The ProtectDefenders.eu, European Union’s human rights defenders mechanism, has raised serious concerns over the arbitrary detention of Baloch women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and judicial persecution of two lawyers, warning that the situation in Balochistan poses “grave risks to civic space and the rule of law.”
“We have received worrying information about the deteriorating health of WHRD Dr. Mahrang Baloch, who has been jailed since her arrest by Balochistan police on 22 March 2025 during a peaceful demonstration,” the organisation said in a statement.
Dr. Baloch is a prominent campaigner for the rights of the Baloch people and a leading figure in the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). ProtectDefenders.eu described her arrest as “a clear reprisal for her protest against police killings and the ongoing targeting of Baloch human rights defenders on false grounds of national security and counterinsurgency.”
The group said the protest on 22 March was held in response to “police violence against protesters from the previous day, the killing of three people, the injury of seven, and the arrest of Baloch human rights defenders.”
ProtectDefenders.eu also raised concern over the “attempted arbitrary arrest” of WHRD Sabiha Baloch on 5 April. It said her family has since faced threats in what appears to be “a direct reprisal for her human rights work in Balochistan.”
On the same day, the group said that another WHRD, Gulzadi Baloch, was “arbitrarily arrested with disturbing reports of excessive violence being used during the arrest.”
She is currently held at Hudda District Prison under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Act, which ProtectDefenders.eu said “severely restricts access to bail and fair legal process.”
“During her detention, the woman human rights defender has been denied access to medical treatment despite her worsening health condition, raising serious concerns for her well-being and safety in jail,” the group warned.
The statement also raised alarm over the “judicial harassment” of human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari and Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha.
“The two defenders are human rights lawyers who have represented countless victims of human rights violations, taking up sensitive cases of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and custodial violations,” it said.
On 20 March, summons were issued against both lawyers, which the organisation described as “a pattern of abuse and intimidation.”
“The defamation and legal persecution of Imaan Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha are reprisals for their human rights work and advocacy on behalf of victims and their families,” the statement added.
In a separate development, over a dozen UN human rights experts also issued a joint statement on Tuesday expressing concern over Pakistan’s counter-terrorism measures in Balochistan, warning that the government is “conflating legitimate human rights advocacy with terrorism.”
They described the widespread use of enforced disappearances as “a serious human rights violation and an international crime” and urged Pakistan to establish “independent and effective search and investigation mechanisms.”
Earlier in March, a group of UN experts also called on Pakistan to immediately release detained Baloch rights defenders, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and to end its crackdown on peaceful protest movements.