QUETTA/TURBAT, BALOCHISTAN: The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has launched a widespread public awareness and pamphlet distribution campaign across several areas of Quetta and Turbat, protesting ongoing human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, and judicial proceedings against its leadership by Pakistani forces.
According to the organization, BYC Shaal Zone distributed pamphlets in various commercial and residential areas of Quetta, including Killi Qambrani, Sariyab, Samangali, Brewery Road, and Liaquat Bazaar. The campaign aimed to inform the public about what BYC described as the unlawful detention of its leaders for the past 14 months and the use of secret or “faceless trials” in courts.
The pamphlet said that human and national rights violations in Balochistan have a long history, claiming that no home remains safe and that anyone associated with Baloch identity is considered a potential threat. It claimed that incidents of bodies being discovered, civilians being subjected to torture, and individuals from various walks of life being forcibly disappeared continue to occur regularly.
The pamphlet further said: “Pakistan has always used different tactics to maintain this situation against the Baloch nation. At times, youth are linked to armed organizations; at other times, women are forcibly disappeared and made to hold press conferences under duress. Even today, Baloch political leaders are being branded as foreign agents or extremists to construct a particular narrative, allowing them to be unlawfully imprisoned.”
The organization stated that it has been engaged in a conscious struggle against state oppression since its founding, citing the killing of Hayat Baloch and what it described as the extrajudicial killing of Balach Mola Bakhsh and hundreds of others in staged encounters as examples where the organization has stood at the forefront. BYC claimed its leadership has now been detained for over 14 months for raising the same voice, alleging this is intended to advance what it called a policy of Baloch genocide quietly.
During the campaign in Turbat and Quetta, BYC highlighted what it described as the state’s use of “faceless trials” to suppress peaceful activists and silence dissenting voices. The organization said such measures constitute serious violations of the fundamental right to an open and transparent trial, alleging that legal processes are being misused to target those who speak out against security forces.
The pamphlet concluded with an appeal to the public to unite under the BYC platform and become a voice for their detained leaders. It urged that the message of national awareness be carried to every household and called on people to remain prepared to come out onto the streets in a unified show of support to secure the safe return of their loved ones from prison, stating that no path other than an organized movement was available.
