UK: Baloch rights activist to launch 3-day hunger strike over Pakistan rights concerns

London [UK], June 30 (ANI): Baloch human rights activist Aomar Karim will begin a three-day peaceful hunger strike outside the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), opposite 10 Downing Street in London, from July 1 to July 3, in an effort to draw international attention to alleged human rights violations in Pakistan's Balochistan region.

The protest aims to highlight longstanding concerns over enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and the treatment of Baloch political activists and human rights defenders. A key focus of the demonstration is the recent life sentences handed down to Baloch Yakjehti Committee leaders Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shahji, which Karim and supporters describe as politically motivated.

Karim is urging the UK government to issue a clear public statement condemning the life sentences imposed on the two Baloch leaders and to call for all charges against them, as well as other detained Baloch human rights defenders, to be withdrawn. He also appealed to the international community to take stronger action to address what he described as serious and ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan.

In a statement issued ahead of the protest, Karim alleged that Pakistan's state institutions, including its military, political leadership and judiciary, were responsible for grave injustices against the Baloch people. He called on democratic governments and international human rights organisations to help end enforced disappearances, ensure accountability for alleged abuses and press Pakistan to release all Baloch political prisoners.

According to Karim, while several diplomatic and legal measures could be pursued to encourage Pakistan to meet its international human rights obligations, the UK should begin by publicly condemning the imprisonment of Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shahji.

Karim has invited members of the UK's Baloch community, Members of Parliament, journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, students, political activists, human rights organisations and the wider public to visit the protest site and show solidarity. The hunger strike will conclude on July 3 with a rally outside the FCDO at 5:30 pm, aimed at amplifying calls for international attention to the situation in Balochistan. (ANI)

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