Balochistan issue raised at European Parliament in Brussels

Press Release: 1 October 201

Noordin Mengal and Nasser Boladai in Brussels

Brussels: Noordin Mengal and Nasser Boladai (Balochistan Peoples Party), representatives of the Baloch people in Pakistan and Iran respectively, made a three-day visit to the European Parliament in Brussels to raise awareness of the continued human rights abuses against Baloch people in both countries, and to urge the European Union to speak out against the continued systematic suppression exerted upon them by the Pakistani and Iranian regimes.

In a series of meetings, the Baloch representatives engaged in constructive dialogues with Members of the European Parliament, European officials, political advisers and human rights organisations. Boladai and Mengal explained in detail the severity of the human rights violations by the military that include, among others, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, torture, targeted killings, dumping of mutilated bodies, mass graves, military operation and bombardment of civilian populations and mass displacements. The Baloch representatives explained that the lives for the Baloch people continued to be of suffering and characterized by severely limited access to education and basic services such as electricity and water, restrictions on their freedom of association and expression and little space for political organizations campaigning for the rights of Baloch people. Discussions also focused on the issue of missing persons and summary executions, and the suffering faced by the families of the thousands of victims.

The Baloch representatives explained that the two states were carrying out the cultural, political, social, linguistic and physical genocide of the Baloch people. They highlighted the case of elimination of students, teachers, intellectuals, lawyers, doctors, artists, social and political activists and human rights defenders raising their voice for the rights of the Baloch people at the hands of the army and intelligence agencies. They spoke about Iran and Pakistan's efforts to forcibly impose their culture, language and radical religious ideologies on the secular Baloch people and highlighted the militarization of Balochistan and exploitation of the Baloch natural resources. They raised the issue of problems and threats faced by women and religious minorities. The two representatives also highlighted the threat of religious extremism and the role of the army and intelligence agencies in sponsoring and promoting it in the region, deliberately jeopardizing regional and global peace, stability and security.

Mengal and Boladai stressed that it was time for the international community including the EU to intervene in Balochistan. The representatives requested the European officials to hold accountable and take action against Pakistan and Iran for the endless atrocities being committed in Balochistan.

The general perception of the MEPs and NGOs was very positive to the call for the case of the Baloch. Several MEPs have agreed to cooperate in new initiatives to bring the situation in Pakistan and Iran under the attention of fellow politicians and specifically of the Subcommittee on Human Rights.