WASHINGTON, DC: Dr Tara Chand Baloch informs UN Special Rapporteur that Baloch peoples are denied freedom of expression in Pakistan.
The Baloch American Congress (BAC), on Sunday brought to the notice of the United Nations, the total ban on freedom of expression and opinion for Baloch people in Pakistan.
In a letter to Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, BAC president Dr Tara Chand Baloch informed her about a talk on Balochistan that was planned at the Sindh Literary Festival in Karachi, capital of Sindh province. He said a large Baloch audience had gathered at the venue Karachi Arts Council to attend the event.
“The speakers included a veteran politician, a woman activist and a writer, all well known to the Baloch masses. However, the venue was locked up on the orders of Pakistan’s infamous spy service Inter-Services Intelligence,” he said
He informed the UN Special Rapporteur, who is from Bangladesh, that there is a complete blackout on news pertaining to the resistance movement in Balochistan against the injustices of Pakistan army and intelligence services.
“In the backdrop of tsunami of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings in fake encounters and enforced disappearances are taking place in Balochistan and the international media has been blocked out from Balochistan,” the letter said.
Mr Tara Chand also pointed out prominent international journalists like Declan Walsh and Carlotta Gall of the New York Times have been banned from entering Balochistan, while a number of Baloch journalists have been killed in the last decade for doing their job— reporting the news.
The letter concluded urging the UN to uphold the freedom of expression and opinion of the Baloch people in Pakistan.