International human rights organisation Amnesty International on Tuesday called upon Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti to “release all detained Baloch activists”.
In March, Dr Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) members were arrested for “attacking” the Quetta Civil Hospital and “inciting people to violence”, a day after the group faced a police crackdown while protesting against alleged enforced disappearances. The BYC is a Baloch advocacy group working against enforced disappearances since 2018.
“I urge you [Balochistan CM] to release all Baloch activists targeted solely for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” the sample letter by Amnesty read.
It called on CM Bugti to drop all charges and overturn detention orders against Baloch activists targeted solely for exercising their rights.
“End the wider crackdown against activists and protesters across the province by allowing them to exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression without undue restriction,” the letter urged.
“The crackdown on Baloch activists, including Mahrang Baloch, Bebarg Zehri, Beebow Baloch, Shah Jee Sibghat Ullah, Ghafar Baloch and Gulzadi Baloch, violate Pakistan’s international human rights commitments, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” the letter continued.
Amnesty said that laws such as the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) and Anti-Terrorism Act have been used to prolong their arbitrary detention in violation of their rights to liberty and due process.
“This is part of a wider crackdown on human rights in Balochistan through suppression of peaceful assembly, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions,” the human rights organisation said.
It expressed concern for the safety and well-being of all those detained, as “access to family members and lawyers is regularly blocked by prison authorities.”
The letter said that the continued detention of the six Baloch activists, beyond the 90-day period allowed under MPO, has already long passed and violates the law.
Mahrang has been held at the Hudda District Prison in Quetta under Section 3 of the MPO — a law that empowers authorities to arrest and detain individuals suspected of posing a threat to public order.
Last week, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta handed Mahrang and other organisers of the group into police custody for 10 days, extending their three-month detention.
In May, Amnesty and four other human rights organisations had called on Pakistan to release human rights defenders in Balochistan and end the crackdown on dissent.
American Dollar Exchange Rate