Amnesty International said Baloch activist Jiand Baloch, chairperson of the Baloch Students Organization (BSO), was forcibly disappeared from his home in Quetta on 24 July 2026, and that his whereabouts remain unknown a week later.
According to the rights group, the 29-year-old activist, who has two children, was taken from his home in Quetta at around 1 am on 24 July. Amnesty said Jeeyand was not present when law enforcement and other individuals arrived at his house around midnight, while his parents, wife and two children were home. His wife told Amnesty that ten men identifying themselves as law enforcement, along with four men in plain clothes, forcibly entered the house. The family said the men searched the house, causing damage and physically assaulted Jeeyand’s father while threatening to take his wife and mother.
Amnesty said this is the third time Jiand has been forcibly disappeared, describing it as part of a broader pattern of targeting Baloch students for their peaceful activism. He was previously forcibly disappeared in 2018, when he was held for nine months, and again in 2024, when he was held for about a month.
Fellow BSO organizer Younas Baloch, a fourth-year law student and president of BSO’s Quetta zone, was also abducted from his home in Quetta the same night, according to the organization. BSO’s Central Information Secretary said the organization is demanding the immediate release of both men, calling the renewed disappearances a serious injustice.
Amnesty said Jiand has worked closely with families of the forcibly disappeared to campaign for their return and has been active on the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. The organization said the crackdown on Baloch activists has intensified since 2025, resulting in enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions across Balochistan and beyond.
Amnesty International called on Pakistani authorities to immediately disclose Jeeyand Baloch’s fate and whereabouts and to ensure his safe release.
