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India Today
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Baloch women now face brutality of Pakistani establishment
Enforced disappearances, the ruthless tactic of the Pakistani establishment's playbook long used on Baloch men, children, and the elderly, is now being unleashed on women. Women are the new targets of human rights violations in Balochistan, a province where flags of independence have been raised by rebels. Mahjabeen Baloch, a 24-year-old, became the latest victim of the Pakistani state's suppression. She was kidnapped in the last week of disappearance is part of a trend in Balochistan. Since the detention and subsequent arrest of Balochistan's lioness Mahrang Baloch in March, the restive province has seen an uptick in women being targeted, a trend that the Baloch Women Forum says "reflects an alarming escalation in the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan".An enforced disappearance is an "arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law", says the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).advertisement In Balochistan, the duration of enforced disappearances varies, with many missing for years and some for as long as 18 years. The bodies of some are found years later, dumped or buried in desolate trend of forced disappearances of Baloch women comes even as Pakistan reels under a surge of Baloch armed rebel activity, which has shaken its internal security and its keeper, the military Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had in May admitted that the "state's grip on Balochistan is slipping, especially after nightfall". Amid these growing internal fissures, Army Chief Asim Munir is visibly tightening his BALOCH ABDUCTED DAYS AFTER HER BROTHER'S DISAPPEARANCEIn the early hours of May 29, Mahjabeen Baloch, a 24-year-old library science student at the University of Balochistan, was forcibly detained by personnel from Pakistan's Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies. She was picked up from Quetta's Civil Hospital, and since then, her whereabouts remain unknown, reported The Balochistan detention came less than a week after her brother, Muhammad Younus, an engineering student, was also forcibly taken away from their home in Basima, a town in central was reportedly abducted during a night raid carried out by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).advertisement"Our homes have been raided repeatedly by security forces. Our loved ones have been taken from their beds and their mutilated bodies dumped in desolate places... Many still remain lost in the darkness of enforced disappearance," Mahjabeen's family Baloch Women Forum (BWF) has condemned the incident, and said Mahjabeen's disappearance is the latest example of a growing pattern of "state violence against Baloch women".A HISTORY OF REPRESSIVE ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN BALOCHISTANSecessionist sentiment in Balochistan traces back to what many see as Muhammad Ali Jinnah's betrayal in 1948, when the Khan of Kalat was coerced into acceding to Pakistan despite earlier assurances of decades, Balochistan has been a hotbed of unrest, with the ethnic Baloch people agitating against what they perceive as exploitation by the Pakistani establishment, and the Chinese, and their interests tied to projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).The Pakistani military and security forces have used enforced disappearances as a tool to suppress dissent, targeting men, children, and the elderly suspected of supporting Baloch nationalist movements or criticising state disappearances often involve abductions without legal process, followed by torture, and in some cases, extrajudicial stark example is the case of Abdul Ghaffar Langove, a Baloch nationalist and father of activist Mahrang Baloch. Abducted in 2009, his body was found in 2011, bearing signs of severe discoveries are not uncommon; families often find the bodies of their loved ones dumped in remote areas, disfigured beyond recognition, as a warning to to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED), 2,752 active cases of enforced disappearances were recorded in Balochistan as of January 2024, though human rights groups like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) estimate the number to be closer to 7,000 since UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern in September 2024 about the "increasing rate of enforced disappearance among persons belonging to ethnic minority groups in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces".TARGETING OF BALOCH WOMEN IS A DISTURBING NEW TRENDWith men locked up and killed by Pakistani security agencies, Baloch women have taken on more prominent roles in protests and activism, through movements like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). As a result, they have also become direct targets of state women have also become suicide bombers for the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as part of the armed to Mahjabeen's detention, the Balochistan-based National Democratic Party said that "for years, Baloch men, elderly and young alike, have faced enforced disappearances", and warned that this "cruel trend has now extended to Baloch women", according to a report in The Balochistan Baloch, the 32-year-old doctor-turned-BYC leader, was arrested on March 22, during a peaceful sit-in in Quetta, alongside her sister Mehran-e-Sareng. For nearly 12 hours, their whereabouts were unknown. She has been charged with terrorism, sedition and February 2023, Mahal Baloch, a 28-year-old mother of two, was detained by the CTD in Quetta after a raid on her home. Her young daughters were also detained overnight. In another case, Rasheeda Zehri was forcibly taken away in February 2023, marking an early instance of this precise numbers of women abducted are harder to verify due to under-reporting, the BWF has noted that the targeting of women is a "deeply disturbing development" that violates cultural norms and human UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, expressed concern over the detention of Mahrang and other women, urging Pakistani authorities to "refrain from abusing counter-terrorism or public safety measures against human rights defenders".advertisement"Mahrang Baloch's case highlights the increasing targeting of women activists in Pakistan. Women who challenge the status quo face not only political persecution but also threats of gender-based violence," Amnesty International's coordinator for Pakistan, Irfan Ali, they came for the Baloch men, then the children and the elderly, now the women. And this signals a troubling expansion of the Pakistani establishment's repression in Balochistan.
Saba Yemen
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Spain supports UN with half million Ruros to investigate genocide in Gaza
New York - Sabs: Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced on Monday that his country will provide an additional 500,000 euros to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support efforts to investigate human rights violations and genocide in the Gaza Strip. This came during his presentation of the new external action plan for the period 2025-2028, which the Spanish government approved on April 1, before the Foreign Relations Committee of the Spanish Parliament. Albares explained that his country emphasized during the International Court of Justice sessions the necessity of Israel's compliance with international law and international humanitarian law, and that Israel must cooperate with UN institutions and meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people. He added: "The situation in Gaza is unacceptable in any way. By preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza for weeks, Israel has caused an unprecedented famine." The Spanish minister stressed the need to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to save the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians, affirming that his country stands ready to send aid as soon as appropriate conditions permit. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific Lagging On Women's Political Participation, Says UN Official
Kaya Selby There is a long road ahead on women's issues in the Pacific Islands, but at least discussions are beginning to take place at high levels. That is the opinion of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Pacific head Heike Alefsen. The office recently celebrated 20 years since its establishment in Fiji's capital Suva in 2005, playing the role of advisor to island nations on human rights issues. Alefsen told RNZ Pacific that the region seems to stick out in terms of lack of political participation by women. "We have countries that have zero [women] parliamentarians and [no women] in cabinet," she said. "Two countries that have some reserved seats in parliament and a few women in cabinet, but overall the percentage is really very low compared to most other regions of the world." In Fiji, Alefsen noted that their number of female MPs has halved, from 10 to 5, since 2020. "As we have seen in recent elections, the numbers can drop very quickly." Her office is advising nation states that they should be working towards 50/50 gender parity in their governing bodies, in accordance with recommendations from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For Fiji, as discussions about temporary special measures to boost female representation in parliament take place, Alefsen said they should be taken seriously. "They are there to rectify entrenched longstanding discrimination and under-representation of women. "They are not there as handouts, or to get women in that are tokenistic." Measures could include reserving seats, either at the parliament level or within individual political parties, Alefsen said. "It is a discussion that will need to overcome a lot of entrenched stereotypes, as to the roles of women and men in political spheres, and also what the obstacles are." "This would come at a time when violence against women and girls, throughout the whole Pacific region, remains a significant problem. "About two-thirds on average of all women in the Pacific, including Fiji, experience violence," she added.
RNZ News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pacific lagging on women's political participation, says UN official
The report highlighted that identity often intensified when Pacific women navigate environments where they are the only Pacific person in the midst of others - more common within workplaces. Photo: PACIFICA Inc There is a long road ahead on women's issues in the Pacific Islands, but at least discussions are beginning to take place at high levels. That is the opinion of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Pacific head Heike Alefsen. The office recently celebrated 20 years since its establishment in Fiji's capital Suva in 2005, playing the role of advisor to island nations on human rights issues. Alefsen told RNZ Pacific that the region seems to stick out in terms of lack of political participation by women. "We have countries that have zero [women] parliamentarians and [no women] in cabinet," she said. "Two countries that have some reserved seats in parliament and a few women in cabinet, but overall the percentage is really very low compared to most other regions of the world." In Fiji, Alefsen noted that their number of female MPs has halved, from 10 to 5, since 2020. "As we have seen in recent elections, the numbers can drop very quickly." Her office is advising nation states that they should be working towards 50/50 gender parity in their governing bodies, in accordance with recommendations from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For Fiji, as discussions about temporary special measures to boost female representation in parliament take place, Alefsen said they should be taken seriously. "They are there to rectify entrenched longstanding discrimination and under-representation of women. "They are not there as handouts, or to get women in that are tokenistic." Measures could include reserving seats, either at the parliament level or within individual political parties, Alefsen said. "It is a discussion that will need to overcome a lot of entrenched stereotypes, as to the roles of women and men in political spheres, and also what the obstacles are." "This would come at a time when violence against women and girls, throughout the whole Pacific region, remains a significant problem. "About two-thirds on average of all women in the Pacific, including Fiji, experience violence," she added.
Leaders
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Leaders
UN Rights Office: 36 Israeli Raids in Gaza Killed ‘Only Women and Children'
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that collective punishment and the use of starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza represent crimes under international law. The OHCHR has condemned Israel's closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip for six consecutive weeks. It also stressed that such closure is significantly exacerbating the dire humanitarian conditions of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. No Safe Area in Gaza The office denounced Israel's ongoing airstrikes across the Strip, leaving no safe area for Palestinians, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The Israeli forces launched 224 airstrikes between March 18 and April 9, destroying residential buildings and tents of displaced Palestinians. 'In light of the cumulative impact of Israeli forces conduct in Gaza, we are seriously concerned that Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group,' Ravina Shamdasani, the Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights told reporters in Geneva. 36 Airstrikes Targeting Only Women, Children In this context, the commissioner confirmed that approximately 36 raids have killed several victims from women and children. 'Overall, a large percentage of fatalities are children and women, according to information recorded by our Office,' Shamdasani said. She also clarified that even the areas where civilians were ordered to go under 'evacuation orders' were also being bombed by Israeli Forces. 'Despite Israeli military orders instructing civilians to relocate to the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the Office since 18 March,' she said. Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has killed at least 50,695 Palestinians and wounded 115,338 more, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Related Topics: Israeli Military Fires Reservists over Gaza War Criticism Saudi FM Arrives in Turkey for Gaza Contact Group's Meeting Cairo to Host French-Egyptian-Jordanian Summit on Gaza Short link : Post Views: 149
