QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN: The ongoing sit-in outside Bolan Medical Complex entered its 17th consecutive day Saturday, with the family of another enforced disappearance victim, Saifullah Baloch, joining the protest camp alongside those demanding the release of Khadija Baloch.
Seventeen days have passed since the protest began yet authorities have issued no meaningful response. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) stated that the state cannot address security concerns by keeping Khadija Baloch in custody, adding that through a systematic policy the state seeks to create an atmosphere of fear within Baloch society. The committee said her case represents decades of oppression imposed upon the Baloch nation and that normalizing the enforced disappearance of Baloch women appears to be a deliberate state objective.
The committee further stated that this sit-in is not only against the injustices committed against Khadija Baloch but also to expose the decades-long oppression imposed upon the Baloch nation.
For the past two days, the family of Saifullah Baloch has been present at the protest camp following his said that enforced disappearance. According to protesters, Saifullah Baloch was taken away on March 12 by CTD and intelligence agency personnel.
Following days of disappearance, Saifullah was reportedly transferred under the Prevention of Detention Act to a newly established CTD cell inside Huda Jail, a facility where, according to his family, there is no FIR, no registered case and no transparent judicial process. His detention has been set at three months.
His family said they joined the protest not only for their brother but for all those detained without due process and for every family living in daily suffering, fear and endless waiting.
