Pakistan using enforced disappearances to crush religious minorities, says Baloch activist

Brahumdagh Bugti, president of Baloch Republican Party on Monday said the Pakistani state authorities have been using enforced disappearances as a tool to crush the voice of oppressed people like Balochis, Pashtuns, Muhajirs, Sindhis and religious minorities.

"On one hand Pakistan is a signatory of international conventions against enforced disappearances and on the other, they are busy abducting people. We urge international community to take action against enforced disappearances of Baloch and other people in Pakistan, news agency ANI quoted him as saying.

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Pakistan has alleged that Bugti is involved in a number of terrorist attacks. Later, in 2007 General Pervez Musharraf claimed that he had been receiving covert support from India and Afghanistan to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Bugti fled to Switzerland in 2010 and in 2016 he reportedly applied for asylum in India which later was put on hold by the Indian government.

On Monday, Financial Action Task Force, president Marshall Billingslea said there is an absolute possibility that Pakistan could be put on the blacklist in terror financing operations.  "I must say with regret that Pakistan is lacking in almost every aspect of the action plan. They missed all the milestones. Absolutely a possibility they could be put on the blacklist. A decision to be taken in the future plenary of October 2019," Billingslea said while speaking at the end of FATF plenary which took place in Orlando, Florida last week and whose audio was provided on Monday.

According to reports, the next plenary of FATF will be in Paris in October during which Pakistan will be assessed if it was able to full fill its commitments. 

Pakistan has been given October deadline to improve its counter-terror financing operations in line with an internationally agreed action plan or face actions against it.

The FATF, which concluded its week-long meeting in Florida in the US, also asked Pakistan to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustainable measures to address global concerns related to terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from the territory under its control.

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"The FATF has decided to continue to keep Pakistan on its compliance document (i.e. Grey List) for its International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) for its failure to complete the action plan items due in January and May 2019," an FATF spokesperson had said in a statement.