A human rights organisation has condemned a directive from the Balochistan government compelling families to submit sworn affidavits disowning relatives accused of “militancy,” under threat of criminal prosecution, confiscation of property and withdrawal of state benefits.
“This order constitutes collective punishment in direct contravention of international human rights and humanitarian law. By seeking to criminalise entire families for the alleged actions of individuals, the state is not only violating the principles of individual responsibility and due process but is also engaging in a policy that bears the hallmarks of a crime against humanity,” the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) said in a statement.
According to the HRCB, the directive is particularly abhorrent in its treatment of the families of victims of enforced disappearance.
The rights body argued that forcing families to report to Pakistan’s Army and Frontier Corps — institutions accused of carrying out enforced disappearances in Balochistan — amounts to “deliberate humiliation, coercion, and psychological torture.”
The HRCB said such measures entrench impunity for grave violations while shifting the burden of responsibility from the Pakistani authorities to the victims themselves.
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The organisation urged the international community, United Nations human rights mechanisms and legal experts to unequivocally denounce what it described as a “draconian and unlawful policy.”
“It is imperative that this measure be recognised for what it is: a blatant violation of Pakistan’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT),” the HRCB stated.
The rights body emphasised that instead of persecuting families and institutionalising collective punishment, the Pakistani Government should be held accountable for “ending enforced disappearances, ensuring due process, and upholding the rule of law in Balochistan.”
“Anything less perpetuates a cycle of repression that may amount to state-sanctioned persecution of an entire population,” it added.
People in Balochistan have long sought independence from Pakistan. Human rights organisations in the region have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of repression, including violent raids on the homes of Baloch leaders and civilians, unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, the “kill and dump” policy, detentions under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, and the filing of fabricated police cases.
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