The Baloch National Movement (BNM) held a peaceful protest in South Korea’s Busan, highlighting the persistent human rights abuses in Balochistan
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SEOUL — The Baloch National Movement (BNM) held a peaceful protest in South Korea’s Busan, highlighting the persistent human rights abuses in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, collective punishment and systematic military repression by Pakistani forces.
The demonstrations held on April 5 near Sasang Station were part of the ongoing BNM Global Campaign running from March 10 to April 9 and brought together Baloch community members, supporters, and solidarity activists.
According to the BNM, the protest aimed to raise international awareness and demand justice and freedom for the Baloch people, with informative pamphlets widely distributed to passers-by.
Addressing the participants, BNM member Bakhtawar Baloch delivered a speech in the Korean language to explain the dire situation in Balochistan to the local public and media, while calling for global solidarity against the atrocities by Pakistani forces.
“The participants raised strong slogans demanding freedom for Balochistan and strongly condemning the brutality of the Pakistani army. Slogans echoed calls for an end to enforced disappearances, the release of all missing persons, justice for victims, and freedom from occupation and repression,” the BNM stated.
The group stated that the “protest remained disciplined, peaceful, and visible in a busy public area, successfully drawing attention from locals and contributing to the international echo of the BNM Global Campaign. ”
The participants expressed solidarity with similar protests and advocacy events worldwide, including sessions at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, exposing human rights violations by the Pakistani authorities.
The BNM asserted that the demonstrations in Busan reaffirm its commitment to “peacefully exposing Pakistan’s atrocities and advocating for the fundamental rights, dignity, and self-determination of the Baloch people.”
Last month, the BNM accused the Pakistani authorities of serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture across Balochistan, during the 61st session of the UNHRC in Geneva.
Addressing the session, Naseem Baloch, chairman of the BNM, stated that the European Union granted Pakistan special trade status under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) with the expectation that Islamabad would comply with international conventions on human rights, labour rights, and democratic governance.
However, he added that the situation on the ground in Pakistan presents a starkly different picture.
For decades, Naseem said, the people of Balochistan have faced systematic and widespread human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and the suppression of political voices.
"Thousands of Baloch political activists, students, journalists, and ordinary civilians have been forcibly disappeared. Many are held in secret torture centres without access to courts or contact with their families. Some later reappear as mutilated bodies found on roadsides, a practice widely referred to as the 'kill-and-dump policy'," he detailed.