ISLAMABAD/GENEVA: After more than a dozen United Nations experts called for the immediate release of detained Baloch rights defenders and a halt on crackdown against peaceful protests, the Foreign Office hit back, saying that the statement disregarded “crimes committed by miscreants”.

“We have been monitoring with growing concern reports of alleged arrests and enforced disappearances of Baloch activists over the past number of months,” AFP reported, quoting a statement from the independent experts.

The experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, on minority issues and on counter-te­r­rorism and human rights, dec­ried “the use of excessive force as a first response to peaceful protests”.

“We understand the deeply traumatic impact of the March 11 terrorist attack, and we express our deepest sympathy to the victims,” said the experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.

In addition to Mahrang Baloch’s case, the experts highlighted the arrest on Monday of another woman human rights defender, Sammi Deen Baloch, along with others in front of the Karachi Press Club as they protested against the crackdown.

“We urge the Pakistani authorities to immediately release them and to refrain from abusing counter-terrorism or public safety measures against human rights defenders,” the experts said.

FO response

Although the Foreign Office statement did not mention the BYC or Mahrang Baloch by name, it referred to the group as “enablers” of terrorists and accused them of “operating in collusion with terrorists —evident from their coordinated efforts to obstruct State responses, including synchronized roadblocks facilitating terrorist attacks”.

It said the statement issued by certain UN experts appears to be based on “selective and unverified media reports”.

It accused the experts’ comments of “downplaying civilian casualties inflicted by terrorist attacks while disregarding the crimes committed by miscreants who deliberately disrupt public services, obstruct freedom of movement, and create an atmosphere of insecurity”.

“The latest proof of this nexus was their unlawful storming of the District Hospital in Quetta, where they forcibly seized the bodies of five terrorists eliminated during the Jaffar Express hostage rescue operation. Three of these bodies were retrieved back from these violent protestors by the police,” it said.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025