Pakistan legalising enforced disappearances in Balochistan to silence rising voices

Quetta, Jan 23 (IANS) The approval of the 'Balochistan Prevention, Detention and Deradicalisation Rules 2025' by the provincial government headed by controversial Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti is an attempt to legalise enforced disappearances in Balochistan, a report has highlighted.

A meeting of the Balochistan provincial cabinet was held under the chairmanship of Bugti earlier this week whose government is led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). During the meeting, 'The Balochistan Post' analysed in an editorial, a contentious decision was taken to grant legal cover to enforced disappearances and to detain forcibly disappeared persons in custody centres, where they would be interrogated under the supervision of police officers from the Counter-Terrorism Department.

"The approval of the Balochistan Prevention, Detention and Deradicalisation Rules 2025 by a government installed with the backing of Pakistan’s powerful institutions is an attempt to legalise enforced disappearances in Balochistan. The apparent objective is to suppress the growing movement against enforced disappearances and state repression, and to silence the families of the disappeared. Declaring forcibly disappeared individuals as 'suspects' and subjecting them to interrogation in detention centres instead of presenting them before courts stands in direct contradiction to the fundamental human rights guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan," the editorial piece detailed.

It mentioned that, from its very first day, the government imposed on Balochistan under Sarfraz Bugti has consistently denied the grave human rights issue of enforced disappearances and has actively promoted the state’s official narrative on the matter.

"However, the enforced disappearance of political activists in Balochistan cannot be denied. The United Nations human rights bodies, Amnesty International, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and other organisations have repeatedly raised concerns over the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and have urged Pakistan’s authorities and government to address this serious human rights violation," the newspaper mentioned.

In spite of the issue being highlighted in media across the world, the Balochistan government continues to deny the existence of enforced disappearances, while on the other, its decision to approve the Prevention, Detention and Deradicalisation Rules amounts to an admission that state institutions are involved in enforced disappearances in the region.

"The approval of these rules effectively grants state agencies a free hand to forcibly disappear political activists. Rather than ending enforced disappearances, giving them legal cover will only deepen the crisis. Enforced disappearances, under any circumstances, are unconstitutional and constitute a grave violation of human rights. While enforced disappearances may be given a legal façade through the use of force, it will not be possible to silence the voices rising against them," the editorial in 'The Balochistan Post' asserted.

On January 21, a leading human rights organisation rejected the Balochistan provincial government’s official claim that the issue of missing persons has been “resolved on a permanent basis," describing the statement as “false and contradicting ground realities.”

According to the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), the statement issued following the Balochistan provincial cabinet meeting on Tuesday-- which declared the issue resolved while families continue to search for their disappeared relatives -- is a “grave misrepresentation of facts”.

In its findings for 2025, HRCB documented 1,455 cases of enforced disappearance, including 1,443 men and 12 women. Of these, it said, 1,052 individuals remain missing, 317 were released, 83 were killed in custody, and 3 were transferred to jail.

The rights body asserted that “these figures demonstrate the ongoing scale of illegal detentions and highlight that the so-called ‘resolution ’is a false claim.”

“Hundreds of individuals in Balochistan continue to be victims of enforced disappearance. Many families have approached courts, commissions, and human rights organizations, yet the whereabouts of their loved ones remain unknown,” the HRCB stated.

Reiterating that Baloch civilians were abducted illegally, without due process, warrants, or lawful arrests, the rights body said that they were never presented before any court, constituting a clear violation of Pakistan’s constitution and international human rights obligations.

“Enforced disappearance is a serious crime under international law, not a political slogan or propaganda. The characterisation of enforced disappearances as ‘propaganda’ is deeply offensive to the affected families and dismisses years of documented evidence,” it noted.

Paank, the Baloch National Movement's Human Rights Department, also strongly condemned the approval by the Balochistan cabinet of the “so-called” Balochistan Centre of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism Rules 2025 and related detention frameworks. The rights body asserted that the legislation does not resolve the issue of missing persons and instead attempts to legalise enforced disappearances under a new name.

“By establishing detention centres outside transparent judicial oversight, the state risks normalising arbitrary arrests, secret detention, and abuse. Allowing families limited access does not replace due process, court proceedings, or accountability for those responsible for disappearances,” Paank stressed earlier this week.