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HRCB expresses grave concern over the abduction of Baloch Poet Habiba Pirjan and the systematic harassment of her family

HRCB

The Human Rights Council of Balochistan expresses its profound alarm and strongest condemnation regarding the abduction of Habiba Pirjan, a respected Balochi-language poet, and the escalating intimidation of her family members.

According to reports and video testimony from her daughter, Hina Baloch, Habiba Pirjan was abducted for the second time on May 25, 2026, during a violent raid on her home. This incident follows a previous pattern of arbitrary detention; she was first abducted on May 19, 2022, and released three days later on May 22, 2022, after no evidence of wrongdoing was found.

The recent raid was characterized by excessive force. Security personnel reportedly vandalized the family’s home and confiscated the mobile phones of Inna Baloch, her brother Yasir Baloch, and their uncle, effectively cutting off the family’s ability to communicate and document the incident.

The HRCB views the re-arrest of Habiba Pirjan as a targeted attack on Baloch intellectual life and cultural identity. Habiba Pirjan is a poet whose work celebrates the Balochi language and culture. Her repeated abduction without legal charge suggests that her literary expression is being treated as a criminal offense.

We are particularly concerned by the family’s reports of “fake news” and disinformation campaigns being used to justify these actions or smear the victim. The use of state-aligned narratives to spread falsehoods about missing persons is a dangerous trend aimed at silencing families and discouraging them from seeking justice.

We demand:

  • The immediate and unconditional release of Habiba Pirjan. If there are legal charges against her, she must be produced before a court of law and granted her right to due process.
  • The systematic harassment, vandalism, and confiscation of property belonging to her children and relatives must stop immediately.
  • The practice of “short-term” disappearances, where individuals are taken without record for days or weeks, is a violation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and must end.

HRCB

Human Rights Council of Balochistan (Hakkpaan) is a non-profit and non-partisan human rights group based in Balochistan and Sweden. It collects reports from Balochistan, a region Pakistan government does not allow any media and HR group to visit and report. Human rights violations in Balochistan is not a new phenomenon, but it got its worst levels after the Military coup de tat of Pakistan in 1999. Thousands of Baloch have been reported missing, hundreds killed in fake encounters and so-called kill and dump policy of the military. HRCB collects the data from Balochistan itself, through its network of volunteers and supporters, organizes and reports them to the human rights mechanisms of the world.