CPEC adding to woes of Baloch people, say activists

Baloch political and human rights activists have blamed China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion dollar project, for unemployment, insecurity and economic degradation in Balochistan.

Speaking at an event outside the United Nations during the 42nd session of Human Rights Council here, they raised issues like growing extremism, forced disappearances, target killings of intellectuals and political activists.

The event was organised by the Baloch Human Rights Council.

The Baloch activists, gathered in Geneva, have been organising events outside the UN office here with an aim to highlight the atrocities carried out by Pakistani agencies and seek international support on the matter.

On Tuesday, the Baloch Human Rights Council organised a briefing on 'The Humanitarian Crisis in Balochistan' at a special tent at Broken Chair in front of the UN headquarters.

Before that, a protest was organised by the World Sindhi Congress (WCS) at a time when Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was speaking at the 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

For long, Pakistan's establishment has been criticized over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by international bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue.

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, about 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered since 2014. Most of them are still unresolved.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple interviews about the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible.