Front Line Defenders call for the Pakistani authorities to be held accountable for their mistreatment and abuse of prominent Baloch woman human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other human rights defenders accompanying her in Karachi, on 8 October 2024. The woman human rights defender was attacked by Sindh police while she was returning from the Karachi’s Jinnah international airport after immigration authorities denied her permission to leave the country.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a woman human rights defender and a staunch advocate for the rights of the ethnic Baloch community in Pakistan. She has campaigned peacefully against systemic violations including extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and custodial torture in Balochistan. Human rights defenders speaking out against state violence, especially seeking to hold the military and intelligence agencies accountable, undertake significant risks – against themselves and their families.
On 7 October 2024, Pakistani authorities prevented Dr. Mahrang Baloch from leaving the country. The woman human rights defender was to attend an event in New York organized by TIME which had named her in the TIME100 Next 2024 List recognizing her human rights work. Unfortunately immigration officers at the Karachi airport withheld her passport for several hours and denied her permission to board her flight without any legal basis or reasoning. Dr. Mahrang Baloch finally left the airport at around midnight after she recovered her passport. Shortly after, her vehicle was intercepted by a group of officers from the Sindh police on the old airport road in close proximity to the airport. Police brutally beat and abused Dr. Mahrang Baloch and several other human rights defenders including Sammi Deen Baloch. Police illegally seized Dr. Mahrang’s passport and mobile phone. They also took the vehicle keys, leaving the human rights defenders stranded on a deserted road at late hours in the night.
Reprisals including restrictions on travel are common in Pakistan, especially for those who speak out against state repression. In August 2024, Sammi Deen Baloch, the Front Line Defenders award winner for 2024 was prevented from traveling to Geneva for an advocacy mission to highlight human rights issues in Balochistan. The attack on Dr. Mahrang Baloch is not an isolated incident. It spotlights what many human rights defenders in Pakistan face as punishment for their work. Human rights defenders from oppressed communities such as the Baloch are especially targeted. State response to peaceful campaigns by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (Baloch Solidarity Committee) has been to suppress protests and campaigns with brute force and repressive measures including criminalization.
https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-baloch-baluch-rights-travel-ban/33151431.html
This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.