Pakistan province releases prominent Baloch rights activist following outcry

KARACHI: The government in Pakistan's southern Sindh province this week released prominent rights defender Sammi Deen Baloch, a notification from the provincial home department said, following criticism from members of the civil society and human rights activists.
Baloch and several others from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) group were arrested by Sindh Police last Monday evening and charged with violating a ban imposed on public gatherings after they held a demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club. After a judicial magistrate ordered her release, the Sindh Home Department issued an order detaining her for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (PMO) ordinance, alleging that her presence in public can cause a 'grave threat' to people's safety.
The BYC was protesting against the detention of its leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and some other members who were arrested last month at a protest camp in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. Three persons had died following clashes between police and protesters, leading both sides to blame each other for the deaths.
'In partial modification to this department's order of even number dated 25.03.2025 regarding detention under section 3 (1) of the Sindh Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, the name of Ms. Semi Din Baloch D/o. Dr. Din Muhammad Baloch is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect,' the home department said in a notification on Tuesday.
'The Senior Superintendent, Central Prison Karachi is hereby directed to release the above-named detainee if she is not required in any other case or otherwise.'
Baloch's sister, Mehlab Deen Baloch, confirmed her release in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.
'My sister, Sammi Deen, has finally been released, and I cannot express my gratitude enough,' she wrote on X, thanking rights activists, members of the civil society and others for demanding her release.
Days following her arrest, over a dozen independent UN experts called on the government to release Baloch rights activists.
The BYC and other Baloch rights activists have organized several large protests in Balochistan and led marches to, and sit-ins in, the Pakistani federal capital, Islamabad, mainly against what they describe as a surge in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. They blame the army and other security forces operating in the province for the alleged crimes. Officials deny the accusations.
Balochistan has also been plagued by enforced disappearances for decades. Families say men are picked up by security forces, disappear often for years, and are sometimes found dead, with no official explanation. Government and security officials deny involvement and say they are working for the uplift of the province through development projects.
Pakistan's military has a huge presence in the rugged, impoverished region bordering Afghanistan and Iran, where insurgent groups have been fighting for a separate homeland for decades to win a larger share of benefits for the resource-rich province. The military has long run intelligence-based operations against insurgent groups, who have escalated attacks in recent months on the military and nationals from longtime ally China, which is building key projects in the region, including a port at Gwadar.
International rights bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as opposition political parties have also long highlighted enforced disappearances targeting students, activists, journalists and human rights defenders in Balochistan. The army says many of Balochistan's so-called disappeared have links to separatists.
Military spokespersons have also variously accused rights movements like the BYC of being 'terrorist proxies.'

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