Letter to EU delegation on Pakistani human rights defender detention
FIAN International expresses deep concern over the safety of Mr. Saeed Baloch, Secretary General of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), and requests in a letter to the EU Delegation that it provides diplomatic support.
On Tuesday 26 January, Mr. Baloch was brought before the High Court of Sindh, where the Rangers’ legal team (paramilitary forces in Pakistan) claimed Mr Baloch’s involvement in extortion and other offences under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. While Rangers’ spokesperson has stated that Mr. Baloch was arrested on January 25th, his family claims that he has been in unlawful detention since January 16th and has petitioned the court to declare his detention illegal and set him free.
In a letter to the EU delegation in Pakistan, FIAN International recalls the Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders the EU subscribes to, and hopes the EU delegation takes the necessary diplomatic measures with the Pakistani government in order to clarify this situation, and to take the appropriate actions if Mr. Baloch’s detention proves to be arbitrary.
Read the letter to the EU delegation here.
Mr. Baloch was released (on bail) in early August 2016. Civil society is following the process closely.