11/06/2025
BSO Condemns Balochistan's "Counter-Terrorism" Act: A License for State Atrocities
Quetta, Balochistan: The Baloch Students Organization (BSO) condemns the new draconian act passed by the Balochistan Provincial Assembly that grants law enforcement agencies the right to arbitrarily arrest.
This so-called counter-terrorism act legalizes three-month-long arrests without any evidence and without giving the arrestee any legal rights. Balochistan is already facing the terror tactics of enforced disappearances, and now the government has resorted to legalizing such tactics under the guise of a legal process.
Enforced Disappearances have plagued Balochistan since the early 2000s. Thousands of people have gone missing, some for more than 10 or 15 years. This new bill now effectively legalizes what was previously a form of collective punishment, where not only the disappeared but their entire families suffered.
This is a blatant violation of internationally recognized Human Rights of due process and protection under the law. This act also violates human rights granted under the Constitution of Pakistan.
We call upon human rights groups and international organizations to take immediate notice of this recent development and pressure the Pakistani state to stop its draconian measures in Balochistan.
