Why is UN silent on death of Baloch refugees?

By Aaliyah Shah

After each murder, we wonder who the next target is. Now, whose body will we get as a gift? Whether being it in Balochistan or foreign countries, Baloch are on the next target everywhere. The sad part is the world ‘the civilised world’ including the UN seems to remain criminally silent on the death of Baloch is Balochistan and Baloch refugees abroad.

If the United Nations, International Community and International Human Rights Organizations fail to protect the Baloch people or consider them a lesser human being, then why are they given refuge? Is it to make them easy prey of the enemy or is deliberately allowing Baloch enemy states to expand their genocide of Baloch people with impunity on foreign countries?

The United Nations is so blind and deaf that every missing person in Balochistan and the death of Karima Baloch is a slap on its face. Today we have not failed, today Karima Baloch has not been killed but the United Nations and other so-called champions of human rights have died. Western democracy died and morality has died.

The question is if people in these civilized countries, which have security cameras (CCTVs) in every street and pathway, which know about the activities of people inside their houses,  then how was it possible that a person (Karima Baloch) walked from his home to killing spot undetected? By the look of the place where Karima died (was murdered) is a public place and yet there were no security cameras around? Unless the Canadian authorities provide satisfactory answers to these questions their intentions and sincerity will always be questioned.

How I can believe that the Canadian police are ignorant and they are deliberately not looking into the death of Karima Baloch from different angles?

We have been told if a crime is committed in a civilized country, then the government is responsible for each and everything. The authorities (police) will not rest until they reach to the bottom of that case. It was disappointing to note that the Canadian (Toronto Police) have declared Karima death ‘non-criminal’ nearly in 24 hours without even bothering to look into the threats that she has been receiving.

Karima’s case is not the first on Western soil and probably not the last case of Baloch refugees who had the refugee status and which entitled protection under international and UN conventions.  On the same day when Karima disappeared, two Baloch refugees were killed in Afghanistan, son of another Baloch elder from Nimroz Afghanistan was kidnapped and his dead body was also later found.

It started with Arif Barakzai then it was Sajid Hussain and now it’s Karima Baloch …. We wonder who will be next in the target list of the enemy and whose death probably will be declared by western authorities as ‘non-criminal’ or ‘suicide’.

Arif  Barakzai was also a member of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO), who was died in a student hostel in the Norwegian capital Oslo. He died after falling from the 11th floor of his hostel on 10, January 2008, the authorities declared his death as an accident. After 13 years still, the case has not been solved. His family awaits justice.

Then Ehsan Arjumandi Baloch a Norwegian citizen was arrested by Pakistani forces while he was visiting his family. Despite knowing that he’s in the custody of Pakistani forces the government of Norway failed to get him released. He is still suffering torture in Pakistan army’s torture cells.

Just when we were not expecting another murder of an innocent Baloch, Sajid Hussain disappeared. He was a journalist and had just enrolled for a master’s degree at Uppsala University in Sweden’ “a world-renowned academic institution with eight Nobel Prizes.

He disappeared the day he moved into his hostel room and was later found dead. After two months of disappearance, Sajid’s dead body was in a river. What took the Swedish Police to find his body after two months? They declared his death as ‘accident’.  Why would someone commit suicide after he was granted asylum, who was happy with his life and with his work, especially who was waiting for his family to join him in Sweden very soon?

The phenomenon of Sajid death has not been resolved yet his family rejected the police report and asked for evidence but they received no answer so far.

In the same year (2020) Karima Baloch, ex-Chairperson of the Baloch Students Organization Azad (BSO Azad), an active student organization in Balochistan who has also recently joined the Baloch National Movement (BNM) was found dead on 21 December.

‘Coincidently’, like Sajid Hussain, Karima’s dead body was also pulled from the water.  How ‘Ironic’ it sounds that two Baloch refugees who risked their lives all the way from Baloch leaving behind their loved one to seek refuge in Canada and Sweden. Just when their life was safe, they had the best opportunity to carry out their work (political campaign in a free and democratic manner), they had access to UN and rest of the civilised world to inform them about the plight of Balochistan, and they commit suicide? This is absolutely unbelievable.

Morality dictates that the Canadian and Swedish Police have a moral and legal responsibility to prove their claims not just verbally declare someone death as ‘accident’ or ‘suicide’.

This is can’t be suicides; three conscious people how can suicide?

These three people (Arif, Sajid and Karima) were not just ordinary people, they were highly educated, sophisticatedly conscious-minded and fiercely brave enough to face difficulties of life if they had any challenges.

This is thought of as matter. There must be a thorough investigation into these deaths. The UNHRC, International Red Cross, the Reporter Without Border must put pressure on the government of Canada and Sweden to prob these deaths from different angles.

If and when ‘push comes to shove’ and the UN, the Western government and International Human Rights bodies fail to do anything about the death of these three Baloch, then it is the responsibility of Baloch Diaspora Communities to hire private lawyers and homicides and leave no stone unturned until they reach to the truth and get justice for the families of the deceased.