QUETTA — The
Baloch Women Forum (BWF) has strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of
Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and activists by the Pakistani
authorities which it said reflects the state of lawlessness in the province.
Baloch human rights defenders from the BYC have allegedly
been arrested by the Pakistan's Counter Terrorism Department or forcibly
disappeared, the BWF said while demanding their immediate release.
"In the span of around two months, several leaders and
workers of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee have been arrested, including their
Central Organiser Mahrang Baloch. These arrests have further intensified the
situation and are fueling the already growing hatred among the Baloch civilians
for state institutions. We are of the opinion that the so-called
parliamentarians and the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are intentionally
worsening the situations here, functioning solely as warlords," read a
statement issued by the BWF.
The BWF also revealed a detailed list of several BYC
activists illegally detained by the Pakistani forces.
"The Central Core Committee member of the BYC, Bebagr
Baloch, was abducted on March 20 from his home along with his brother Hammal.
They surfaced a day later in Bijligarh Police Station in Quetta. After over a
month and some days, Hammal was released but Bebagr is still in illegal
detention," the BWF stated.
"The Central Organiser of the BYC Mahrang Baloch was
arrested on March 22 after midnight when the police cracked down the protesting
sit-in with the dead bodies of three protesters killed by the police earlier.
Along with Mahrang Baloch, Baloch activist Beebow Baloch was also detained from
Saryab. During her detention, she was threatened and tortured inside the Hudda
Jail where she is imprisoned under the black law of Maintenance of Public Order
(MPO)," the BWF further stated.
Along with these leaders, numerous BYC activists are also
facing illegal detention and abuse in Pakistan while many are charged under the
draconian MPO law.
Highlighting the growing human rights violations, the BWF
stated that these two months have been testing months for the Baloch community.
"We have observed a rise in the cases of enforced
disappearances while several others were martyred in fake encounters and targetted
killings. While using acts as PECA and MPO to silence the dissents from
shouting out against the injustices, the LEAs have been fully working on
enhancing Baloch genocidal policies, including dumping bodies of several
already disappeared Baloch. We have continuously alarmed the state and its
notorious and concerned institutions to refrain from human-cum-Baloch rights
violations, but all in vain," read the BWF statement.
"We, at the Baloch Women Forum, denounce in the
harshest words the brutal police crackdown on Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC)
and, what we believe, illegal arrests of its leadership for around two months
under a colonial-cum-black-law of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO)," the
statement added.
The BWF mentioned that, as a stakeholder in Baloch politics,
it is severely concerned about the safety and fundamental rights of not only
the detained Baloch activists, but collectively for the Baloch as a nation.
The BWF called for the immediate release of detained BYC
activists and their family members; stop continuous harassment of peaceful
political workers and civilians; end to the growing number of target killings
and fake encounters in Balochistan; accountability for all those involved in
human rights violations of the Baloch; and, to let the Baloch live peacefully.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee is an organisation advocating
for the rights of the minority Baloch community in Pakistan.
