Pakistan: Mahrang Baloch’s arbitrary detention highlights ongoing campaign to silence Baloch community
Mahrang Baloch at Oslo’s House of Literature in 2024. Credit: Isak Khan (Wikimedia Commons)
‘We stand in unwavering solidarity with Mahrang Baloch, a fearless human rights defender whose courageous voice for justice and human rights on behalf of the Baloch people has been met with repression, detention, and silencing by the Government of Pakistan. Her arrest exposes the deep crisis in free expression, the violent targeting of ethnic minorities, and the grave dangers faced by women who dare to speak truth to power in Pakistan. As always, we, the members of PEN International, champion the courage of activists like Mahrang Baloch, who risk everything to speak up for her people’, said Judyth Hill, Chair of PEN International’s Women Writers Committee.
11 July 2025: The Pakistani authorities must immediately and unconditionally release woman human rights defender (WHRD) Mahrang Baloch, PEN International said today, as she continues to languish in prison for her peaceful expression.
On 22 March 2025, Mahrang Baloch was placed under ‘preventative detention’ by Balochistan police under Article 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) while participating in a peaceful sit-in to protest the use of police violence against protestors the previous day, which resulted in three protestors reportedly shot dead, and several more injured. The 21 March demonstrations took place to protest the detention of several Baloch activists by local police, which took place in the aftermath of a terrorist attack against a passenger train mounted by Baloch militant separatists on 11 March.
In the time since, Mahrang has been subjected to repeated due process violations, denying her ability to establish her innocence. Her initial detention without trial under the MPO, which is ordinarily limited to three months before being referred to a review board, has been extended on four separate occasions without referral. On 8 July, just hours before Mahrang’s case was due to be considered by a review board, the case against her was abruptly revoked and she was then brought before an Anti-Terrorism Court and placed on a new 10-day remand. Mahrang Baloch currently faces separate sedition and terrorism charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code.
Mahrang has rejected the accusations in the strongest possible terms, and has had her legal representative issue a civil defamation notice to a Pakistan military spokesperson for making ‘false, malicious and life-threatening’ statements against her.
There have been growing concerns regarding Mahrang’s health and well-being while detained, leading to calls for her immediate and unconditional release from several independent UN experts.
Mahrang’s detention takes place at a time when Balochistan’s environment for free expression has been subject to an intensifying crackdown by the Government of Pakistan, whose response to attacks from militant groups appears to conflate acts of peaceful expression with terrorism, resulting in widespread rights violations against Baloch writers, journalists and human rights defenders.
In letters penned from jail that have been published online, Mahrang highlighted the Pakistani authorities’ misuse of the legal system in an attempt to intimidate her into silence. Recent examples include her being charged with sedition shortly after her return from Norway, where she drew international attention to the human rights situation in Balochistan at the World Expression Forum (WEXFO) and at an event in Oslo at the invitation of Norwegian PEN in 2024.
Further Information
Mahrang Baloch is a WHRD and former doctor who has frequently used her writing to draw attention to the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan. In an essay translated and published in English last year, Mahrang reflected on her personal experience, and that of her mother, on the devastating toll that conflict and repression in Balochistan province have had on Baloch women.
Mahrang has risen to prominence as a leader of Balochistan’s women-led human rights movement and has drawn international recognition for her selfless advocacy for the rights of the Baloch community, including her being named by the BBC among its 100 Most Influential and Inspiring Women in 2024, and Time Magazine’s 100 Next Emerging Leaders in the same year. More recently, Mahrang Baloch was reportedly included among the nominees for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of the Asia/ Pacific Region at PEN International, email: [email protected]
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager at PEN International, [email protected]