LONDON — On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (IVBMP) organized a peaceful protest demonstration in London. The primary objective of the demonstration was to awaken the global conscience regarding the severe violations of human rights, ongoing enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests of political activists, and the immense hardships faced by the Baloch people in Balochistan.
Participants at the protest peacefully presented their demands against the systemic issues, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial measures, and human rights violations endured by the Baloch population under both Pakistani and Iranian state control. The demonstrators demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all detained leadership and activists of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), the safe recovery of all forcibly disappeared persons, impartial investigations, and the immediate provision of justice. Furthermore, the attendees expressed grave concern over the recent life sentences handed down to political and human rights activists, declaring these decisions completely contradictory to justice, transparent legal due process, and fundamental human rights principles, while forcefully demanding a judicial review of these sentences.
Speaking on the occasion, various speakers emphasized that the protection of human rights is not the sole responsibility of a single country or nation, but rather a collective duty of the entire international community. They asserted that matters concerning enforced disappearances, extrajudicial measures, and the suppression of political dissent demand the urgent and immediate attention of global powers, warning that global silence would only exacerbate these crises.
The participants made a solemn appeal to the international community, the United Nations, international human rights organizations, European institutions, and all global democratic governments to take serious notice of the human rights violations in Balochistan. They urged these international bodies to take effective measures to ensure transparent and impartial fact-finding investigations, play an active role in ending enforced disappearances, provide justice to the families of the victims, and accelerate practical efforts to protect universal human rights standards.
Prominent Baloch activists, including Mustafa Baloch, Sarjaw Baloch, Mansoor Baloch, and Faiz Baloch, among others, addressed the gathering. The participants unanimously reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to continuing their peaceful struggle for the promotion of justice, human dignity, freedom of expression, and fundamental human rights. They concluded by emphasizing that remaining silent on human rights violations in any part of the world weakens the global concept of justice; therefore, the effort to raise a voice for the fundamental human rights, constitutional rights, and the legitimate national right to freedom of the Baloch people will persist in the future with full responsibility and determination.
