UN experts demand release of detained Baloch activists, end to crackdown on protests – Pakistan

Independent UN experts on Wednesday demanded that the Pakistani government release Baloch rights activists detained after recent protests and curb the crackdown on the demonstrations against alleged enforced disappearances and other human rights issues.

On Friday evening, police used tear gas, water cannons, and blank shots to disperse Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) protesters staging a sit-in in Quetta, with both the provincial government and BYC reporting casualties—BYC claiming three dead and 13 injured, while police reported around 10 personnel hurt.

The arrest of BYC chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch under terror charges with 150 others sparked shutter-down strikes in various cities of Balochistan. In Karachi, BYC leader Sammi Baloch was detained for protesting and later held for disturbing public order despite a judicial magistrate ordering her release with four activists detained.

In a statement issued today, a group of independent human rights experts affiliated with the UN said the government “must immediately release detained Baloch human rights defenders and cease its crackdown on peaceful protesters”.

“We have been monitoring with growing concern reports of alleged arrests and enforced disappearances of Baloch activists over the past number of months, and the violent incidents in the past few days have significantly increased our concerns,” the experts were quoted as saying in the joint statement.

It added that they expressed concern about the “escalating series of actions” against the BYC leadership in the wake of this month’s Jaffar Express train attack in Balochistan’s Bolan district, “after which several prominent Baloch human rights defenders from the BYC were allegedly arrested by Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department or forcibly disappeared”.

Referring to last Friday’s events, the experts said they once again witnessed the use of excessive force as a first response by the authorities to peaceful protests.

“We understand the deeply traumatic impact of the March 11 terrorist attack, and we express our deepest sympathy to the victims of this attacks, yet a response which relies on arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and violent crackdowns on freedom of assembly cannot alleviate that trauma.”

Referring to the circumstances of Mahrang and Sammi’s detentions, the experts said they were “extremely concerned” for their welfare and that of other human rights defenders detained for exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

“We urge the Pakistani authorities to immediately release them and to refrain from abusing counter-terrorism or public safety measures against human rights defenders, and we call on the authorities to clarify without delay the fate and whereabouts of all those reportedly subjected to enforced disappearances,” the experts said.

The statement concluded by saying that the experts called on the government to address conditions conducive to terrorism, in line with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adding that they were already in contact with the authorities regarding their concerns.