Baloch activist forcibly disappeared again
Jiand Baloch, activist and chairperson of the Baloch Students Organization, was forcibly disappeared from his home on 24 July 2026. His family members were threatened and assaulted during the raid at his house. His whereabouts remain unknown. This is the third time Jiand has been forcibly disappeared, as part of a pattern targeting him for his peaceful activism. The Pakistani authorities must act promptly to provide information about Jiand Baloch’s fate and whereabouts and ensure his immediate and safe release.
Jiand is the chairperson of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO), a student organization campaigning on the rights of students in Balochistan province. Jiand has been active on the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and works closely with families of the forcibly disappeared to campaign for their return. He is 29 years old and has two children, a two-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son.
Jiand Baloch was forcibly disappeared from his home in Quetta, in Balochistan province, around 1 AM on 24 July 2026. Law enforcement, along with other individuals, arrived at his house at around midnight when Jiand was not present while his parents, wife and two children were present. According to his wife, ten men identifying as law enforcement and four men in plain clothing forcibly entered their home. Upon learning that Jiand was not present, they started to search the house while causing damage to it. The family also reported that the men started to physically assault Jiand’s father and threatened to take his wife and mother. When Jiand arrived home, he was immediately taken from the gate of the house. No reasons were given for taking him nor was any information provided about where he was being taken. The police has refused to register a first information report regarding his disappearance.
Jiand has been targeted for his activism in the past, subjected to enforced disappearances and placed on an anti-terror watch list. He has been forcibly disappeared twice before this incident. In November 2018, he was forcibly disappeared along with his father and younger brother. He returned after nine months, however his brother, 15 years old at the time of the disappearance, was charged with cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and remains detained. Jiand was forcibly disappeared for a second time in 2024 while campaigning for the Baloch Raaji Muchi (Baloch National Gathering) as part of a crackdown on the gathering. He was released a month later.
Last year, Jiand was placed on the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, a national surveillance list of individuals suspected of involvement in «terrorism, sectarianism, or links to proscribed (banned) organizations». This has severely impacted his right to freedom of movement, participation in peaceful protests and public life. His national identity card and bank account have been blocked, and he is required to regularly report to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).
While Baloch people have been historically discriminated against and marginalized in Pakistan, the crackdown on Baloch activists has intensified since 2025, resulting in enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions across the province of Balochistan and beyond.
- Leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a peaceful grassroots civil rights movement advocating for human rights in Balochistan, have been subjected to arbitrary detention and others are subjected to harassment by the police.
- BYC leader Mahrang Baloch, was sentenced to life imprisonment along with BYC member Sibghat Ullah Shah Jee on 22 June on trumped up charges linking them to the death of a law enforcement official during the Baloch Raaji Muchi in 2024.
- Activists, lawyers and journalists speaking up against this crackdown are also being targeted.
- In January 2026, human rights lawyer, Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha were sentenced to 10 to 17 years of imprisonment for social media posts expressing solidarity with Baloch activists. In October 2025, dozens of Baloch activists, including members of BYC, were placed under section 11-EE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, constituting a «terror watch list», severely curtailing the right to liberty and movement of the activists.
Enforced disappearances in Pakistan have been extensively documented. According to the government’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, as of November 2025, the Commission had investigated 10,718 cases nationwide. The Defence of Human Rights (DHR) has documented 3,140 cases since 2006, of which 1,362 victims remain forcibly disappeared. It documented 60 additional cases in 2025. Pakistan is not a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and has no law criminalizing enforced disappearances. Amnesty International has previously documented that families of the disappeared are often subjected to harassment, unlawful detention and surveillance by the state, especially if they speak up and campaign for the return of their family members.
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Please take action before 31 January 2027.
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