2 weeks ago
UN Experts Seek Probe Into Alleged Balochistan Civilian Killing
United Nations experts are worried about what happened to a man named Imran Ali in Balochistan.
They say Pakistani security agents took him from his home in August 2025.
His family was not officially told where he was for about a year.
People who had been detained with him said he was held and tortured.
A Pakistani police officer later said Ali died in an alleged encounter in May 2026.
Authorities identified his body about a month later and buried it in June.
The experts want an independent investigation, including careful forensic work and proper identification of the body.
They also worry that other unidentified bodies may belong to people who disappeared.
United Nations experts urged Pakistan to investigate the alleged enforced disappearance, torture, and killing of Imran Ali.
A police officer reportedly told Pakistan’s inquiry commission that Ali died in an alleged encounter in May 2026.
Authorities allegedly took about a month to identify Ali’s body and buried it in June 2026 without preserving his remains.
Experts said Ali was abducted from his home on August 27, 2025, and held at an undisclosed location for about a year.
The experts linked the case to broader allegations of unlawful detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.
- Who
- Imran Ali, Pakistani security forces, his family, and United Nations experts are central to the report.
- What
- The experts raised concerns that Ali was forcibly disappeared, tortured, and killed in custody, and called for an independent investigation.
- Where
- Ali was taken from his residence in Balochistan to an undisclosed location; his body was reportedly brought to a hospital there.
- When
- Ali was reportedly abducted on August 27, 2025; a police officer said he died in May 2026, and his body was buried in June 2026.
- Why
- The United Nations experts want the circumstances of Ali’s detention and death established and those responsible held accountable, amid alleged wider abuses in Balochistan.
United Nations experts’ concerns
Authorities’ reported account
Cause and circumstances of death
United Nations experts’ concerns
The experts said Ali’s death in custody must be independently investigated as a possible extrajudicial killing and urged authorities to establish the cause and manner of death.
Authorities’ reported account
A police officer reportedly stated before Pakistan’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances that Ali had been killed in an alleged encounter in May 2026.
Treatment during detention
United Nations experts’ concerns
The experts said Ali was allegedly abducted, held incommunicado, and tortured, describing the concealment of his detention as enforced disappearance.
Authorities’ reported account
The article reports no official account confirming Ali’s detention or addressing the allegations of torture.
Handling of remains
United Nations experts’ concerns
The experts criticized the reported failure to properly identify, document, preserve, and return Ali’s remains, and expressed concern about six other unidentified bodies.
Authorities’ reported account
Authorities reportedly said they were unable to preserve Ali’s remains and buried them after identifying the body approximately one month later.
Key facts
- Reported abduction
- August 27, 2025, from Ali’s residence
- Reported death
- May 2026, according to a police officer’s statement about an alleged encounter
- Body identification
- Authorities reportedly took approximately one month to identify Ali’s body
- Burial
- The body was reportedly buried in June 2026
- Other bodies
- Six additional bodies were reportedly brought to the hospital with Ali’s body and buried without proper identification or family notification
- Requested action
- A prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation, including forensic examinations and dignified return of the body
- Broader concern
- Experts described alleged unlawful detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing as part of a wider pattern in Balochistan
Quotes
UN experts
United Nations experts who raised concerns about alleged violations in Balochistan
“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.”
thehansindia.com
“Given the pattern of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, there are serious concerns that the other bodies may also belong to victims of enforced disappearances.”
thehansindia.com
