Quetta, March 23 (IANS) Naseem Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), on Monday called on the global community to end its silence over what he described as the “illegal detention" of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders who have been held in custody for a year.
He said that the continued imprisonment amounts to a blatant violation of international human rights and due process.
“It has been one year since the illegal detention of BYC leaders. One year of injustice, silence, and denial of basic rights. Their only ‘crime’ is raising their voice against enforced disappearances and state repression in Balochistan. This is not just unlawful; it is a blatant violation of international human rights and due process. The world must not stay silent,” Naseem posted on X.
Earlier in March, 2025, Pakistani authorities charged the chief organiser of the BYC, Mahrang Baloch and several other activists with terrorism after she led a sit-in protest against the “illegal arrest and illegal police remand” of the relatives of the victims of enforced disappearances.
Marking one year of what it termed as “illegal detention” of its leadership, the BYC on Sunday said that the prolonged imprisonment of Mahrang and other leaders reflects the "panic" of the Pakistani system rather than punishment for any crime.
“Today marks 365 days of the illegal detention of BYC leadership. Let us pause for a moment and reflect on the priorities of this system. From Quetta to Makran to Dera Ghazi Khan, those who carried nothing but the book of the Constitution, placards, and a microphone were dragged before anti-terrorism courts and repeatedly given 90-day remands. They were labelled as proclaimed offenders,” the BYC stated.
The rights body alleged that the alignment of police crackdowns, judicial silence and information control reveals a systematic attempt to silence peaceful voices.
"When police raids, the silence of the courts, and attempts to impose silence on social media converge, when every institution appears united to keep a peaceful political worker behind bars, and justifications are continuously crafted to prolong their detention, one thing becomes clear: what truly frightened this system was the sight of empty-handed people whose hands carried nothing but the naked truth, a truth they brought before the people of Balochistan for the world to witness,” it stated.
Several other human rights organisations have recently called for the immediate release of the BYC leaders, demanding that all “false and politically motivated charges” be dropped and that free, fair trials without state pressure must be ensured.
--IANS
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