Baloch activists, including Mahrang Baloch, Bebarg Zehri, Beebow Baloch, Shah Jee Sibghat Ullah, Ghaffar Qambarani and Gulzadi Baloch have been targeted for their activism and are being held in arbitrary detention, violating international and local laws. Their detention is part of a larger crackdown in Balochistan province on peaceful protests and the right to freedom of expression, through the weaponization of anti-terrorism and public order laws. There are grave concerns for their safety and well-being, as they are being denied adequate healthcare and are at risk of torture while in arbitrary detention.
The detention order under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960 (MPO) against all six activists highlighted expired on 22 June 2025, requiring their release. A case challenging the MPO order and continued detention was filed at the Supreme Court on 12 June. The six activists were finally presented in an anti-terrorism court on 8 July, hours before a scheduled meeting of a judicial board to review the legality of their detention. The court provided law enforcement agencies with 10 days remand of the activists in cases involving offences under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and Pakistan Penal Code. The Balochistan Assembly passed the Anti-Terrorism (Balochistan Amendment) Act 2025 in June 2025 which allows for detention without charge for up to three months.
On 20 March 2025, central organizer for the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Bebarg Zehri, and his brother Hammal Zehri were taken by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials from their home in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan. Their whereabouts were previously unknown, however they were later found to be under custody of law enforcement. Bebarg is a person with disabilities; he sustained permeant injuries from a grenade explosion in 2010. His family has raised serious concerns about his health under custody.
On 22 March, Mahrang Baloch and Beebow Baloch were arrested during a peaceful protest in Quetta, a day after three protesters were killed due to use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies. They were held under the Section 3 of MPO which allows for «preventive» detention. Mahrang has suffered food poisoning during her time in Hudda Jail in Quetta. She was not given access to a specialist doctor despite multiple requests. In May, Beebow was shifted briefly to CMH hospital on 2 May on account of ill health. Her family alleges that she was subjected to physical torture.
On 24 March, at least six activists were detained for disregarding a blanket ban on assembly in Karachi city, Sindh province during a peaceful protest calling for release of Baloch activists. Further, BYC activist Shah Jee Sibghat Ullah was taken by CTD from his residence in Quetta on 30 March. He was also detained under section 3 of MPO. Another BYC activist, Gulzadi Baloch, was detained by police and CTD personnel from Quetta on 7 April.
On 5 April 2025, CTD raided the residence of BYC activist Beebow Baloch in Kelli Qambarani, Quetta city, and detained her father, Ghaffar Qambarani. Ghaffar is a senior political activist and has been targeted before through enforced disappearance and his name was placed on the fourth schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act as a so-called «proscribed person» to restrict his movement. Beebow’s name had also been placed on the Exit Control List, Passport Control List and Provincial Control List to further curtail her right to movement and protest. Ghaffar was detained under the section 3 of MPO like his daughter.
These detentions are part of a larger crackdown in the province on peaceful protests and the right to freedom of expression. Most recently, on 5 July, five activists were unlawfully detained after the authorities used unnecessary force against protesters peacefully demanding justice for the alleged extrajudicial execution of 21-year-old Zeeshan Zaheer. The protesters, including four women, were detained under the MPO. Activists, lawyers and journalists speaking up against this crackdown are also being targeted. On 6 July, Baloch human rights defender Gulzar Dost, convenor of the organization Kech Civil Society, was abducted by CTD personnel from his residence. In April, a criminal case was filed under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 against activist and lawyer Jalila Haider for expressing online support for Mahrang Baloch.
Enforced disappearances have been used in Pakistan to silence journalists, human rights defenders, dissenters and groups belonging to minority populations, particularly from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The civil society organization Defence of Human Rights (DHR) recorded a total of 2,332 cases of enforced disappearances in 2024 alone. Families of the forcibly disappeared are regularly subject to harassment, surveillance and intimidation by the state for demanding accountability for their loved ones. Amnesty International has documented extensively the use of force, intimidation, harassment, surveillance and laws criminalizing dissent to target families of the disappeared and Baloch activists in the province and across Pakistan.
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