Abdul Qadeer Baloch
Silencing the Lone Voice on Balochistan’s Missing Persons
Abdul Qadeer Baloch is Vice-Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Person (VBMP), a non-governmental organisation which advocates for the release of individuals who were forcibly disappeared in Balochistan, and assists families of the disappeared to seek justice in the courts.
The organisation claims that over 21,000 persons have been victims of enforced disappearances in the region since 2005. The human rights defender, whose son was forcibly disappeared in 2009, led a peaceful march for a distance of over 2000km, from Quetta to Islamabad, to raise awareness of this. The march, which lasted four months, ended on 28 February 2014.
Pakistan is one of the most challenging countries in the region for human rights defenders, who face high risks including killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction and kidnapping, surveillance, threats and judicial harassment. Many HRDs have had their offices attacked or burnt down and their colleagues killed.
