Geneva [Switzerland], March 22 (ANI): Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, has vehemently denounced the recent detention of Baloch rights activist Mahrang Baloch and the brutal suppression of demonstrators by Pakistani security forces in Quetta.
Lawlor voiced significant worry in a post made on social media platform X regarding the reports of Mahrang Baloch’s detention along with multiple other human rights activists in Balochistan.
"Deeply troubled by the accounts indicating that Mahrang Baloch along with several other human rights defenders were detained in Balochistan after the suppression of Baloch Yakjehti Committee demonstrators in Quetta," Lawlor noted, highlighting the continuing oppression in the area.
The disturbances began shortly after dawn when security forces raided a non-violent demonstration organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee. According to eyewitness accounts, around 5:30 AM, officials initiated an aggressive attack on the participants, which included women and minors. The protesters, assembled to call for accountability and the reappearance of individuals gone without trace, were violently scattered.
The authorities heightened the tension even more by taking possession of the remains of those who died, which the demonstrators intended to pray over during funerals, intensifying the pain within the bereaved households.
Mahrang Baloch, a prominent figure in the human rights movement and a staunch advocate for the rights of the Baloch people, was violently dragged and arrested. Many others were also detained, marking a troubling escalation in the Pakistani authorities' efforts to silence dissent in the region.
The suppression has faced severe backlash from both domestic and global human rights organizations. The Baloch National Movement (BNM) denounced these acts as part of Pakistan’s continuing war crimes in Balochistan.
On a tweet from X, the BNM urgently appealed for international assistance, expressing concern that the human rights conditions in the area are quickly worsening.
BNM said, "When citizens take to the streets in protest, pro-government social media accounts and state-backed figures disseminate misinformation, unjustly associating protesters with acts of violence. These entities resort to deception—and as demonstrations continue, they also engage in abduction and murder on an escalating scale. We caution about an emerging humanitarian emergency and call upon the global community to intervene." (ANI)
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