Balochistan: BYC Leaders Transferred to Jail After Court Rejects Police Remand Extension
SHAAL (QUETTA): A special anti-terrorism court in Quetta has ordered the transfer of prominent Baloch human rights defender Dr. Mahrang Baloch and four other detained members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) to Huda Jail, rejecting the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) request for a further extension of their physical remand.
The court ruling came after the completion of a 15-day police remand, marking the end of over two months of repeated and prolonged detention in police custody.
During the hearing, Advocates Shoaib Mengal and advocate Jatak appeared on behalf of the accused, challenging the CTD’s demand for further remand. The judge instead ordered that they be placed in judicial custody.
Those transferred to jail custody include BYC head Dr. Mahrang Baloch, central leaders Beebagar Baloch and SibgatUllah Shah Ji and activists Beebow Baloch and Gulzadi Baloch.
In response to the court’s decision, the BYC issued a statement condemning the arbitrary detention of its leadership, calling it a politically motivated attempt to silence indigenous voices demanding justice and accountability for human rights violations in Balochistan.
“For over six months, the BYC leadership has been subjected to unlawful and arbitrary detention,” the group said. “For more than three of those months, they were held under the 3-MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) in Huda Jail without due process or meaningful judicial oversight. Now, on fabricated charges, they have been forced through cycles of re-arrest and remand without legal justification.”
The committee emphasised that all five individuals have been targeted solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly, especially for speaking out against enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and militarisation in Balochistan.
“This is not just a legal issue, it is a human rights emergency,” the statement added, stressing that Pakistan’s actions violate its commitments under international law, including the UN Declaration on Human Rights.
The BYC urged UN Special Procedures, International Human Rights Organisations and civil society actors to take urgent notice of the situation and call on Pakistan to end its crackdown on dissent and uphold fundamental freedoms.
Despite the transfer to judicial custody, the detainees remain behind bars without conviction. Rights groups warn that their continued imprisonment reflects an escalating campaign of state repression in Balochistan, where peaceful activism is increasingly criminalised under the guise of national security.
