Urgency of Addressing the Plight of Pakistan’s Baloch People Highlighted at UNPO Side-Event in Geneva

Geneva: On 11 March 2016, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) convened a side-event to the 31st Human Rights Council Session in Geneva. With nearly 100 participants attending, the inter­national conference entitled “Faces of Oppression: Human Rights Violations in Balochistan” succeeded in drawing much needed attention to the seemingly intractable and unending cycle of human rights violations in Balochistan.

Opening the conference, Baloch leader Mehran Baluch, human rights campaigner Noordin Mengal and UNPO’s Fernando Burgés highlighted the importance and timeliness of the issue under discussion, as millions of people living in Balochistan suffer on a daily basis at the hand of state-led tyranny and oppression.

Baloch Representatives Discuss Human Rights Situation With Brussels Institutions

Brussels: Human rights campaigner Noordin Mengal and Baloch Peoples Party representative Nasser Boladai, representatives of the Baloch people in Pakistan and Iran respectively, made a visit to Brussels to raise awareness of the ongoing human rights violations against Baloch people in the two countries, and to urge the European Union to take measures against the unrelenting systematic suppression exercised by the Pakistani and Iranian authorities.

The meetings allowed the Baloch representatives to engage in constructive dialogue with Members of the European Parliament, the European Parliament’s Presidential Cabinet, representatives of the EU’s diplomatic service – the European External Action Service [EEAS], political advisors, and human rights organisations.

The Line of Freedom (A True Story) – Pakistan’s Dirty War against Baloch

Production Info:

In early 2012, brothers Noordin and Bhawal Mengal decided to make a film about the ongoing human rights crisis in Balochistan, a large province in south-western Pakistan. The producers commissioned a British filmmaker, David Whitney, to make the film with their help.

After a lengthy development phase, shooting began on the “The Line of Freedom” in September 2012. The cast and crew braved high temperatures in the desert and mountains to shoot this short film at an undisclosed location.

‘Baloch sufferings at their peak’

Geneva: The worsening situation in Balochistan should be of grave concern for the world as the ripple effects of the crisis will be detrimental to the future of the wider region and world, says Noordin Mengal, a Baloch representative at the UN Human Rights Council who has highlighted human rights issues at international forums.

Baloch and Kashmiris hold a Demonstration at the United Nations in Geneva

GENEVA: A large number of Baloch and Kashmiri protesters gathered at the Broken Chair in front of the United Nations in Geneva to denounce the alleged human rights violations against the Baloch and Kashmiri people by Pakistan.

U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher Demands Referendum in Balochistan on the Question of Independence

Brussels, 25 February 2013 – In an effort to shed light on the key role Balochistan plays in South Asia, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) convened a conference entitled “Global and Regional Security Challenges in South Asia: What Future for Balochistan”, which took place at The Royal Society, London on 24 February 2013. Key speaker at this conference, U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, gave a poignant speech urging for the freedom of the Baloch people. The Congressman requested a referendum to be held in Balochistan on the question of independence, which would challenge the claims by Islamabad that the Baloch want to be part of Pakistan. Dana Rohrabacher called for Pakistani officials to be tried for war crimes. Congressman Brian Higgins (D-NY) was also present.

• Conference Programme
• Speaker Biographies
• Conference Declaration on the Restoration of the Rights of the Baloch People in light of Regional and Global Security.
• Hammal Haider Baloch (BNM’s Foreign Spokesperson) Speech
• Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur’s speech at the UNPO conference

From Gwadar to Zahedan: A Common Story of Discrimination for the Baloch People

Representatives of Baloch Communities in Iran and Pakistan urge European Union to speak out against the continued violation of human rights

Brussels: Mr. Nasser Boladai and Mr. Noordin Mengal, representatives of the Baloch people in Iran and Pakistan respectively, visited Brussels to raise awareness of the continued human rights violations against Baloch people in both countries, and to urge the European Union to speak out against the systematic suppression exerted upon them by the Iranian and Pakistani regimes.

بد اعتمادی کے بیج – ترجمہ: لطیف بلیدی

نورالدین مینگل کا دی انٹرنیشنل ریسورس جرنل (آئی آر جے) کو دیا گیا انٹرویو

نورالدین مینگل، جنوب مغربی پاکستان میں ایران اور افغانستان کی سرحد سے ملحق معدنی دولت سے مالا مال صوبہ بلوچستان کی آزادی کے حصول کیلئے ایک سرگرم کارکن ہیں۔

بلوچستان کی قیادت اور پاکستان کے صوبہ پنجاب اور مرکزی حکومت اسلام آباد کی حکمران اسٹابلشمنٹ کے درمیان تلخ تعلقات کئی نسلوں پر محیط ہیں۔ مینگل کا دعویٰ ہے کہ ان کے خاندان کے افراد، جوکہ اُس وقت سے بلوچستان حکومت میں مختلف اعلیٰ عہدوں پر فائز رہے ہیں جب 1948 میں اسکا پاکستان کیساتھ الحاق کیا گیا تھا، اب اُن کو ہراساں کرنے، قید و بند میں رہنے اور دوروئی کا سامنا کرنا پڑ رہا ہے۔

اس کے علاوہ، بلوچستان میں انسانی حقوق کی صورتحال تیزی سے پرتشدد ہورہی ہے جسطرح سے ان خلاف ورزیوں میں شدت آتی جارہی ہے۔ ماہرین تعلیم، سیاست دانوں اور دیگر سول سوسائٹی رہنماو ں کو قتل کیا جارہا ہے جس پر پاکستان کی فوج کی طرف سے حراست میں لیے جانے کے بعد تشدد کے ثبوت سامنے آرہے ہیں۔

ایمنسٹی انٹرنیشنل نے حکومت پاکستان سے اپیل کی ہے کہ وہ بلوچ شہریوں کیخلاف ان جرائم کی تحقیقات کرے، خاص طور پر انسانی حقوق کی خلاف ورزیوں کی اور اسکے پس منظر میں صوبے میں موجود سیاسی بے چینی اور جاری پاکستانی فوج کے آپریشن کی۔

اس صورتحال نے اس سال کے اوائل میں ری پبلیکن قیادت میں ایک امریکی ہاو س کمیٹی کی بھی حوصلہ افزائی کی جس نے بلوچستان کے تاریخی حق خود ارادیت کو ماننے کا اعلان کیا، جسکی پاکستان نے شدید مخالفت کی تھی۔

ہر کوئی اس پسماندہ خطے میں اتنی دلچسپی کیوں لے رہا ہے، جوکہ جنوبی ایشیا کے غریب ترین علاقوں میں سے ایک ہے؟

Seeds of distrust

 Noordin Mengal is an activist in pursuit of independence for Balochistan, a mineral rich province in southwestern Pakistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan.

The acrimonious relationship between leadership in Balochistan and Pakistan’s ruling establishment in Punjab province and government centre, Islamabad, goes back for generations. Mengal claims that members of his family, many who occupied various senior roles in the Balochistan government since the province was absorbed into Pakistan in 1948, have faced harassment, imprisonment and duplicity.

Moreover, the human rights situation in Balochistan is becoming increasingly violent as abuses intensify. Academics, politicians and other civil society leaders have been found murdered with evidence of torture after being detained by Pakistan’s military.

Amnesty International has urged the Pakistan government to investigate these crimes against Baloch civilians, particularly as the human rights violations take place against a backdrop of political unrest and Pakistan army operations in the province.

The situation has also prompted a US Republican-led House Committee earlier this year to affirm Balochistan’s historic right to self-determination amid vehement opposition from Pakistan.

Why is everybody so interested in this underdeveloped region, one of the poorest in South Asia?

Rep. Rohrabacher to DHS: Don’t Use Visas as Political Weapon Against Baluchs

US government needs to “end its partnership with the ISI in repressing the Balochi people”

Washington, May 10 – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano inquiring about the 2008 incident when the representative to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization for Baluchistan, Noordin Mengal, was denied entry into the United States. Mr. Mengal is a British citizen and carried a British passport, but was still detained entry at Newark’s Liberty Airport and put on a flight out of the United States. Additionally, in 2010 Mr. Mengal was denied a visa to come to the United States specifically to address a meeting sponsored by an organization associated with a major university regarding human rights in Baluchistan. He was personally invited by the highly respected organizer of the event.