UN Experts Condemn Life Sentence for Activist Mahrang Baloch

United Nations human rights experts have condemned the sentencing of Mahrang Baloch, leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, to two life terms by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Quetta. Baloch and fellow leader Sibghatullah Shahji, along with two other activists, were convicted of terrorism and murder related to a July 2024 sit-in protest in Gwadar that resulted in the death of a Frontier Corps official.

The UN experts described the ruling as a "travesty of justice," alleging the trial was unfair and that counter-terrorism laws were misused to suppress peaceful assembly and expression. They cited significant due process violations, including the denial of in-person attendance, the conduct of the trial via remote video inside a prison, and the requirement that Baloch use state-appointed counsel.

Baloch and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee have historically campaigned against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan, as well as the appropriation of indigenous lands for projects such as the Reko Diq mine. While the Government of Pakistan maintains that security measures are necessary to combat a deadly insurgency in the border region, UN experts warned that the conviction risks silencing women human rights defenders and shrinking civic space.

Experts expressed further concern regarding Baloch's health and poor detention conditions, noting that nearly 50 other police complaints remain pending against her.