Islamabad, Nov 9 (IANS) A leading rights organisation, Human Rights Foundation (HRF), has called for the immediate release of Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch from prison in Pakistan and urged authorities to provide her medical care.

Mahrang Baloch, the founder of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), is serving two life sentences in Pakistan on politically motivated terrorism charges. Prior to serving life sentence in prison, Baloch regularly organised protests and events to highlight the enforced disappearance, torture, and killing of Baloch people, acccording to a statement by Human Rights Foundation in Genocide Watch.

She was arrested in March 2025 at a peaceful sit-in, where she was holding protest against the death of three individuals who had been killed at a protest the previous day, and eventually convicted under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act. She began her advocacy work as her father was kidnapped in 2009 and again in 2011 and later found, showing marks of torture. Her brother was kidnapped and released in December 2017 and forcibly disappeared in 2022.

In a letter from prison, Baloch recalled how she lost her father and others close to her. She mentioned that she wrote this letter from the prison where she has been imprisoned for raising her voice against injustice and human rights violations.

"Behind these walls, separated from my people and the world outside, I often reflect on the meaning of freedom, the price of resistance, and the responsibility we carry toward those whose voices have been silenced. For me, imprisonment is not an unfamiliar reality. My understanding of state violence began long before I entered this jail. My father, Ghaffar Baloch, was imprisoned here, and as a child, I visited him with Eid cards," Mahrang Baloch wrote in the letter.

"The pain of my childhood eventually became a responsibility that shaped my life. I joined the struggle against enforced disappearances because I could not accept a reality in which families spend years searching for their loved ones, mothers wait endlessly for their children, and people are punished for demanding answers. Whenever a disappeared person returns home, I experience a joy that reminds me of my father’s release. These moments reaffirm my belief that even the smallest step toward justice gives meaning to our struggle," she added.

Baloch's trial was conducted with due process violations and her hearings were held inside prison and was only allowed to participate through video. Apart from Mahrang Baloch, journalists and other observers were also not allowed to attend the trial. A trial cannot deliver genuine justice if the accused is not included in the process and their objections regarding the fairness are not addressed. Despite reports claiming that Mahrang Baloch's health has deteriorated in prison, she remains as committed as ever to peaceful advocacy for the Baloch people, according to HRF's statement in Genocide Watch.

"HRF demands that Pakistan release Dr. Baloch and provide her with medical care, and we join her in calling on the international community to stand up for freedom — for the Baloch people and for political prisoners everywhere," the HRF mentioned in a statement in Genocide Watch.

In September, Mahrang Baloch alleged that Pakistani authorities offered Baloch activists the option of settling in Europe in an attempt to persuade them to abandon their peaceful political struggle.

She said they were offered a deal under which one of them would be released to act on the authorities’ instructions, with the remaining detainees to be freed later.

Mahrang made the allegations in a statement posted on X where she also condemned the life imprisonment handed down to BYC leader Gulzadi Baloch by a Pakistani court on September 21.

“We were even offered that if we complied with their demands, one person among us would be released; that person would go out and act on their instructions, and then the rest would also be released. We were also offered to settle in Europe for two or three years. We rejected all such offers, including these, because our struggle is not for any temporary concession, privileges, or personal gain,” she stated.

Criticising the court’s decision to sentence Gulzadi Baloch to life imprisonment, Mahrang said the verdict reflects “ongoing mockery of justice in Balochistan and the continued process of suppressing peaceful political voices.”

She also raised serious concerns over the conduct of the trial, alleging that witnesses were cross-examined in the absence of defence counsel, the defence was not given a full opportunity to present its case, and orders were passed in the absence of the accused and their lawyers.

Against this backdrop, she questioned the court's proceedings and the circumstances surrounding the trial, including pressure and lack of impartiality, asking whether such conduct could truly be regarded as justice.

“Gulzadi Baloch is not an unknown face; she is our comrade and a part of our struggle. A life sentence may be imposed to silence her, but our voice against the injustice done to her cannot be imprisoned. Gulzadi's sentence is proof of the immense pressure and coercion faced by peaceful political struggle in Balochistan today," Mahrang stated.

--IANS

akl/as