01 April 2025
The undersigned organizations express deep concern regarding the health and safety of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a Baloch human rights defender arrested by Pakistani Balochistan police on 22 March 2025 during a peaceful assembly. Dr. Mahrang Baloch is currently detained under troubling conditions at Hudda District Jail, where she has been denied adequate medical treatment despite the rapid deterioration of her health, likely caused by unsanitary food provided in detention.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch is a well-known activist courageously defending the rights of the Baloch people in Pakistan, consistently denouncing serious violations committed by security forces, the military, and intelligence agencies. She is a central figure in the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), documenting and highlighting these abuses. Her arrest is clearly a reprisal for her peaceful activism, particularly her prominent role in the Baloch Long March in November 2023 and the National Gathering in Gwadar in July 2024, both brutally repressed by authorities.
We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Pakistani authorities to:
• Immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Mahrang Baloch, whose arbitrary detention is intended to obstruct her legitimate human rights work;
• Immediately ensure unrestricted access to appropriate medical care, as well as visits from her family and lawyer without harassment or administrative barriers;
• Immediately cease targeting Baloch human rights defenders under the pretext of national security, and fully ensure their protection.
Endorsing Organisations :
• Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme (ECOSOC)
• Arc Association for Human Rights In Azerbaijan Iran (ECOSOC)
• Maloca Internationale (ECOSOC)
• Association culturelle tamoul en France -ACTF (ECOSOC)
• Solidarité Internationale pour la Paix -ASIP
• Alliance for Minority Rights
• Equality for All
• Baloch activists campaign
• Kurdish-Swiss Alliance
• Freehuman-Germany
• Ahwazi Source
• Voice of Balochistan Women -Bramsh
• Center of Reporters for Human Rights in Iranian Kurdistan
• Balochistan Human Rights Group
• HANA Human Rights Organization
• Shiwar Organization
#FreeMahrangBaloch #HumanRights #solidarity