Saqib Karim; drowning death of Baloch political activist in Azerbaijan

By Muhammad Kazim, BBC Urdu.com

‘After the mutilated bodies of two brothers were found, the third was sent abroad, but the mysterious

death came there too.’ 

‘Forcible disappearance of two brothers’ and after their mutilated bodies were found, my third brother Saqib Karim Baloch went abroad to spend his life without fear or danger. Still, that was not possible, and he also met a mysterious death there.’ 

It is the statement of Faisal Karim Baloch, a Balochistan student. His elder brother Saqib Karim died in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, on July 8, 2022, allegedly due to drowning in the sea.

Faisal Karim said, “Azerbaijani police have declared my brother’s death an accident, but we want an investigation into his death because we have concerns in this regard.”

He says, ‘this is not the first incident of its kind, but some Baloch political workers who got political asylum in other countries have also died in similarly mysterious circumstances.’ 

The central spokesperson of the nationalist party Balochistan National Movement (BNM), Qazi Dad Muhammad Rehan, while expressing his concern over the death of Saqib Karim, appealed to the government of Azerbaijan. In a statement, appealed for the investigation of the incident.’

It should be remembered that the Baloch National Movement is one of the hardline nationalist parties of Balochistan which are opposed to parliamentary politics. This party is not registered as a political party with the Election Commission of Pakistan. The body of the central president of this party, Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, was recovered after his forced disappearance, while currently, several leaders of this party are either living abroad or underground.

However, on the other hand, Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langov has firmly rejected the allegations of targeting people abroad and called it baseless propaganda against the state institutions. 

Where did Saqib Karim die in Azerbaijan, and what does the family have to say? 

Saqib Karim died in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

According to the death certificate of Saqib Karim issued on July 13, 2022, by the Ministry of Justice in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, he died on July 8, 2022. 

According to the certificate, his death was due to drowning, and his death was declared ‘non-fatal.’ 

Saqib Karim’s younger brother Faisal Karim says that we were told from Azerbaijan that Saqib died due to drowning in the sea. 

He said that although the police there have termed his brother’s death an accident, we want the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugee) and the Azerbaijan government to investigate all aspects of his death. Conduct a thorough investigation ‘because this is not the first incident of this nature.’

He said that some Baloch political activists who had received political asylum in foreign countries had died in the same way before this, which is why we suspect there is no conspiracy behind the brother’s death. 

Who was Saqib Karim Baloch? 

After completing his education, he moved to Islamabad for some time and, according to his brother, also took up a job with the Capital Development Authority (CDA). 

Faisal Karim said that during his student days, Saqib Karim belonged to the banned BSO (Azad) group of Baloch Students Organization, the largest organization of Baloch nationalist students in Balochistan. 

He said that Saqib Karim moved to Dubai in 2015, and in 2018, he went to Azerbaijan, where he applied for political asylum to UNHCR.

He said Saqib Karim had been living in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, since 2018. At the beginning of this year, the UNHCR accepted his request and granted him the status of a political refugee. 

‘Alleged Enforced Disappearance and Killing of Two Brothers before Saqib Karim’ 

Faisal Karim claims that his two brothers were allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance and torture. To evade such an incident, Saqib Karim went into exile. Even from there, his dead body has been recovered. 

According to him, out of his two brothers, Tariq Karim forcibly disappeared from Karachi and Asim Karim from Quetta. 

He said the two brothers were killed after they were forcibly disappeared and also belonged to the outlawed BSO (Azad).

Faisal Karim said that Tariq Karim was a Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences, Quetta student. He claimed that ‘security forces raided his village in Besima to arrest him, but he was not at home but in Karachi from where he was arrested on October 21, 2010, in Gulistan Johar area.’ 

He said that his other brother Asim Karim was studying in Multan city of Punjab, and he was doing a diploma in engineering there. 

They say that when Tariq was missing, Asim Karim was in Quetta, and he held a press conference at the Quetta Press Club against the enforced disappearance of his brother Tariq Karim, who was missing from Karachi.

Faisal claims that after this press conference, Asim went missing from Quetta city on October 29, 2010. Just two days after his disappearance, his tortured body was recovered from the Khanuzai area of   Pashin district adjacent to Quetta on October 31, 2010. 

Faisal Karim claimed that although his first brother, Tariq Karim, a victim of enforced disappearance, was picked up from Karachi, his mutilated body was dumped in Quetta seven months later, on May 11, 2011. 

He claims his two young brothers were killed while studying, allegedly based on their political views and affiliation with the outlawed BSO (Azad). Baloch National Movement, in its statement, blamed the forced disappearance of these two brothers and their death on the state institutions.

Faisal Karim says that after the forced disappearance of two brothers and several other ideological associates and their mutilated bodies recovered, Saqib Karim went into exile to avoid facing this kind of horror. However, after seven and a half years, we have received his dead body, even living in exile. 

He said the three brothers who died in youth were older than him. He said, ‘since Saqib Karim’s life was in danger, he had to go abroad.’ 

Faisal Karim said that he was in contact with his brother in Azerbaijan, and he was not satisfied with his stay there, and he tried to leave there for another safe country, but despite his efforts, he did not get a chance to go there. 

He said, ‘in my opinion, the crime of my three brothers was nothing, but they were punished for their ideology and thinking.’

Faisal said, ‘the unnatural death of three young brothers is certainly a huge shock for their family which words may not be able to cover.’ 

Before Saqib Karim, the body of Karima Baloch, former chairperson of BSO (Azad), who sought political asylum in Canada, was found in the water. She went missing after leaving her home on December 20, 2021, and her body was found on December 22, 2021. 

According to Toronto police, Karima’s body was found in the water near an island in the city. 

The police of Canada and Sweden had declared the two incidents as accidents. However, the Baloch National Movement and other Baloch political circles continued to call these deaths murders under a conspiracy and demanded an investigation on their behalf.

The spokesman of the Baloch National Movement, Qazi Dad Muhammad Rehan, expressed concern over the recovery of Saqib Karim’s body. He requested the Azerbaijan government to include the possibility of murder in investigating his death because BNM considers the Pakistani state agency for killing both brothers in their custody following enforced disappearances. 

What do government officials say? 

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langov has firmly rejected the allegations against the state institutions regarding killing Baloch people abroad. 

He said that as far as the incident in Azerbaijan is concerned, the government of Azerbaijan can answer about it because it occurred there.

The home minister said that as far as foreign countries are concerned, be it Azerbaijan or Canada, or any other country, and they are free and independent countries. He asked how our state institutions can interfere in a free and independent nation. 

He said that just as propaganda is being done to defame the state institutions regarding some other issues, similarly, baseless propaganda is being done regarding the deaths of people abroad. 

Earlier, when a senior official was contacted to find out the position of the security forces regarding enforced disappearances and the recovery of tortured bodies in Balochistan, he said, “The issue of missing persons is a well-thought-out conspiracy.” Under which the enemy is trying to defame Pakistan and turn the people against government institutions.

He said that ‘according to the commission established by the government, 8381 cases of missing persons were reported, of which 6163 cases were closed after judicial investigation.’ 

He said that the commission follows the cases daily. According to the investigation, most people are kidnapped and killed by terrorist organizations. Besides, many people join terrorist organizations, and their families do not know about it. 

He said that Hamal Fateh Baloch, who attacked the PC Hotel in Gwadar, is an example of this. 

He claimed all this is done with the support of anti-Pakistan elements. Pakistani law enforcement agencies only arrest a few people to maintain law and order, which are released after investigation if they are found innocent.’

He also claimed that ‘anti-Pakistani elements use banned organizations to abduct and kill people. When Pakistani agencies take action against such terrorist groups, it is a deliberate ploy to blame Pakistani law enforcers and state institutions.’

The article was originally published in BBC Urdu, translated by the Bolan Voice team, and is republished with special thanks.