Rory Stewart, a Foreign Office minister, told MPs in UK Parliament on Tuesday that the UK Government continues to raise reports of human rights abuses in Balochistan with the Government of Pakistan.
Rory Stewart, who is Minister of State at the Department for International Development, was replying to a topical question raised during parliamentary questions by Bob Blackman, a Conservative MP from Harrow East in London.
Mr. Blackman asked the Minister of state: “What representations has my right honorable Friend made to the Government of Pakistan about human rights abuses and the desire for freedom in Badakhshan (sic)?”
To which Minister Rory Stewart replied: “Badakhshan is of course a region of Afghanistan, so interference in Badakhshan from Pakistan would be a serious issue. My honorable Friend may perhaps be referring to Balochistan, where we continue to raise reports of human rights abuses with the Government of Pakistan.”
Bob Blackman later tweeted from his official twitter account about the events in parliament:
At @foreignoffice Qs raised the human rights abuses against people of #Balochistan & desire for freedom from occupation by #Pakistan
— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) November 21, 2017
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe Pakistani security forces are involved in gross human rights violations in Balochistan at a very large scale. Local campaign groups claim as many as 20,000 Baloch have went missing in last fifteen years, whereas, thousands have been killed.