Young man dies after release from Pakistani custody in Balochistan, family alleges severe torture

Quetta [Pakistan], June 20 (ANI): A young man passed away shortly after being released from the custody of Pakistani security forces in Balochistan, with his family claiming that he endured severe torture during detention, The Balochistan Post reported. The man has been identified as Shahzaib Ahmed, a resident of Quetta's Killi Qambarani.
Shahzaib was taken into custody during the Eid al-Adha celebrations near the Manguchar Dam area, The Balochistan Post reported. They reported that he had gone on a picnic on the fourth day of Eid with two neighbours. While heading back, their motorcycles broke down and Pakistani forces arrested them later that night.
Shahzaib was reportedly freed in critical condition and died within hours. His family stated that his body displayed signs of extreme torture, such as burns, broken arms, torn fingernails, and facial swelling.
They further accused his captors of having poured melted plastic onto his skin, forced boiling water into his mouth, and only provided him with watermelon as food during his detention. A friend took him to the hospital after his release, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
In his last moments, Shahzaib allegedly told his family, "Not even infidels treat humans this way in war." Of the two others detained with him, one remains unaccounted for, while the other is reported to be in critical condition. There has been no official comment from Pakistani authorities regarding this incident.
The death of a young man has been reported amid an increase in reports of alleged enforced disappearances and deaths in custody in Balochistan. Human rights organisations have asserted that many victims are abducted by state forces without due process and are later discovered dead, frequently exhibiting signs of torture.
Earlier this month, the bodies of five men who had been previously forcibly disappeared were uncovered during two separate events. According to the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), two of the victims, Ali Muhammad and Nizar, were killed within a military cantonment in Mashkay, while three more bodies were found in the Pyara Colony of Dera Bugti district.
They were identified as Ali Baig, Jamal Bugti, Yousaf alias Wado, and Zahid, all of whom had reportedly been forcibly disappeared in recent months. In a different case, the family of a man named Salam, a resident of Gwadar's Dasht Kumbail, received his body on June 15, two days after he was supposedly taken into custody.
According to HRCB, 719 individuals were abducted in Balochistan during the initial five months of 2025. Of those, 553 are still missing, 35 were found dead, and only 129 were released.
As per The Balochistan Post, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) stated that at least 20 Baloch youths were extrajudicially killed in the first half of June alone. The organisation indicated that these killings occurred either at the hands of Pakistani security forces or by state-supported local armed groups referred to as "death squads."
The BWF cautioned that extrajudicial killings have become "routine" in Balochistan and called on the United Nations and international human rights organisations to take action.
HRCB remarked that the ongoing detentions and killings "represent blatant violations of international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and breach Articles 9 and 10 of Pakistan's Constitution, which assure the rights to life, liberty, and due process."
The organisation demanded an independent international inquiry into the alleged practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. "We urge all international human rights organisations to take immediate notice," the statement concluded. (ANI)