A major Pakistani rights watchdog, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), has issued a dire warning over widening human rights abuses in Balochistan, a remote and restive province in southwestern Pakistan.
A fact-finding mission by the HRCP released its findings in a report Wednesday, saying that the province is facing a “shrinking civic space, erosion of provincial autonomy and unchecked impunity.”
According to the HRCP, enforced disappearances have continued in the province. It added that civic space is rapidly diminishing, provincial autonomy is being eroded, and public trust is plummeting under unchecked repression.
“The mission’s findings reveal a disturbing pattern of continued enforced disappearances, shrinking civic space, erosion of provincial autonomy and unchecked impunity—conditions that continue to fuel public alienation and political instability,” noted the report.
The HRCP warned that unless Pakistan abandons coercive methods and embraces a political, rights-based resolution, Balochistan could spiral further into instability — with implications extending far beyond the province’s borders.
Civil society activists, particularly groups like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), are being targeted under terrorism allegations in the province.
HRCP warned this crackdown has “only deepened alienation, especially among the youth,” and demanded legal recognition and protection for activists.
Activism in the province remains dangerously suppressed. Mahrang Baloch, a prominent rights advocate, has been jailed since March. Writing from prison, she denounced the misuse of counter-terror laws to stifle peaceful dissent and highlighted how Baloch communities have long been denied fairness in resource distribution.
Earlier this month, a 7-year-old boy in Balochistan who was accused of sharing an activist’s speech online was booked on terrorism charges — drawing widespread condemnation of criminalizing minors.
