Dublin [Ireland], June 15 : The Front Line Defenders (FD), a human rights organization based in Dublin, Ireland, condemned the First Information Report (FIR) and false sedition charges filed against Mahrang Baloch, a prominent Baloch rights activist from Balochistan, Pakistan, a statement by the FD stated.
The statement highlighted that an FIR was filed against Mahrang Baloch, including charges of sedition linked to a conference held on May 18.
The event which was to take place at the Quetta Press Club was disrupted by Quetta police. The police locked the gate of the press club preventing the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) members from attending the conference.
The same statement by the FD further stressed that when the BYC members entered the premises, the SSP Operation and Quetta DIG cordoned off the press club building and the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation (QMC) office until the conference was concluded.
"No clear reasons were provided for the unlawful blockade on the press club. Undeterred by the threats, intimidation and reprisal, the BYC continued the planned event, which highlighted human rights issues in Balochistan," the statement read.
There was a particular emphasis on the rights and concerns of residents in Gwadar - a coastal town in Balochistan - where residents have experienced increasing militarization and attempts to forcibly displace local populations.
This displacement has been motivated by the desire to make way for state development programmes linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the building of a new port, it added.
The Baloch activist and the members of BYC in the FIR were accused of offences, including unlawful assembly, deterring public servants from discharging their duty, rioting, condemnation of the creation of the state, advocacy of the abolition of its sovereignty, and sedition.
Mahrang Baloch is already facing two other cases that were filed against her during the 2023 long march, which was led by her from Balochistan to Islamabad but was not received by the administration in the Pakistani capital.
The statement further stated that the Front Line Defenders strongly condemned the false criminal cases filed against Mahrang Baloch, including the sedition and targeting of members of the BYC.
The FD stated, "It believes these attacks to be a reprisal for their peaceful campaigns against atrocities in Balochistan. The State has consistently sought to frame Baloch human rights defenders as terrorists, militants and anti-state, targetting them through legal and extra-legal measures such as threats, intimidation and opening of false legal cases as punishment for their human rights work. Women human rights defenders, including families of the disappeared, are forced to work and campaign in extremely hostile conditions when responding to the threats."
Moreover, they also face disinformation and misinformation campaigns propagated by the state and aimed at discrediting and silencing their work.
The FD further called on the office-bearers of the Pakistani government to immediately drop all charges against her, end the reprisals against Baloch human rights defenders and create an enabling environment where human rights defenders in Pakistan can carry out their work safely with dignity.
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