Pakistan: 785 Disappearances, 121 Killings Reported in First Half of 2025

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Balochistan, Pakistan, The Baloch National Movement’s (BNM) human rights division, Paank, has reported alarming figures on human rights violations in Balochistan for the first half of 2025. According to data released Thursday, 785 enforced disappearances and 121 killings were documented between January and June this year.

Paank’s statement, shared on the social media platform X, described a climate of fear for Baloch activists, students, and intellectuals. The group said abductions, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings remain widespread across the province.

One urgent case raised by Paank involves the detention and potential deportation of young activist Shabar Jamaldini. The organization has called on international rights defenders to intervene immediately, warning that Jamaldini’s return to Pakistan could place his life in danger.

In another post, Paank condemned the disappearance of two brothers, Dr. Usman Qazi, a PhD holder and Assistant Professor at the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), and Jibran Ahmed, an MPhil Economics student. Both men are residents of Nasirabad, district Kech.

Paank alleges that around 3:00 a.m. on August 12, 2025, personnel from Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) forcibly removed the brothers from their home in Afnan Town, Quetta. “The abduction of an academic and his young scholar brother is deeply alarming and utterly unacceptable,” the organization stated, calling for their immediate and unconditional release and urging authorities to be held accountable.

Enforced disappearances in Balochistan have been a persistent and documented human rights issue for decades. The province, rich in natural resources but politically marginalized, has long been the center of tension between Baloch nationalist movements and Pakistan’s federal government.

Baloch activists, students, journalists, and academics have been targeted over the years for advocating greater political autonomy, resource control, or cultural rights. Rights groups allege that many of these disappearances are carried out by state security agencies without due process.

Thousands are believed to have gone missing since the early 2000s, with many families still unaware of the fate or location of their loved ones. Reports suggest that victims are often detained in undisclosed facilities, denied legal representation, and in some cases, subjected to torture or extrajudicial execution.

Local and international human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized Pakistan’s handling of the situation in Balochistan. Groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have described enforced disappearances as violations of both Pakistan’s constitutional protections and international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Pakistan is a signatory.

Despite repeated calls for independent investigations, activists say accountability remains rare. The Pakistani government has consistently denied allegations of systematic abuses, maintaining that security operations in Balochistan are necessary to combat militancy and separatism.

Paank’s latest figures have intensified demands for urgent international attention to the crisis. The organization warns that without meaningful intervention, the pattern of disappearances and killings will continue, further eroding trust between the Baloch population and the state.

For families in Balochistan, the pain remains twofold: the loss of loved ones and the uncertainty of not knowing their fate. With hundreds more cases recorded in just six months, advocates say the situation is a clear and ongoing human rights emergency.