Baloch group urges UNHRC to act against Pakistan’s human rights abuses in Balochistan
Geneva, March 20 (IANS) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) called on the international community to take urgent action against widespread human rights violations in Balochistan, accusing Pakistani authorities of weaponising the law to suppress dissent, target civilians, and systematically silence the region.
Speaking at a United Nations Human Rights Council session, BNM representatives highlighted enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on freedom of expression as part of a concerted effort to stifle the Baloch people.
Addressing the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Mahra Baloch, a member of the BNM, said that civilians across the province are being collectively punished simply for existing.
“In Balochistan, an entire people are being punished for existing. Under the guise of counterterrorism, the Pakistani state has turned law into a weapon, criminalising dissent, erasing lives, and silencing an entire nation. Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act has been misused to label Baloch students, activists, and human rights defenders as so-called proscribed persons. This label strips them of freedom, denies their right to travel, and places them under constant threat,” Mahra stressed.
She stated that in 2025 alone, Paank, the Human Rights Department of BNM, documented 1355 enforced disappearances and 225 extrajudicial killings across Balochistan.
Mahra emphasised that these are not mere statistics but represent civilians taken from homes, students abducted from campuses, and bodies returned as warnings.
Highlighting the atrocities on Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leadership, the activist said, “Mahrang Baloch, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has been arbitrarily arrested, denied medical care, and targeted solely for peaceful advocacy."
“Internet shutdowns, mass surveillance, and collective punishments are routine, designed to ensure that the world does not see what's happening in Balochistan,” Mahra added.
Asserting that silence enables these crimes, Mahra called on the international community to demand that Pakistan immediately end these violations, release all arbitrarily detained Baloch activists, and conduct independent and transparent investigations into enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Earlier on Wednesday, speaking at the session, Jamal Baloch, media coordinator of the human rights body Paank, stated that the abuses are intensifying amid the projects linked to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
"I stand before this council to speak about the systematic human rights violations in Balochistan carried out by Pakistan and sustained through the strategic and economic involvement of China. In Balochistan, enforced disappearances are a state policy. Pakistan's military operates above the law, abducting students, teachers, journalists and political activists," Jamal stated.
Asserting that "peaceful dissent is treated as terrorism", he said that women-led civil rights movements like BYC are crushed and all districts in Balochistan are placed under internet blackouts to conceal military operations and silence victims.
"These crimes have escalated alongside projects tied to the China-Pakistan economic corridor to secure strategic interests and resource extraction. Pakistan's military has intensified repression and militarised civilian lives," Jamal added.
--IANS
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