“Your solidarity is important to our cause”: Activists urge for global support against enforced disappearances in Balochistan

Balochistan [Pakistan], January 20 (ANI): Urging for global support against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, political activist Mahrang Baloch has said that the movement of Baloch protesters, which has entered its fourth phase, aims to raise awareness nationally and internationally.

Mahrang Baloch, in a message on X, appealed to people, especially the youth of Pakistan and worldwide, to support the campaign against the Baloch Genocide.

“We aim to tell people nationally and internationally about the ongoing Baloch Genocide,” she said.

“We appeal to people, especially the youth of Pakistan and worldwide, to support the campaign against the Baloch Genocide and encourage the spirit of Baloch women by supporting them and raising your voice for them everywhere. Your solidarity is important to our cause,” she further wrote on X.

Mahrang Baloch also underlined, that in order to raise awareness about the campaign against Baloch Genocide, several initiatives are being taken.

“In the current fourth phase of our movement, we aim to raise awareness nationally and internationally against ongoing rights abuses, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan,” the Baloch activist wrote on X.

“For this reason, we are undertaking several initiatives. One of many initiatives is organizing a conference beyond borders for oppressed people and launching various awareness campaigns in universities and colleges,” she added.

As the protest continues for over 50 days against the Baloch-enforced disappearances, Baloch activists Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch met with United Nations officials and discussed the ongoing human rights situation in Balochistan recently, as reported by the Balochistan Post.

The UN delegation included high-profile officials from the UN mission to Pakistan, Mio Sato, former Chief of the UN Mission and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Pakistan; Shah Nasir Khan, the UN’s Resident Coordinator Officer; and Mariam Shaikh, a communications advisor at the UN.

The Baloch activists presented details of the human rights violations in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the suppression of peaceful demonstrators advocating for Baloch rights.

They further highlighted threats faced by the Baloch protesters during protests and sit-ins, according to the Balochistan Post.

Notably, the meeting held between the UN officials and the Baloch activists was an initiative by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) to engage international bodies in addressing the human rights situation in Balochistan, the Balochistan Post reported.

Meanwhile, the BYC is advocating for the UN to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the region for an independent investigation into the reported violations.

Notably, the forced disappearances continue to occur in Balochistan on a daily basis, and to highlight that, the Baloch Yakjetti Committee (BYC) has been holding sit-ins against “Baloch genocide” and forced disappearances in Balochistan and Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for the past two months.

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on January 13 started a social media campaign #IStandWithBalochMarch to increase support for their movement throughout the world against enforced disappearances of the Baloch people.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the situation in Balochistan and bring together voices in support of justice, The Balochistan Post reported.