involved needed to be brought to justice as per the law to set a precedent for the future.
