GENEVA: More than a dozen United Nations experts demanded Wednesday that Pakistan immediately release detained Baloch rights defenders and halt its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Among those arrested in recent days was Mahrang Baloch, one of Pakistan’s most prominent human rights advocates, who has long campaigned for the Baloch ethnic group.
She and other activists took part in a sit-in protest on Friday outside the University of Balochistan in the provincial capital of Quetta.
They demanded the release of members of their support group, whom they allege had been detained by security agencies.
“We have been monitoring with growing concern reports of alleged arrests and enforced disappearances of Baloch activists over the past number of months,” the independent experts said in a statement.
Police launched a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, arresting Baloch and other activists, during which at least three protesters died. Both sides blamed each other for the deaths.
On Sunday, Baloch and other protesters were charged with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.
In their statement, the experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, on minority issues and on counter-terrorism and human rights, decried “the use of excessive force as a first response to peaceful protests.”
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces and foreign nationals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Police actions against Baloch activists have intensified after Baloch separatists earlier this month launched a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.
“We understand the deeply traumatic impact of the March 11 terrorist attack, and we express our deepest sympathy to the victims,” said the experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.
“Yet a response which relies on arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and violent crackdowns on freedom of assembly cannot alleviate that trauma.”
In addition to Mahrang Baloch’s case, the experts highlighted the arrest on Monday of another woman human rights defender, Sammi Deen Baloch, along with others in front of the Karachi Press Club as they protested against the crackdown.
“We urge the Pakistani authorities to immediately release them and to refrain from abusing counter-terrorism or public safety measures against human rights defenders,” the experts said.
Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry said it had “taken note of the press release issued by certain UN experts, which appears to be based on selective and unverified media reports.”
“Regrettably, these comments lack balance and proportionality, downplaying civilian casualties inflicted by terrorist attacks,” the foreign ministry statement added.
 

ISLAMABAD: Zainab Tahir struggled to catch her breath as the steep incline of the hiking trail at Islamabad’s picturesque Margalla Hills tested her endurance. Hiking can put one through physical exertion, especially when they do it on an empty stomach. 

An hour before the sun sets and the call to prayer blares out from various mosques located in Pakistan’s capital city, a group of fitness enthusiasts take to the hiking trails in Margalla Hills National Park. 

Islamabad Run With Us (IRU), which describes itself as Pakistan’s “pioneering running community,” is behind the pre-iftar hiking initiative. 

“When you engage in pre-iftar [physical] activities during Ramadan, it gives you extra energy, an extra boost,” Qasim Naz, who founded IRU in 2016, told Arab News on hiking trail number three. 

“And when someone joins in on an activity once or twice, they figure out it’s not that hard and they can sustain it comfortably.”

Naz stresses that staying active during the holy month is essential. The IRU organizes five activities a week, which include two runs and three hikes.

“Either we can maintain our weight, or if our goal is weight loss, we can achieve it by being in a calorie deficit while eating a healthy diet and exercising,” Naz explained.

Tahir, 22, meanwhile said she was committed to reaching the top of hiking trail before sunset. This was the second time she was hiking with IRU. 

She agreed with Naz that group activities are “much easier” to sustain. 

“I think it is important to go at your own pace and it’s so much easier with the group,” Tahir, a content creator, told Arab News. 

“If you go alone, it’s kind of more difficult and you are like really slow but if you go with the group you can maintain that pace and I think it’s much easier that way.”

Mahwish Ashraf, a journalist associated with a foreign diplomatic mission in Islamabad, shared how she struggled the first time she went on a pre-iftar hike with IRU. 

“The first time I was hiking, I returned from in between, I couldn’t complete it,” she admitted. “So, this is my second time hiking with the IRU, and gladly, I’m at the main point, the meeting point.”

Eraj Khan, a commercial specialist visiting from Australia to spend Ramadan with his family, said pre-iftar hikes give one “lots of energy.” 

“For fat burning, it’s a great activity,” Khan said. “Especially because the last two hours of fasting are the hardest, most people feel really hungry. But so far, I’m loving it.”

As the clock continued to tick and evening settled in, the hikers began to pick up their pace. For Tahir, reaching the top of the trail before sunset was a victory in itself. 

She had pushed past exhaustion, embraced the challenge and proved to herself that she was capable of more than she thought she could achieve.

And according to her, hiking with the group made all the difference. 

“The energy of the group keeps you going,” she said. “Even when you feel like stopping, you see everyone else moving forward, and you push through.”