Security forces reportedly raided the home of a prominent Baloch woman leader on Saturday evening in what has been condemned by human rights advocates as a continuation of state intimidation against peaceful dissent.
Dr. Sabiha Baloch, a leading member of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and former chairperson of the Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC), stated that personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) raided her family home in her native village around 7 p.m. on July 16 without prior notice or legal justification. According to her, the forces searched the house, harassed family members, and issued threats during the operation.
In a strongly worded statement, Dr. Sabiha decried the incident as part of a “systematic campaign of collective punishment” and appealed to international human rights organizations to intervene.
Dr. Sabiha’s father was allegedly forcibly disappeared by security forces three months ago and the family has received no information about his whereabouts since. She claimed that she is under continuous pressure to publicly disassociate from the BYC and surrender herself to authorities.
“My father’s only ‘crime’ is being my father, and my crime is raising my voice against enforced disappearances”, she said.
She described the unwarranted raid as an attempt to silence Baloch activist through fear and intidimation. “By branding us as terrorists, the state seeks to erase our struggle. But we are human rights defenders, not criminals. Speaking for justice, truth, and humanity should never be a crime”, she said.
Dr. Sabiha called upon Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, Civicus, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Reprieve, and Front Line Defenders to speak out against what she described as an intensifying crackdown on peaceful Baloch activism.
She concluded with a powerful message: “Every child in Balochistan grows up with the dream of seeing peace in their homeland. To crush this struggle is to steal that dream, and we will never allow that.”