Protesters hold Free Balochistan protest in Geneva

Silent protests were organised at various offices of the United Nations in Geneva to raise the issue of human rights violations in Pakistan's Balochistan province.

The protesters were carrying umbrellas and wearing shirts of 'Free Balochistan' to demand a sovereign Baloch state and make the UN aware of brutal atrocities being committed against the Baloch people by Pakistan Army and spy agencies, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence.

The protest was organised by Balochistan House during the ongoing 37th Session of UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Despite being a resource-rich province, Balochistan is facing an acute poverty and discrimination by Islamabad.

Pakistan army and intelligence agencies are allegedly behind enforced disappearances, torture and killings of political activists and other intellectuals from the province.

In an estimate, over 45,000 Baloch people are missing from Balochistan. The mutilated dead bodies of many were recovered from isolated places.

The ongoing multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor (CPEC) adds to the woes of indigenous Baloch people as it not only exploits their resources but poses a threat to their social, cultural and ethnic diversity.

Activists believe that the Pakistan government was violating human rights of the locals by imposing a foreign-led project in Balochistan, without consultation.

The people in Balochistan have been fighting for independence, claiming that they were a sovereign nation before getting occupied by Pakistan in 1948.