World News | Amnesty International Flags Enforced Disappearances of Baloch Students, Seeks Immediate Action
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Amnesty International has raised alarm over the rising number of enforced disappearances of Baloch students across Pakistan, urging authorities to investigate and release them. The missing include Mahjabeen and Younus Baloch, with rights groups blaming security forces for targeting youth and suppressing dissent in Balochistan.
Colombo [Sri Lanka], June 9 (ANI): Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, has pointed out a pattern of targeting and alarming allegations of the continuous disappearance of Baloch students in Balochistan and across Pakistan.
Mahjabeen Baloch, a student at the University of Balochistan, has been missing since May 29, 2025. Earlier on May 24, her brother Younas Baloch was forcibly disappeared by security authorities, according to a post on X.
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Authorities' crackdown on students has intensified following rallies in Quetta that led to the arrest of Baloch activists, notably Mahrang Baloch. Javid Musafir Baloch, a law student at Karachi University, has been missing since a raid by police and Counter-Terrorism Department officers at his Karachi apartment on April 23, while another student, Guhram Ishaq, was picked up outside Civil Hospital Quetta on April 24. Their whereabouts are unknown, according to the X report.
Amnesty International urged Pakistani authorities to conduct swift, complete, and effective investigations into the enforced disappearances, reveal the location of the Baloch students, and release them immediately. Those proven accountable for these disappearances should face fair trials. The practice of enforced disappearances violates Pakistan's international human rights commitments, the post reported.
Earlier, VBMP leaders decried the recent disappearance of Mahjabeen Baloch, a University of Balochistan Library Science student from Basima in the Washuk area. According to VBMP, Mahjabeen was apprehended during a joint operation including police, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) troops, and other security forces. Her brother, Younus Baloch, an engineering student, was previously seized by the same forces and remains missing.
The Baloch people have faced systematic oppression and torture through the misuse of several laws, particularly in regions like Pakistan's Balochistan. Laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act and special security ordinances have been used to justify arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without trial, and denial of basic legal rights.
Under these laws, security forces often operate with broad powers and legal immunity, leading to widespread reports of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture, including physical and psychological abuse.
Military courts and special tribunals frequently try Baloch activists without fair trial standards, denying them justice. Additionally, media censorship laws suppress Baloch voices and conceal these abuses from the public, perpetuating a cycle of violence and impunity against the Baloch people. (ANI)
(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)