I am writing to express my deepest concerns about a serious issue: the arrest of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other leaders and workers of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a prominent Baloch human rights defender who was arrested by the Quetta police in the early hours of 22nd March, 2025, when she was sitting in a peaceful protest for human rights in Quetta’s Sariyab road. Her demands were legal which demanded the release of extra-judicially arrested Baloch, including their central core committee member, Bebarg Baloch.
It was not the first time she was on the roads at the forefront to voice against the enforced disappearances in Balochistan. She has always asked the state to give the illegally detained sons to their mothers, brothers to their their sisters and fathers to their children. One cannot imagine the actual number of forcibly disappeared persons which exceed in thousands.
In the initial phase of her arbitrary detention, no one, including her family and legal counsel, was allowed to meet her. After court orders, though meeting her was permitted, but days later, the higher court disappointed in making a decision out of their coat, sending the case to the home department of the Balochistan government – literally against which the petition was filed.
Dr and her team have always campaigned peacefully for the rights of the Baloch people and against the systemic human rights violations committed by state authorities – particularly, the use of excessive and illegal power and force on civilians in Balochistan. But now that they are imprisoned under a suspicious Maintenance of Public Order, the people at large fear further infliction of their fundamental human rights including that of representation in a formal court of law.
Apart from this, the law enforcement agencies have been continuously attacking violently on the peaceful protesters across the Baloch regions. They use live bullets, tear gas and baton-charge the protesters who have always been calm and demanding their rights. During these tensed situations, many civilians have been injured, arrested and, in fact, some have been killed. Such violence will further contribute in raising the anger of the indigenous people.
For the smooth functioning of the system, the state authorities need to release all the BYC leaders and workers, and put an end to the grave human rights violations in Balochistan. Because more violations will only create further violation from both ends, which will do nothing but deteriorate the circumstances and distort the peace.
