A sit-in by families of missing persons from Balochistan entered its 31st consecutive day in Islamabad on Friday, as participants continued to report harassment, restrictions and use of force by police.
The protest, organised by relatives of the disappeared and members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), is aimed at highlighting enforced disappearances in Balochistan and the detention of BYC leaders, which demonstrators describe as unlawful.
According to participants, a seminar titled “Unlawful Detention of BYC Leadership and the Grievances of Families of the Enforcedly Disappeared” was scheduled to take place outside the Islamabad Press Club. However, protesters claim police intervened only hours before the event, attempting to disperse the gathering by pushing and assaulting women and children.
Witnesses reported that police erected barriers to block access to the Press Club premises and used inappropriate language towards female protesters. They further claimed that these actions were carried out on government orders, with Islamabad being “turned into a prison” to silence peaceful demonstrators.
Nadia Baloch, sister of detained BYC leader Mahrang Baloch, told reporters: “We came here to register our protest, but we were forced to change our venue. Yesterday, on 14 August, roads were open for us, but today all routes to the Press Club were blocked again. Not only were we stopped, but women and children were manhandled and verbally abused. Now a heavy police presence remains here.”
Despite the restrictions, the protesters managed to hold their seminar, which was attended by human rights activists, lawyers, students, and family members of the missing. Speakers addressed issues of state repression in Balochistan, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial detentions, and human rights violations.
Participants emphasised that peaceful protest is a constitutional right and that the use of force to suppress it is both unlawful and an affront to human dignity.
The demonstrators reiterated their demands for an end to enforced disappearances, the immediate production of detained Baloch leaders in court, and respect for civil liberties.