GENEVA (4 September 2026) – UN experts* today expressed
grave concern over the alleged enforced disappearance,
torture, and extrajudicial killing of Imran Ali in
Balochistan and urged Pakistan to conduct a prompt and
impartial investigation into the circumstances of his
detention and death.
On 27 August 2025, Ali was
abducted from his apartment by approximately 20 agents from
the Counter-Terrorism Department and was taken to an
undisclosed location. His family received no official
information regarding his fate or whereabouts for one year,
yet individuals formerly detained with Ali confirmed after
their release that he had been held in custody. Ali was
reportedly tortured for several days while in
detention.
“Any deprivation of liberty followed by
the authorities’ refusal to acknowledge the detention or
by the concealment of the fate or whereabouts of that person
is an enforced disappearance, and it places victims outside
the protection of the law, in violation of a peremptory norm
of international law,” the experts said.
On 6 August
2026, during a hearing before Pakistan’s Commission of
Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, a police officer stated
that Ali had been killed in an alleged encounter in May
2026. It took authorities approximately one month to
identify his body. Authorities claimed they were unable to
preserve Ali’s remains and therefore buried him in June
2026.
Following this disclosure, Ali’s family
visited the Civil Hospital in Quetta, where they identified
his body from photographs on record.
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Imran Ali’s
body was reportedly brought to the hospital alongside six
other bodies, none of which were documented or reported by
hospital staff or police. They were buried without proper
identification or notification to the
families.
“Given the pattern of enforced
disappearances in Balochistan, there are serious concerns
that the other bodies may also belong to victims of enforced
disappearances,” the experts said.
“The enforced
disappearance of Imran Ali and his death in custody must be
subject to a prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial
investigation. Such an investigation must include
independent forensic examinations, proper identification of
the body, and its dignified return to the family. It should
establish the cause, manner, and circumstances of Ali’s
death, while identifying those responsible, with a view to
ensuring accountability.”
The experts warned that
Ali’s death is not an isolated incident but reflective of
a pattern of what appears to be a widespread and escalating
practice of unlawful detention, including on the basis of
vague and overbroad counter-terrorism provisions, torture,
enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing of Baloch
people. These violations follow reports of intensified State
military and security operations in Balochistan, amid
widespread allegations of collective punishment.
UN
experts have publicly expressed their concerns on the
situation in Balochistan, most recently in March
2025, April
2025, and July
2026.
The experts are in contact with the
Government of Pakistan regarding these
concerns.
*The
experts:
- Gabriella Citroni
(Chair-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair), Aua
Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez,Mohammed Al-Obaidi,
Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances - Morris Tidball-Binz,
Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions - Nicolas Levrat, Special
Rapporteur on minority issues - Ben Saul,
Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism
