Quetta, June 28 (AHN) The life sentence handed down to Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch demonstrates a significant deterioration in the Pakistani state's engagement with Baloch rights activism. The court's judgement is likely to increase concerns about the human rights situation in Balochistan and increase the mistrust between the people and the authorities, a report has stated.

On June 22, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Quetta sentenced Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) founder Mahrang Baloch and leader Sibghatullah to life imprisonment over the death of Frontier Corps (FC) trooper Shabbir Baloch during the Baloch National Gathering held in July 2024. ATC-I Judge Muhammad Ali Mubeen announced the verdict while the accused, other detained BYC members, and their lawyers boycotted the proceedings, terming them as a "faceless trial", according to a report in Sri Lanka Guardian.

According to Mahrang Baloch's lawyer, Israr Jattak and other BYC leaders, the convictions are related to allegations that Shabbir Baloch suffered injuries after being hit by stones allegedly thrown by participants during the gathering. Since June 12, Mahrang Baloch and other detained leaders of BYC have held sit-ins inside Hudda District Jail in Quetta, demanding that their trial be conducted in an open court and that they should be represented by a lawyer of their own choice. The accused and their legal team boycotted the trial in protest against what they termed unfair judicial proceedings and refused to accept lawyers subsequently appointed by the government.

Mahrang Baloch's sister, Advocate Nadia Baloch, rejected the court's verdict, terming it as the outcome of a "faceless court". The BYC criticised the judgement, terming it as a proof of what it said was the Pakistani state's hostility towards Baloch people. The group said that the ruling would usher in what it described as a "historic phase of resistance and struggle."

"The life sentence imposed on Mahrang Baloch represents a significant deterioration in the Pakistani state's engagement with Baloch rights activism. The verdict is likely to intensify concerns over the human rights situation in Balochistan and deepen mistrust between the State and Baloch people, which will further aggravate the longstanding insurgency," the report in Sri Lanka Guardian mentioned.

Mahrang Baloch has remained under detention since 2025. Her activism was shaped by personal experiences as her father, Abdul Gaffar Langove, a left-wing political activist, was allegedly subjected to an 'enforced disappearance' in 2009, and his body was recovered in Lasbela District three years later.

Mahrang Baloch's brother was also reportedly detained by the Pakistani security forces in 2017 and was held for nearly three months, during which he was allegedly tortured, according to the report in Sri Lanka Guardian. These personal experiences became the motivation for her to launch the campaign against 'enforced disappearances' and 'extrajudicial killings' in Balochistan.

She was the chief organiser and the prominent speaker at the Baloch National Gathering held in Gwadar in 2024, a gathering that focused on issues like enforced disappearances and resource exploitation in Balochistan. Mahrang Baloch was arrested in 2025 while leading a protest in Quetta after the burial of 13 unclaimed bodies, which protesters believed were those of people who were victims of enforced disappearances.

Meanwhile, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Andrea Bolanos Vargas, has expressed serious concern over the life sentences handed down to BYC leaders Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shah, calling on Pakistan's judiciary to overturn what she described as “unjust convictions."

She cited multiple alleged violations during the proceedings, including denial of fair trial and due process, abuse of antiterrorism laws, criminalisation of peaceful assembly, and double punishment for the same act.

“I express grave concern regarding life sentences imposed on WHRD Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shah, leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Quetta in a secret trial. Violations Identified: denial of fair trial, abuse of antiterrorism laws, criminalisation of peaceful assembly, due process, and double punishment for the same act. I urge the superior judiciary to overturn manifestly unjust convictions," Vargas posted on X.