The death of human rights activist Karima Baloch in Toronto last week has again brought world attention to the trouble in Pakistan’s Baloch...
The death of human rights activist Karima Baloch in Toronto last week has again brought world attention to the trouble in Pakistan’s Balochistan region. The 37-year-old activist had gone missing after setting out for a walk. The police said that they had no reason to suspect foul play but her family told the BBC that “her death at least warrants closer inspection”.
Baloch, an advocate for independence for her resource-rich region, had been living in exile in Canada since 2016. She had fled Pakistan the previous year, fearing she would be “disappeared” by the authorities as several other activists had been.
This wasn’t the first death of a Baloch activist in exile this year. In March, the body of exiled journalist Sajid Hussain Baloch was found in Sweden’s Fyris River, outside Uppsala, just over 20 days after he had gone missing. Though the police ruled out foul play, others were more sceptical.
Said Daniel Bastard, the head of the Asia-Pacific desk of Reporters Without Border that works to protect journalists, “Everything indicates that this is an enforced disappearance. And if you ask yourself who would have an interest in silencing a dissident journalist, the first response would have to be the Pakistani intelligence services.”
Deep resentments
The root of...
