The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan, Riina Kionka, has expressed strong disapproval of the Islamabad police’s treatment of Baloch protesters, particularly women, during recent demonstrations.
Taking to social media platform “X”, the EU ambassador to Pakistan expressed her concerns over the reports of Islamabad’s police action against participants of the “Baloch long-march” in the early hours of Thursday (21st Dec).
“Deeply worried by reports of mishandling at #BalochLongMarch2Islamabad. Freedoms of expression, assembly and association guaranteed in articles 19, 21 & 22, resp, of the International Covenant on Civil & and Political Rights (ICCPR), a core measure of GSP+ implementation,” she said in post on X.
The EU ambassador’s condemnation comes amidst ongoing protests in Pakistan sparked by human rights abuses against the Baloch people. Recent demonstrations, including a long march against Baloch genocide, have seen a heavy police presence and reports of violence against both male and female protestors.
The march, sparked by the death of Balaach Mola Bakhsh in extrajudicial killing, calls for stop of Pak Army’s “Kill and dump” policy, release of missing persons, disarming of the Pak Army’s tools of exploitation such as Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). The protesters’ call for justice extends beyond Bakhsh’s case; they seek an end to the cycle of violence and impunity that has plagued Pak-occupied-Balochistan for decades.