In its report, the commission set up on enforced disappearances and other
allegations of Baloch students from various educational institutions in Pakistan
has said that despite denials by security agencies, there is oral and written
evidence that law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies are involved
in missing Baloch students. Pakistan’s army and security agencies have been
denying these allegations and maintain that only families of people involved in
anti-state activities in Balochistan file cases of enforced disappearance. Security
agencies have also been denying the disappearance of Baloch students and
their profiling in educational institutions. The commission submitted its report in
Islamabad High Court in February this year. But this report could not be made
public. The report of the commission consists of 500 pages. The report’s
findings, available to Voice of America, state at the outset that the commission
is concerned that ethnic profiling, harassment and enforced disappearances of
Baloch students were carried out in such a way that some students were
detained, arrested or kidnapped. The report of the commission was presented
during the hearing in the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday. After examining
it, the court summoned the caretaker prime minister, interior minister and
defense minister to the court for not recovering 55 missing students in a week. A
request was made by the Additional Attorney General not to summon the Prime
Minister, which was rejected by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani. Former Chief
Justice of Islamabad High Court Athar Minullah had formed a commission on
the petition of advocate Iman Mazari regarding the disappearance of Baloch
students. The court had appointed former Chief Minister of Balochistan Akhtar
Mengal as the head of the commission. Akhtar Mengal, head of the commission,
said in a message on social media that the order of the Islamabad High Court to
summon the Prime Minister and other officials is very important for the Baloch
people. According to him, the commission submitted its report in February. The
judiciary of Pakistan should play its role in giving justice to the people of
Balochistan. The report of the commission states that harassment, ethnic
profiling and forced disappearances of Baloch students have taken place in
Balochistan in the name of National Security Operations. This operation has
been going on for many years. The victims of this operation include women,
children, elderly, political workers, journalists, teachers, students, doctors,
lawyers, poets and writers. According to the Commission, the forced
disappearance of Baloch students is a violation of the United Nations Charter
and especially Article 55, which protects basic human rights and freedoms at
the international level. According to the report, time was wasted by the
government and security agencies, in unnecessarily denying that they were not
involved in the harassment and enforced disappearances of Baloch students. In
fact, the enforced disappearance of Baloch students is part of the problem of
missing persons. Until the problem of missing persons of Balochistan is not
resolved, the Commission is confident that the case of missing students will
continue to surface from time to time. Officials have been claiming that the
security agencies in Balochistan have been facing militancy, extremism and
armed resistance for a long time and the government writ is being challenged.
This situation is being used by anti-state elements and it is affecting the youth
and students as well. In its report, the commission says that the main reason for
the problem of Balochistan is the weakness of the federal and democratic
system and instead of it, an unconstitutional system is being given priority in the
name of patriotism and national interest. The real leadership of Balochistan is
kept away from the political process, which leads to a lack of political social
interaction, and mistrust towards the rulers. The role of provincial authorities and
local law enforcement agencies is limited and more authority is given to federal
agencies. According to the report, educational institutions in Balochistan are
suffering from severe financial crisis and all 11 higher education institutions are
provided limited financial support by HEC. Baloch students are not accepted by
educational institutions and their administrations across the country. Baloch
culture and history are not given place in the educational curriculum. According
to the report, due to the lack of elected student unions, and restrictions on extra-
curricular activities and freedom of expression, fear is created among the
students instead of political awareness. Universities are not given autonomy and
there is surveillance and scrutiny on campus. This is due to the lack of control of
the university administration and due to this an atmosphere of fear is created in
the universities. Due to the deployment of security forces in the University of
Balochistan, force is used, and unauthorized protests are stopped without the
permission of the university administration. The occupation of the official
residence of the Vice-Chancellor by an FC officer for many years reveals this
sad ground reality. The commission said that most public and private
educational institutions have neither the capacity nor the will to control ethnic
profiling and enforced disappearance of Baloch students. When such incidents
occur, the role of the authorities of educational institutions is limited to official
reporting and formalities. The commission further states in the report that in the
meetings with the students, teachers and administration, it was revealed that
alienation among them, especially in the University of Balochistan, is getting
deeper day by day and Baloch students are trapped in political and military
conflicts, because of this their educational life is affected. The commission has
said in the report that the students who were forcibly disappeared were
subjected to mental and physical violence when they returned. They were
subjected to inhumane treatment which they and their families will have to face
for the rest of their lives. Nothing has been done by the government to heal their
wounds. There is no mechanism to rehabilitate these persons or pay any kind of
compensation to their families. Two students who disappeared from the
University of Balochistan in 2021 have not been recovered till date. According to
the report of the commission, the National Commission on Human Rights also
did not play any role in this regard. In order to prevent these incidents, the
Ministry of Interior, Defence, Human Rights, Commission for Enforced
Disappearances, affected families and student organizations should have
created complete data together. So that all institutions have complete details
about each student. The report also mentions the profiling of other Baloch
students, including those studying at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad,
by the serving army officer, and it is said that an inquiry was also conducted on
it, in which the university administration provided facilities to military officers.
The role of the university administration in this regard was inadequate and
unsatisfactory. The commission said that due to the formation of various
committees and commissions by the government regarding missing persons,
government resources are being wasted and no committee or commission is
getting the desired results. The commission headed by a retired judge of the
Supreme Court is an example of this, about which the families of the missing
persons sitting on different dharnas have expressed their concern. According to
the commission, profiling and forced disappearances of Baloch students and
people are still ongoing due to the non-implementation of laws. There are laws
regarding kidnapping, illegal detention in the Pakistan Penal Code but there is
no law regarding enforced disappearance. The commission said that the
families of the victims of enforced disappearances have limited financial
resources and have been protesting in Quetta for many years in very difficult
conditions. But the reaction of the government and security agencies on this
issue is disappointing. It is a financially difficult process for the relatives of the
victims to come from remote areas of Balochistan to Quetta to file their
complaints. Many reports submitted in missing persons cases have not been
made public till date. The commission had asked for a report regarding the
mass graves in Tutak area of Khuzdar, which was not received till the
submission of the report by the commission. According to the commission, the
members had tried to meet the Corp Commander of the Southern Command,
but the meeting could not be held even after repeated attempts. It is a sad
matter that even during the work of this commission, the series of
disappearances of Baloch students and common people continued. In the
concluding point of its finding report, the commission said that political and
social reforms are needed to solve the problem of ethnic profiling and enforced
disappearances of Baloch students. It is not possible to solve this problem only
by military method instead of political process. The commission has also
submitted its 22-point recommendations to the court in which various measures
have been suggested to solve the problem. The commission says that forced
disappearance and profiling of Baloch students should be considered as a
national security issue and should be brought to the National Security
Committee by the Prime Minister as per the National Security Policy. Because it
is the responsibility of the state to protect the freedom and life of any citizen. If
any state agency acts against it, it is not acceptable. It has also been
suggested that the parliament should be made the center of decision-making in
order to end this problem, and confidence-building measures should be taken.
In which the government, army and related institutions should immediately
recover the Baloch students. According to the report, all the missing students
should be produced in the courts. Forced disappearances should be stopped in
the future. Suggestions include contacting the families of those affected. The
process of scrutiny should be ended in educational institutions, especially the
institutions of Balochistan. To counter the security threats, the right to fair trial
should be given instead of forced disappearances. The commission has
suggested that a democratic environment should be promoted within the
framework of the constitution. Balochistan should be involved in important
decision-making for the strength of the federation. Fiscal and administrative
powers should be given to true representatives of the people through free and
fair elections. According to the report, the federal government should establish a
parliamentary oversight system for the role and accountability of security
agencies. By making enforced disappearance a crime, all security agencies
should be bound to work within the framework of the constitution and law. The
proposal states that the federal government should formulate a policy regarding
detention centers and bring them under the ambit of law. The Ministry of Interior
should prepare a complete database of Baloch students and other missing
persons. The federal government should also make public the reports of all the
commissions and committees formed at the judicial and government level so far.
The commission has said that the federal government should provide better
education opportunities to Baloch students in educational institutions across the
country and along with this they should also be provided with equal
opportunities for jobs.
(English translation of Asim Ali Rana, Urdu Voice of America)
https://www.urduvoa.com/a/ihc-commission-report-on-missing-baloch-students-
23nov2023/7366940.html