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Sibghatullah Shah Ji Baloch, a central member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), has been detained by Pakistani forces from his home in Quetta and is currently unaccounted for, according to a post by the BYC, as reported by The Balochistan Post (TBP).
"In yet another instance of state brutality, security personnel have taken our Central Committee leader from his residence in Satellite Town," the BYC remarked in a statement on X, as cited by TBP. This event occurred during a sustained crackdown in Balochistan, during which numerous senior BYC members, including Mahrang Baloch, Sammi Deen Baloch, Bebarg Zehri, and Beebow Baloch, were also been taken into custody. These arrests have sparked widespread demonstrations and international outcry, according to TBP. TBP reported that over 100 notable figures from civil society in Pakistan have penned an open letter to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pleading for the release of the detained BYC leaders. "Their arrests represent a clear effort to silence voices calling for an end to enforced disappearances and essential rights and justice for the people of Balochistan," the letter added, as reported by TBP. The letter voiced concerns about the treatment of female activists by law enforcement and condemned the use of "excessive force" against peaceful demonstrators, as noted in TBP's report. The signatories demand the immediate release of detained BYC leaders, an end to enforced disappearances, the commencement of a meaningful political dialogue with the Baloch population, and an investigation into alleged police brutality against activists through an independent inquiry, TBP reported. "The current crackdown on peaceful demonstrations, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan has instilled a climate of fear and suppression," the letter asserts, according to TBP. The letter claimed that the actions of the government's security forces in Balochistan are raising significant concerns regarding human rights violations, stating that "by obstructing the public's right to protest freely, the government is infringing upon the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which ensures the right to freedom of assembly and association," as quoted by TBP. (ANI)
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