April 24, 2025
Staff Report
LAHORE
Following the prolonged detention of Dr Mahrang Baloch and other activists, as well as the sudden overnight shifting of Beebow Baloch to Pishin Jail, the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC) has called for nationwide protests on Friday, April 25.
Activist tortured, forcibly transferred from Quetta jail: BYC
In a statement on its social media handle, BYC claimed its activist Beebow Baloch was forcibly transferred from Quetta’s Hudda Jail late night on Wednesday (April 23).
“A heavy contingent of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) forces arrived at the Hudda Jail in Quetta and violently dragged Beebow Baloch out of prison custody,” said the BYC statement. “She was beaten, manhandled, and forcibly taken to an unknown location.”
BYC said that it would hold the state and its security institutions responsible for the safety and well-being of Beebow Baloch and demanded her immediate release and an end to the inhumane treatment of political prisoners.
Advocate Imran Baloch, counsel for Dr Mahrang, said that the prison authorities initially refused to disclose where Beebow was taken after she was transferred from Hudda Jail.
“Prison authorities have provided us with two different narratives,” he said. “One was that Beebow was shifted to Pishin District Jail, and the other was that she had been transferred to Chaman Jail,” said Imran Baloch, while speaking to Voicepk. He added that the prison authorities did not provide any written information about her transfer, but only informed them about it by directly getting a transfer letter from the provincial home department.
“We have applied for a copy of the prison transfer order, and once the copy is received we will definitely challenge the prison transfer order in the court,” he remarked, adding that the authorities confirmed much later, that Beebow Baloch had been shifted to Pishin District Jail.
No decision yet on prison transfer of women activists: Shahid Rind
Meanwhile Shahid Rind, the spokesperson for the Balochistan provincial government, told Voicepk that ‘no decision had been made yet to transfer the incarcerated Baloch women activists to any other prison in the province’. However, he stressed that it was the government’s prerogative to transfer any inmate from one facility to another. The prison authorities in Quetta and Pishin jails did not respond to queries about Beebow Baloch’s prison transfer.
In a video statement on Thursday, BYC central leader Sammi Deen condemned the brutal torture of Beebow and the extension of detention for Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other BYC leaders. Calling the BYC a peaceful movement, she announced nationwide protests on Friday, April 25, to protest these two issues.
“The targeting of women activists is part of the state’s broader attempt to crush the Baloch resistance and silence every voice that dares to speak out.”
BYC rejects extension in detention
In an earlier statement, the BYC rejected the extension of the detention of all BYC activists. After transferring the case of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and others to the Home Department, the state has now extended their illegal detention for another month, the BYC said. “This extension applies to Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Shah Ji Baloch, Bebarg Baloch, Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, and others — all of whom are being punished for leading a peaceful and democratic movement for the rights of the Baloch people.”
BYC termed the extension in detention of political activists a desperate attempt to bypass courts, silence resistance, and criminalise Baloch political consciousness. The BYC reiterated its demand for the immediate release of all its leaders.