Balochistan: 455 mutilated bodies found in 2014: Nasrullah Baloch

QUETTA: The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, an organisation representing the families of abducted, has rejected the statistics of government of Balochistan that 164 mutilated bodies were discovered in Balochistan in 2014.

Nasrullah Baloch, the head of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, in a press conference in Quetta on Thursday, said that last year a total of 455 mutilated bodies were found and 435 Baloch people were disappeared.

He said that 107 of these 455 bodies were identified as that of previously abducted Baloch activists whereas 348 could not be recognised due to disfigurement.

Earlier the Home Ministry of Balochistan claimed that 164 bodies were found in Balochistan in 2014 and among them 41 were unidentifiable.

According to government statistics among the identified bodies 71 were Baloch, 35 Pashtun and 19 from other nationalities.

Nasrullah Baloch said that unlike past now effort are made to make it difficult to recognise the bodies that are discovered across Balochistan. “In the past they use to put notes with bodies containing names of the victims but now they even acidify the faces of bodies so that it impossible to ascertain their identity. Because of that their relatives are going through mental trauma,” said Mr Baloch.

Nasraullah Baloch said there were no facilities at BNMC to keep identified bodies more than two to three days and due to lack of transportation and communication people Capital cannot even make it to the capital in those three days to come and identity the bodies. He termed the hasty buried of unrecognised bodies ‘a human tragedy’.

He demanded that new mortuaries should be built in Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Balochistan to keep the unidentified bodies for at least a month.

He demanded: “The government should make a website where all the details including videos of unidentified bodies should be posted to make it easy for relatives of abducted people to confirm the identity of their loved ones.

“DNA tests of unrecognised bodies should be conducted and they should buried in a separate cemetery with ‘grave numbers’ so that it will be easy for relatives to pay respects their loved ones.”

He said that the current government after coming into power forgot their promises that they would do all they can to resolve the issue of disappearances in Balochistan.

“They [current government] in Balochistan has failed to stop enforced-disappearances and bring the perpetrators to justice. In fact they are protecting those who are involved in extra-judicial abductions and killings,” Nasrullah said.

Nasrullah Baloch said that the government had first introduced the controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance and now it was trying to establish military courts.

He has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to play his due role and get the proposal of such unconstitutional steps reversed.

He said that Voice for Baloch Missing Persons was an apolitical organisation and was constitutionally and peacefully struggling for their release of abducted Baloch.

“Leaders of my organisation, relatives of missing persons and myself are receiving constant threats. If anything happened to any of us the government and intelligence agencies will be held responsible,” it made it clear.