UN Urges Pakistan to Investigate Balochistan Man's Enforced Disappearance and Death

UN human rights experts have called on Pakistan to investigate the enforced disappearance, torture, and killing of Imran Ali from Balochistan. Abducted in August 2025, Ali's body was misidentified and improperly handled. Authorities faced criticism for inadequate documentation and care of additional unidentified bodies.

United Nations human rights experts have urgently called upon Pakistan to conduct an independent and impartial inquiry into the enforced disappearance, torture, and extrajudicial killing of a Balochistan man named Imran Ali. The experts' appeal follows Ali's abduction from his residence on August 27, 2025, by approximately 20 operatives from Pakistan's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), as reported by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Fellow detainees of Ali, upon their release, confirmed that he was subjected to several days of alleged torture while in custody. The case resurfaced during a hearing before Pakistan’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances on August 6, 2026. A police officer allegedly disclosed to the commission that Ali was killed in a so-called encounter in May 2026.

Authorities reportedly delayed identifying Ali's body by about a month, with claims that it could not be preserved. His family identified him from hospital photographs, leading to concerns about the handling of five other unidentified bodies brought to the hospital alongside Ali's. The experts have called for thorough forensic examinations, proper identification, and dignified return of Ali's remains to his family, emphasizing the necessity of a detailed investigation into the deaths amid a disturbing pattern of enforced disappearances in the region.