Is Balochistan Facing an Alarming Rise in Extrajudicial Killings and Disappearances?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Quetta, Feb 22 (NationPress) The human rights organization Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has vehemently denounced the troubling increase in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and orchestrated 'fake encounters' that have occurred in Balochistan throughout February.
In its recent report, the BYC revealed that 19 individuals have been victims of extrajudicial killings, while further cases remain unverified or undocumented officially.
"Children, youth, and the elderly are being specifically targeted. Families pursuing the truth are subjected to intimidation, harassment, and threats. The fundamental rights to life, liberty, security, and justice are being systematically violated," the report indicated.
The rights organization pointed out that due to severe media restrictions, limited social interactions, and a prevailing atmosphere of fear, only a small number of cases are officially recorded or publicly acknowledged.
In its condemnation, the BYC stated: "These actions are illegal, inhumane, and constitute serious violations of basic human rights. They represent a direct attack on the dignity, safety, and collective existence of the Baloch populace. Families throughout Balochistan are living in a constant state of fear. Children, students, workers, and civilians are being abducted and killed without justification, due process, or accountability."
"Lives are being extinguished without consequence. We demand justice. Every lost life must be accounted for, and those responsible should be investigated and brought before impartial courts," it further emphasized.
Highlighting one such brutal event, the BYC disclosed that a 24-year-old student, Hamdan Baloch, was killed on February 18 in a staged 'fake encounter' in Karachi, alongside three others.
Hamdan was taken from the Golimar area in Karachi by personnel from Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on December 29, 2025. After weeks of unlawful detention, he was presented before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi and was subsequently extrajudicially killed while the legal process was still ongoing.
"His death raises critical questions regarding due process, custodial responsibility, and the rule of law," the BYC asserted.
The organization has called upon the international community and global human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations, to urgently condemn these serious human rights violations occurring in Balochistan, demanding immediate action.