QUETTA: Rahim Baloch, Advocate and former Secretary General of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), has strongly condemned the government’s decision to place bounties on several Baloch political leaders, calling the move a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms.
In a statement, Rahim Baloch said that setting bounties on former BSO Central Secretary General and BNM leader Mir Safeer Baloch, Free Balochistan Movement leader Mir Hyrbyair Marri, Baloch Republican Party chief Mir Brahamdagh Bugti and other Baloch political leaders is highly condemnable. He described the government’s action as entirely contrary to basic human rights and civil liberties.
He stated that the issue of Balochistan is not merely a security matter but one of freedom and the right to self-determination. He referred to Article 1(2) of the United Nations Charter, Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 (XV), all of which recognize the right of peoples to determine their political future, control their economic resources, and preserve their cultural identity.
Rahim Baloch further said that restricting the right of BNM and other Baloch political parties to organize and conduct political activities, criminalizing dissent, arresting leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and human rights activists under what he described as false charges, and labeling Baloch political leadership as terrorists are actions that contradict fundamental international human rights principles, particularly freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to a fair and transparent legal process.
He added that using the actions of Baloch armed groups as justification to suppress the broader political voice of the Baloch nation, while allegedly adopting enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings as policy, amounts to collective punishment. He termed such measures as oppressive and said they weaken prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Baloch national issue.
He concluded by stating that the solution to the Balochistan issue does not lie in the use of state force and violence, but in recognizing the Baloch nation’s right to freedom and self-determination, providing international guarantees and frameworks for political dialogue, and ensuring respect for human rights.
