Baloch activists demand suspension of Pak's membership from UNHRC

Highlighting the human rights violations by the Pakistan security forces, Baloch activists have demanded the suspension of Islamabad's membership from the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Addressing a conference in Geneva on Wednesday, the activists said that unless the Pakistan government takes steps to recover the missing people, who have been abducted by the security forces, the council should suspend the country's membership, Bolan Times reported.

Prominent Baloch activists like Naela Qadri Baloch, Mama Qadeer Baloch and Shaukat Ali Kashmiri also highlighted the enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and mass killing of political and human rights activist by Pakistan.

The Voice for Missing Baloch Persons (VBMP) vice president, Mama Qadeer Baloch, said that the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have slaughtered 10,000 Baloch people since 1948. He vowed that the organisation would continue to hold protests and rallies till they got information on the victims of enforced disappearances.

Recalling an incident, Qadeer informed that when he was leading a long march, the Pakistani forces had threatened to kill him and his supporters participating in the agitation.

He further said that on a single day, nearly 50 people are being killed in Balochistan by the security forces.

Norwegian Human Rights lawyer, Randi Hagen Spydevold, expressed grave concerns on the worsening human rights violations in Pakistan and said that if urgent steps were not taken, then the country would become like North Korea.

She said that the ISI and Pakistan Army do not want to let the human rights to function smoothly in Pakistan.

United Kashmir People's National Party chairman, Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, also echoed similar sentiments saying that the Pakistani government, military and ISI acted like mafia under the law. He also questioned the silence of Pakistan's judiciary and said that it did not take cognisance of the worsening human rights violations in the country.

He chided the ISI for harbouring terrorists and extremists inside Pakistan and said that it would further aggravate the already worsening grim situation in the country.

The President of the World Baloch Women's Forum, Naela Quadri Baloch, said that Pakistani forces forcefully occupied Balochistan, as it is rich in minerals and also because of its proximity to the sea. She expressed concerns that since the signing of USD 63 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) deal between Islamabad and Beijing, atrocities against the Baloch people have increased at an alarming rate.

The conference was organised by the 'Baloch Voice Association' and was moderated by its head and Baloch activist, Munir Mengal.