Kareem Jan's body returns, justice doesn't: Pakistan's brutal crackdown on Baloch lives continues

Balochistan [Pakistan], July 16 (ANI): Baloch activist Kareem Jan was allegedly extrajudicially killed in custody after being summoned by personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) in Mashkay, Awaran district of Balochistan earlier this year, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said in a statement on Friday.

According to the BYC, Kareem Jan, son of Azeem, was summoned to the local FC camp on February 22, 2025. He was subsequently forcibly disappeared, and his whereabouts remained unknown to his family for nearly five months. On July 12, 2025, military officials informed the family that Kareem had died in custody and ordered them to collect his body from the camp in Mashkay.

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee has alleged that Kareem's body bore visible signs of extreme torture, raising serious concerns of prolonged abuse during detention. "His death is not an isolated incident but a part of the ongoing campaign of repression in Balochistan," the BYC stated.

This is the second time Kareem Jan had been targeted by Pakistani security forces. According to BYC, he had previously been forcibly disappeared in 2023 and held incommunicado for eight months before being released with signs of severe torture.

The BYC has called on international human rights organisations and the United Nations to take immediate notice and launch an independent investigation into Kareem's custodial death. The group described it as a "cold-blooded extrajudicial killing" and urged accountability for the systematic use of enforced disappearances and torture in Balochistan.

Enforced disappearances, militarisation, and economic deprivation have long plagued Balochistan. Civil society groups, including the BYC, have repeatedly accused the Pakistani state of silencing dissent through violent means.

"Kareem Jan's story is one of hundreds," the BYC said on X. "We will continue to raise our voices for justice and the right to live with dignity in our own land." (ANI)

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