Seoul, March 23 (IANS) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) held a peaceful protest in South Korea’s Busan, highlighting the ongoing grave human rights violations across Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and systematic repression targeting Baloch civilians, activists, and entire families at the hands of Pakistani forces.
According to the BNM, the demonstration on Sunday evening near the Apple Outlet at Sasang Station was part of the broader global campaign to draw attention to what it described as "a policy of collective punishment" in Balochistan.
The participants raised international awareness about the escalating crisis and distributed detailed pamphlets in English and Korean outlining the recent “alarming statistics and patterns of abuse” in the province.
The pamphlets also detailed recent cases, including the involvement of Pakistan's Frontier Corps (FC) in carrying out the abuses, and noted the lack of accountability. The BNM appealed to the global community to recognise the crisis as a humanitarian emergency.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers emphasised that “these violations constitute serious crimes under international law, including potential crimes against humanity, and demanded accountability from Pakistani authorities as well as intervention from the United Nations, human rights bodies, and the international community.”
The protestors also raised slogans such as “Stop the genocide in Balochistan", “End enforced disappearances," “Pakistan: Stop killing Baloch people," and “Baloch wants justice."
Citing reports by Paank, the human rights wing of the BNM, the group said that 109 cases of enforced disappearances and 50 cases of extrajudicial killings were recorded in February, while 82 enforced disappearances and 12 extrajudicial killings were documented in January.
Highlighting the ongoing wave of atrocities in early March across the province, the BNM referred to multiple incidents, including the alleged extrajudicial killing of a Baloch civilian in the Mashkai region of the Awaran district after months of disappearance, another killing in the Shapatan area of the Panjgur district, and fresh abductions of several individuals.
As per the findings, more than 1,200 enforced disappearances were documented in 2025, with many still missing, including women, teenagers, and minors.
The report also noted over 200 extrajudicial killings and a disturbing “kill-and-dump” policy where mutilated bodies are abandoned to “instil terror".
"The suffering in Balochistan continues unabated: families wait endlessly for news of disappeared loved ones, bodies of the killed are dumped as warnings, and peaceful protesters face arrest and worse. Today’s action in South Korea stands in direct solidarity with the thousands of Baloch families enduring this nightmare and with ongoing movements inside Balochistan,” the BNM stated.
The BNM stressed that the global campaign would continue until every enforced disappearance ends, perpetrators are held accountable, and the Baloch people can live with dignity, freedom, and human rights.
“The voices raised today in Busan add to a growing international chorus that refuses to stay silent,” it added.
--IANS
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