Geneva, March 26 (IANS) The Baloch National Movement (BNM) accused the Pakistani authorities of serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture across Balochistan, during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Addressing the session, Naseem Baloch, chairman of the BNM, stated that the European Union granted Pakistan special trade status under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) with the expectation that Islamabad would comply with international conventions on human rights, labour rights, and democratic governance.
However, he added that the situation on the ground in Pakistan presents a starkly different picture. For decades, Naseem said, the people of Balochistan have faced systematic and widespread human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and the suppression of political voices.
“Thousands of Baloch political activists, students, journalists, and ordinary civilians have been forcibly disappeared. Many are held in secret torture centres without access to courts or contact with their families. Some later reappear as mutilated bodies found on roadsides, a practice widely referred to as the ‘kill-and-dump policy’,” he detailed.
Highlighting that in 2025, the BNM documented 1,355 cases of enforced disappearances and 229 cases of extrajudicial killings across Balochistan, Naseem said the figures for this year up to March 20 remain equally alarming.
“228 enforced disappearances and 81 extrajudicial killings, and these disappearances include teen women. Out of these ten, five were later released after being subjected to torture, and one was presented in the media with fabricated charges. Notably, 21 of these killings occurred within the first 10 days of the month of March in a single town called Panjgur in Balochistan,” said the Baloch activist.
The BNM urged policymakers within the European Union and members of the European Parliament to conduct a serious and transparent review of Pakistan’s compliance with its human rights commitments under GSP.
Meanwhile, speaking at the session, BNM’s Foreign Secretary Faheem Baloch called for an independent investigation, accountability, and the protection of fundamental rights in light of the abuses across Balochistan.
Citing the international human rights organisation Amnesty International, he said that enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings continue in the province.
He also cited the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan as noting that enforced disappearances continue, while families of the missing often face “pressure and harassment” when they seek answers.
Emphasising that several countries have expressed concerns over the situation in the province, Faheem said, “The United Kingdom has spoken about reports of mass graves in Balochistan and continues to raise human rights issues with Pakistan. The United States, in its annual human rights report, has documented cases of killings, disappearances, and torture. Members of the European Union, including the Netherlands, have also highlighted these concerns.”
He stressed that experts at the UN Human Rights Council have called on Pakistan to investigate these cases and respect international human rights law.
–IANS
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