Rights group accuses Pakistan of intimidating Balochis during protest

Islamabad, July 29 As the sit-in outside the National Press Club in Islamabad completed two weeks, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) accused the Pakistani state of harassing and monitoring Baloch families.

In a statement on Tuesday, the rights group said that the Pakistani authorities have escalated efforts to isolate, intimidate and silence the Baloch people despite the protest calling for the release of BYC leaders and an end to enforced disappearances.

The BYC said that the road to the Press Club remains sealed while the intelligence agencies continue profiling participants of the protest. It slammed the authorities for not allowing Baloch people to set up a camp despite scorching heat and mentioned how several children and women faint daily due to extreme heat. The BYC expressed the Baloch people's resolve that they will not leave "until they are heard, until there is justice."

The ongoing protest calls for the release of BYC leaders and putting an end to enforced disappearances in Balochistan. The BYC has urged journalists, human rights defenders, democratic forces, and people to support the Baloch people. During the protest, Baloch women held pictures of their family members and banners which had the images of BYC leaders, including Mahrang Baloch, with the message that read, "Stop Collective Punishment Release BYC Leaders."

In a statement shared on X, BYC stated, "Day 14-Islamabad Sit-In: Two full weeks into the peaceful sit-in outside the National Press Club, Baloch families continue to face systematic harassment and surveillance by the Pakistani state. Despite their protest demanding the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and an end to enforced disappearances, the authorities have escalated efforts to isolate, intimidate, and silence them. The road to the Press Club remains sealed. Buses and barricades block the area, not to protect the public but to hide grieving mothers and children from public view."

"Intelligence agencies continue profiling participants. Male students are being filmed, identity cards are checked, and families are followed back to their temporary shelters. Amid intense heat, families are still not allowed to set up a camp. With no shade, several women and children faint daily due to heat exhaustion. Previously, they endured flooded rain without shelter - still, the state denied them basic rights. Yet these families remain unshaken. They refuse to leave until they are heard, until there is justice. We urge journalists, human rights defenders, civil society, and conscious citizens: Stand with them. Visit them. Amplify their voices. Break the silence," it added.

Despite the ongoing protests against enforced disappearances in Islamabad, a 15-year-old Baloch teenager was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani security forces from Kech district in Balochistan. On Tuesday, Paank, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, said that on July 24, 15-year-old Qamber Fida was abducted from his house in the Tump tehsil of Kech district in Meerabad.

"His abduction without charge or due process is a clear violation of international human rights law and constitutes a crime under the definition of enforced disappearance," the rights body said.

Paank strongly denounced the "ongoing crimes against humanity" in Balochistan, including "arbitrary detentions, disappearances, and repression of dissent".

The human rights body called on the Pakistani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Qamber Fida and ensure his safety, saying that "all enforced disappearances must end, and those responsible must be held accountable". "The rights to life, liberty, and security must be upheld without exception. Baloch lives matter, and the world must not stay silent," Paank asserted.

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