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Mama Qadeer Baloch demands immediate release of Noraton’s family, denounces collective punishment The entire family of Nuraton has become victims of collective punishment and they must be released immediately, according to Mama Qadeer Baloch, Vice Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons. The arrest and forced disappearance of Nuraton( Noor Khatun), a resident of Sibi, along with her children by Pakistani forces, is a grave violation of human rights. This family has been subjected to enforced disappearance for an extended period, and this chain of disappearances must be halted. Mama Qadeer Baloch conveyed these views while speaking to delegations at a protest camp established for the recovery of forcibly disappeared persons. On Thursday, the hunger strike camp for enforced disappearances marked its 5,155th day. Mama Qadeer Baloch explained that Nouraton, along with her two young children, Banadi and Abdul Ghafar, was abducted from a hotel in the capital city of Balochistan on August 28th. They were arrested by law enforcement agencies while Nouraton was seeking medical treatment in Shaal. Since her arrest, her whereabouts and fate are unknown. He further revealed that the political unrest in Balochistan led to the exile of Nouraton’s family until 1992. However, they returned to the country along with other refugees due to their allegiance to the politics of Baloch leader Khairbakhsh Marri. Subsequently, state agencies targeted their family, raiding their house and forcibly disappearing many members. Mama Qadeer Baloch highlighted that Mazar Khan, son of Gwahram, who is part of Nouraton’s family, forcibly disappeared in 2008 and remains missing to this day. He is included in the list of forcibly disappeared persons of VBMP. Other family members, such as Arif and Yusuf, were also extrajudicially killed and dumped after a month of enforced disappearance. Noor Alam has been missing since 2016, while Arz Muhammad who migrated in Afghanistan, was targeted and killed in Afghanistan. These state atrocities demonstrate that Nouraton and her children are also being subjected to collective punishment. Mama Qadeer Baloch emphasized that these actions of Pakistani forces by terming those as security reasons, are clear violation of human rights. The arbitrary arrest and torture of women and children, is violation of constitution and laws will only exacerbate the anxiety in Balochistan and further worsen the situation of human rights. On Thursday, political and social activists, including Saad Baloch and Junaid Baloch, among others from Surab, visited the hunger strike camp to express solidarity with the forcibly disappeared persons.