United Nations human rights experts have demanded answers from Pakistan regarding the alleged enforced disappearance, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Imran Ali, a Baloch student whose death in custody was revealed to his family nearly a year after his abduction, according to a statement released on September 4, 2026.
Abduction and Detention Timeline
Imran Ali was abducted from his apartment on August 27, 2025, by approximately 20 agents belonging to Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), according to UN experts. He was subsequently taken to an undisclosed location. For nearly a year, his family received no official information regarding his fate or whereabouts. However, individuals who were detained alongside Ali later confirmed after their release that he had been held in custody and subjected to torture for several days.
Under international law, any deprivation of liberty followed by a refusal of authorities to acknowledge the detention or disclose a person’s fate constitutes an enforced disappearance. UN experts noted that such actions place victims outside the protection of the law.
Discovery of Death in Custody
The family learned of Ali’s fate on August 6, 2026, during a hearing before Pakistan’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. During the proceeding, a police officer stated that Ali had been killed in an alleged encounter in May 2026. Authorities reportedly took approximately one month to identify his body and buried him in June 2026, claiming they were unable to preserve the remains.
Following the disclosure, Ali’s family visited the Civil Hospital in Quetta. They identified his body from photographs on record. According to UN experts, Ali’s body had been brought to the hospital alongside six other bodies. None of these bodies were documented or reported by hospital staff or police, and all were buried without proper identification or notification to their families.
UN Experts Call for Independent Investigation
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances—represented by Chair-Rapporteur Gabriella Citroni, Vice-Chair Grażyna Baranowska, and members Aua Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez, and Mohammed Al-Obaidi—urged Pakistan to conduct a prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation.
Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions; Nicolas Levrat, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; and Ben Saul, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, formally backed the declaration. The specialists stressed that the inquiry must encompass independent forensic reviews, correct identification of the remains, and the honorable return of the body to the family.
Broader Pattern of Violations in Balochistan
UN experts warned that Ali’s death is not an isolated incident. Instead, they characterized it as reflective of a wider pattern of unlawful detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings targeting Baloch people. These abuses often rely on vague and overbroad counter-terrorism provisions, according to the human rights experts.
The disclosures arrive amid intensified state military and security operations in Balochistan, alongside widespread allegations of collective punishment. Prior to this case, UN human rights mechanisms raised concerns regarding the situation in Balochistan through public statements issued in March 2025, April 2025, and July 2026. The experts remain in contact with the Government of Pakistan regarding these concerns.
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