lashari_Baloch

GENEVA: A number of protesters from several Baloch organisations based in Europe gathered in front of the Palais des Nations in Geneva to denounce the alleged human rights violations against the Baloch people in Iran and Pakistan. Among the participants were Baloch representatives Noordin Mengal and Nasser Boladai. The Baloch community in Europe staged the demonstration on the occasion of the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council, to protest against executions, forced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings in Balochistan. The protesters held banners protesting extra-judicial killings of the Baloch. They condemned military operations in Balochistan, saying such operations had resulted in death of thousands of innocent civilians, including women and children, and displacement of hundreds of thousands. The protesters also condemned the media blackout imposed in the province. They held placards with the pictures of the Baloch who had been assassinated and those who had been executed without trial. They also held pictures of a Baloch rights activist and blogger, Yaghob Mehrnihad, who was arrested by the Iranian forces in March 2008 and executed on September 4, 2008. The participants denounced the arbitrary detention, harassment, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions of Baloch students, teachers, journalists, intellectuals and political, social, and cultural activists and human rights defenders. The participants also highlighted the issues of economic exploitation and state support to religious fundamentalism. They appealed to the international community and UN to immediately intervene in Balochistan and take stern action on continuous atrocities taking place in the province and hold the perpetrators accountable for crimes against humanity.