Quetta, Oct 29 (IANS) Citing extrajudicial killings as a grave violation of the Constitution and fundamental human rights, Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had recently dismissed an appeal against the death sentence of Frontier Corps (FC) soldier Shadiullah, who killed Hayat Baloch in Balochistan’s Turbat in front of his parents.
However, the local media reported on Wednesday, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, by a majority decision of two to one, commuted Shadiullah’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
Student of Karachi University, Hayat Baloch was killed on August 13, 2020 in the Absar area of Turbat, when FC personnel Shadiullah shot him eight times before his parents, The Balochistan Post reported. The brutal killing of Hayat Baloch sparked outrage in Balochistan against state repression that continues in the region to this day in various forms.
The extrajudicial killings of political activists and enforced disappearances have not stopped in Balochistan despite several protests and occasional judicial interventions. During the time when Hayat Baloch was murdered, hundreds of young Baloch men were killed in what authorities termed “encounters”, The Balochistan Post highlighted. This practice of abducting and killing Baloch youth and then dumping their bodies in desolate regions continues till now.
Authorities, through intimidation and force, continue to silence the voices who speak against such acts of state violence. Verdicts announced in court rarely translate into justice on the ground in Balochistan, as per the repot. The powerful institutions have been imposing their will on the Baloch people through arms. Despite absence of judicial justice, people will continue to call for Hayat Baloch and countless others in Balochistan.
On October 23, a leading human rights organisation said that at least two Baloch youth were extrajudicially killed by a Pakistan-backed death squad in Balochistan. Human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) mentioned that Zahoor Baloch, a 20-year-old labourer and a resident of Paroom region in Panjgur district, was forcibly abducted by a state-backed death squad in the early hours of October 20.
Citing witnesses, the rights body stated that the abductors arrived in a Surf vehicle and took Zahoor from his residence. His mutilated body was found the next morning, confirming his extrajudicial killing.
“This tragic incident is not isolated but is part of a systematic campaign of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions targeting the Baloch population. Zahoor’s death reflects the persistent climate of fear in Balochistan, where young men are regularly abducted and killed with impunity,” the BYC stated.
Highlighting another such horrific incident, the BYC stated that on October 20, the tortured and bullet-riddled body of a Baloch civilian, Faqeer Jan, was found dumped in an open area, exposing yet another extrajudicial killing in Balochistan.According to the rights body, Faqeer was abducted on the night of October 18 by the state-backed death squad in the Gwaash region of Panjgur.
–IANS
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