There must be a road map for the achievement of the Baloch right to self-determination: Peter Tatchell

London: July 12, 2022

Peter Tatchell, the renowned human rights activist, chairman of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, and a relentless supporter of the Baloch cause, outlined the road map for a peaceful resolution of the Baloch national question in Pakistan. Addressing the meeting hosted by Baroness Natalie Bennett in the Houses of Parliament to discuss the worsening human rights situation in Balochistan, he presented his two-step strategy for ending the sufferings of the Baloch people.

According to him, for a negotiated settlement of the Baloch conflict with Pakistan, a series of actions should be taken:

1. Announcing a ceasefire and the cessation of all military operations, withdrawal of troops and paramilitaries to barracks and a halt to the construction of new military bases and outposts – with independent monitoring and supervision by UN observers and peacekeepers.
2. Releasing all political prisoners and a full account of the fate of all disappeared persons.
3. Opening access to all parts of Balochistan for journalists, aid agencies and human rights organisations.
4. Right of return of displaced refugees, restoration of their property and compensation for losses caused by the conflict.
5. End inward colonisation of Balochistan by non-Baloch settlers.
6. An UN-supervised referendum on self-determination, offering the people of Balochistan the options of remaining a part of Pakistan and independence.

Peter Tatchell observed that to convince the international community to support an independent Balochistan, the Baloch leadership must present a framework of free, democratic, just, and secular Balochistan without any ambiguity. He opined that the Baloch leadership should take the second step in loudly declaring that they will follow the basic principles in an independent Balochistan, such as:

1. Social justice, equality, and human rights for all Baloch people, including gender equality.
2.  Land reform – The right of every adult Baloch person to have a share of land ownership.
3.  Redistribution of wealth and power to all the people of Balochistan.
4.  A secular state, where people of all faiths and none have equal legal status and where no religion is privileged in law, government, or public institutions.
5. Democratic and personal freedoms, including free, multi-party elections, the right to protest and strike, freedom of speech and the press, as enshrined in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
6. A UN Commission of Inquiry into disappeared persons and the victims of detention without trial, torture, and extra-judicial killings, including the victimisation of both Baloch national leaders and ordinary Baloch citizens.