Human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on Friday, 22 May strongly condemned a fresh wave of violence targeting human rights defenders in Balochistan, alleging that Baloch activists, teachers, intellectuals, and students are being systematically targeted by Pakistani authorities. The condemnation follows a string of incidents that rights groups describe as a deliberate campaign to silence dissent across the province.

Killing of Academician Ghamkhwar Hayat Baloch

The BYC cited the killing of academician Ghamkhwar Hayat Baloch as a stark illustration of what it called 'state barbarism'. Hayat, described as a prominent poet, literary scholar, and educator, was reportedly shot dead on 16 May in the Killi Mengal area of Nushki district in Balochistan, allegedly by individuals linked to Pakistan-backed death squads. The BYC attributed the killing directly to state-backed actors, though Pakistani authorities have not publicly responded to the allegation.

Threats Against Voice for Baloch Missing Persons

The BYC also raised grave concerns over threats issued to advocacy group Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), stating that targeting the organisation amounted to an assault on freedom of speech and constituted gross human rights abuse. The VBMP has been staging a continuous peaceful protest outside the Quetta Press Club for the past 6,172 days, campaigning against enforced disappearances of Baloch people.

'Threats are being issued to shut down the protest camp of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and to abandon the ongoing peaceful struggle against enforced disappearances. Such tactics are attempts to suppress the voice of human rights, but the struggle against enforced disappearances will continue,' the VBMP said in a post on X.

The BYC noted that the VBMP's protest camp had been 'distorted many times', and that the organisation had been repeatedly pressured to abandon its campaign — pressure the rights body described as an attempt to erase accountability for what it calls a 'genocidal policy' of enforced disappearances.

Attack on Home of Exiled BNM Member

Separately, the Baloch National Movement (BNM) sharply criticised an attack by what it described as the Pakistani military and local death squads on the home of a senior exiled party member, Nawaz, in the Tump area of Balochistan. According to the BNM, women and children were harassed and terrorised during the raid, the house was vandalised, and valuable belongings were looted. The BNM noted that the same residence had been targeted in a similar manner previously.

'Through harassment and intimidation of BNM members and their families, attempts are being made to force them to abandon their national struggle,' the group said, adding that it considers the Baloch national movement a 'constitutional, political, and internationally recognised struggle for the right to freedom.'

Broader Pattern of Repression

The BNM characterised such incidents as daily occurrences in Balochistan, framing them as acts of 'oppression and repression' by the Pakistani military. This comes amid longstanding international concern over enforced disappearances and extrajudicial violence in the province. Human rights organisations have for years documented cases of Baloch activists, journalists, and educators going missing or being killed under disputed circumstances. Pakistani authorities have consistently denied systematic targeting of civilians.

With multiple rights bodies now issuing coordinated condemnations, pressure on international human rights forums to take notice of the situation in Balochistan is likely to intensify in the coming weeks.