BYC unveils a human rights report exposing abuses in Balochistan and condemns the Islamabad protest crackdown

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) unveiled its semi-annual human rights report for January to June 2025 during a press conference held at the Karachi Press Club. The report sheds light on what it describes as widespread and systematic human rights violations occurring throughout Balochistan. Speaking to the media, BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch emphasized that the document is more than just statistical data; it captures the collective suffering, repression, and breakdown of legal and constitutional protections faced by Baloch society.

Sami Deen highlighted that the report was compiled based on testimonies from victims’ families, eyewitness accounts, and reports from local human rights organizations. She pointed out a troubling increase in state-led violence and repression, condemning the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protesters in Islamabad, where family members of missing persons are protesting against the detention of BYC leaders.

According to the report, 752 individuals were forcibly disappeared in the first half of 2025. Of these, 181 were released after brief detention, while 25 are reported to have died while in custody. The remaining 546 individuals are still missing, with no official information available about their current whereabouts. The Makran region recorded the highest number of disappearances, with Frontier Corps (FC) personnel identified as the main perpetrators. BYC described these disappearances as a form of collective punishment inflicted on Baloch society.

The report further documented 117 extrajudicial killings during this period. Most of these deaths resulted from staged encounters, “kill-and-dump” operations, or in-custody executions. The victims included mainly young people, students, and individuals involved in political activism. BYC asserts that these killings are part of a deliberate policy of repression aimed at silencing the Baloch population.

Widespread use of torture against victims of enforced disappearances was also detailed in the report. Eyewitness accounts describe extreme physical abuse on bodies of those killed in custody, indicating routine torture by state agencies. The group argued that this violence serves not only to extract information but also to instill fear and paralyze Baloch society, suppressing any resistance.

The report concluded that collective punishment has become a normalized tactic in Balochistan. Families of the disappeared are often harassed, subjected to house raids, and physically assaulted, especially female members. Children are growing up in an environment filled with fear, as such incidents occur almost daily. Civil liberties such as freedom of speech, peaceful protest, and movement remain severely restricted, with organizations like BYC being branded as terrorist entities and their members facing false charges under oppressive laws like the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO) and the Fourth Schedule. The BYC criticized the state for using legal measures as tools of repression to justify its crackdown.

Finally, the report addressed the 2025 amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act passed by the Balochistan Assembly. BYC argued that this amendment grants unchecked authority to law enforcement agencies, allowing individuals to be held without charge for up to three months. It also noted that military officers have been included in review boards, raising concerns about the impartiality of the justice process. The group asserted that this new law has been systematically weaponized against human rights advocates, journalists, students, and ordinary citizens to further entrench repression in the region.