Quetta, Feb 24 (IANS) Human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has called for justice, accountability and resistance marking one year of “enforced detention” of its chief organiser, Mahrang Baloch and other leaders.
The BYC launched a global month-long awareness campaign scheduled from February 20 to March 20 to document abuses, resist repression, and demand accountability.
According to the rights body, repression by Pakistani authorities in Balochistan has intensified since March 2025.
In March last year, Pakistan charged Mahrang Baloch and several other BYC 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.
“The imprisonment of Mahrang Baloch, Bebagar Baloch, Sibghatullah Shah Ji, Gulzadi, and Beebow Baloch reflects a broader pattern of political suppression, enforced disappearances, restrictions on political & social space, and the silencing of dissent,” the BYC stated.
The rights body urged people worldwide — Baloch citizens, members of the diaspora, human rights defenders and concerned global citizens — to play a meaningful role during the month-long campaign.
The BYC called on individuals to write articles, opinion pieces, and blog posts highlighting the situation in Balochistan and submit reports and documentation to international human rights organisations.
It also urged people to draft letters to lawmakers, foreign ministries, the United Nations and its human rights mechanisms, international NGOs and legal advocacy groups.
Calling it a collective responsibility to raise their voices against atrocities by Pakistani authorities, the BYC said, “The struggle for survival, dignity, and justice cannot be carried by a few alone. It requires the strength of the people. History shows that repression thrives in silence and weakens in the face of collective awareness.”
Earlier this month, the BYC raised alarm over the independence of the legal process and judicial delay by a Pakistani court in reserved bail matters involving Mahrang Baloch and other leaders.
According to the rights body, Balochistan’s High Court heard the bail applications of Mahrang Baloch and other BYC leaders on December 17, 2025. The defence, it said, completed its arguments, while the prosecution failed to present any concrete evidence or factual material to justify continued detention.
The court reserved its judgment, yet after nearly three months, no decision has been announced. In Pakistan, the BYC said, judgments in reserved bail matters are normally delivered within days or weeks.
“This delay is not a procedural technicality. It affects fundamental rights, personal liberty, and public trust in the judiciary. When peaceful political activists remain in detention without evidence and without timely judicial decisions, it strengthens the perception that legal institutions are being used to suppress dissent,” the BYC stated.
–IANS
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