Geneva, March 20 (NationPress) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) has urgently appealed to the global community to intervene against the rampant human rights violations occurring in Balochistan. They accuse the Pakistani government of manipulating legal frameworks to suppress dissent, target innocent civilians, and methodically silence voices from the region.

During a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, representatives from the BNM brought attention to enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on freedom of expression, which they claim form part of a deliberate strategy to repress the Baloch populace.

While addressing the 61st session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Mahra Baloch, an active member of the BNM, stated that civilians across the province face collective punishment merely for their existence.

“In Balochistan, an entire community is being punished for existing. Under the pretense of counterterrorism, the Pakistani government has weaponized the law, criminalizing dissent, erasing lives, and silencing a whole nation. The Anti-Terrorism Act of Pakistan has been misappropriated to label Baloch students, activists, and human rights advocates as so-called proscribed individuals. This designation strips them of their freedom, curtails their right to travel, and subjects them to ongoing threats,” Mahra emphasized.

In 2025 alone, the Human Rights Department of BNM, known as Paank, recorded 1355 instances of enforced disappearances and 225 extrajudicial killings throughout Balochistan.

Mahra underscored that these figures are not just numbers; they represent individuals forcibly taken from their homes, students abducted from educational institutions, and bodies returned as grim warnings.

Addressing the hardships faced by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leadership, she mentioned, “Mahrang Baloch, a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, has been unlawfully detained, denied medical treatment, and targeted solely for her peaceful advocacy.”

“Internet blackouts, mass surveillance, and collective punishments are commonplace, orchestrated to prevent the world from witnessing the atrocities occurring in Balochistan,” Mahra continued.

Stressing that silence permits these crimes to continue, she urged the international community to compel Pakistan to cease these violations immediately, release all arbitrarily detained Baloch activists, and undertake independent and transparent inquiries into enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Earlier that Wednesday, Jamal Baloch, the media coordinator for the human rights organization Paank, noted that abuses are escalating in tandem with projects associated with the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.

“I address this council to shed light on the systematic human rights violations in Balochistan perpetrated by Pakistan, bolstered by the strategic and economic partnership with China. In Balochistan, enforced disappearances have become state policy. The military operates above the law, abducting students, journalists, educators, and political activists,” Jamal stated.

He asserted that “peaceful dissent is classified as terrorism,” adding that women-led civil rights movements such as BYC are suppressed, with all districts in Balochistan subjected to internet blackouts to conceal military activities and silence victims.

“These crimes have intensified alongside projects linked to the China-Pakistan economic corridor, aimed at securing strategic interests and resource extraction. The Pakistani military has escalated repression and militarized civilian lives,” Jamal concluded.