Baloch protesters demand UN to act against Pakistan for human rights violations

Held under the aegis of the Baloch Voice Association, the demonstrations highlighted the crimes committed by the Pakistani security agencies and blamed them for kidnapping and brutally killing Baloch political activists.

Head of Baloch Voice Association, Munir Mengal said, "We intend to get the attention of the United Nations and its rapporteur about the human rights abuses in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the people in Balochistan are facing military operations, they are facing enforced disappearances, our identity is under threat, our land is occupied".

He added, "So, we are requesting from this organization that they have to play a role with respect to helping those people who are facing military operation from the state bodies from a country which is a member state of UN. So this has a big responsibility to play a role to at least ask its member state to stop those military operations and its an obligation to help those people who are asking for their right to self-determination".

Another protester, Naela Quadri Baloch, President of World Baloch Women's Forum, said that the atrocities on the Balochs have intensified since after the launch of multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

"Stop CPEC - because it is a death sentence for Baloch people and we are demanding from United Nations that they should materialize their treaties and their conventions which are to protect the people from genocide and from torture that Baloch people are going through and they should meterialise their treaties for the rights of indigenous people like from where they are constructing CPEC, the people are deprived of going to fish for the drinking water the resources are control by Chinese companies and our kids are dying of thrust and hunger," Naela said.

"So, we are demanding here that the UN should intervene and send a monitoring mission to Balochistan to find what is going on there. There are mass graves and they should do DNA of our people who are missing," she added.

A large number of people from Balochistan are missing, who are allegedly languishing in torture cells. Many of them are believed to have been killed by security agencies.

For several months, the victim families continue to hold protests outside the Quetta Press Club, but the authorities fail to listen to their woes.