Since August 9, several towns in Pakistan's Balochistan region have conducted a series of rallies to honor the memory of the victims of the July 28 demonstration. In the port city of Gwadar, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) held the "Baloch Raji Muchi," or Baloch National Gathering, to protest violence perpetrated by the Pakistani state against the community in this province bordering Iran. The event was marked by violent confrontations between Baloch militants and Pakistani security forces.

Among the thousands of people who had gathered in Gwadar were relatives of victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions. Gulnaz, 56, had been searching for her sons for years. According to her, they were abducted by the Pakistani army. In September 2010, one of them was found dead outside her house. His mother has called on the government to ensure that justice is done.

Balochistan has been the focus of violent confrontations between the Pakistani army and pro-independence groups as well as terrorist organizations. Since its annexation by Pakistan in 1948, the province has seen no fewer than five nationalist rebellions. To maintain its sovereignty, Islamabad has pursued a particularly bloody policy of repression against the territory's inhabitants, many of whom advocate Baluch nationalism and irredentism. NGOs and the families of victims have blamed the Pakistani security forces for serious human rights violations.

While it's impossible to know the exact number of abductees in Balochistan, in January, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights's Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances reported that it had recorded a total of 10,078 enforced disappearances since 2011, including 2,752 in the province of Balochistan. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, a non-profit organization, claims that around 50,000 cases have been recorded.

Violently crushed by the authorities, the Baloch National Gathering was marked by the deaths of three demonstrators and a member of the Pakistani army. "On July 28, paramilitary forces opened fire on a convoy carrying hundreds of people, including women and children, traveling from Quetta to Gwadar," the BYC said in a statement. Mahrang Baloch, a surgeon and leader of the BYC movement, condemned the arrest and arbitrary detention of almost 500 demonstrators, including three figures from the movement.

The crackdown was denounced by Amnesty International: "Every time Baloch protests take place, their demands are met with violence by the security forces and mass arrests. (...) We see it now again with the Baloch Raji Muchi protests in what is clearly a punitive attempt by the Pakistani authorities to deter, vilify and criminalize peaceful protesters."

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