HRCB Stands with Imran Ali’s Family and Demands His Remains, Truth, and Accountability

The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) stands in solidarity with the family of Imran Ali and demands immediate action from the Government of Pakistan to disclose the location of his grave, recover and return his remains, establish the truth about his disappearance and death, and hold all those responsible accountable.

Imran Ali was allegedly abducted, detained, tortured, and killed after being taken into the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). His family was denied information about his fate for nearly a year. The authorities must now provide a complete account of what happened to him and ensure that his family can recover his remains and give him a dignified burial.

On 27 August 2025, approximately 20 CTD agents allegedly abducted Imran Ali from A One City in Quetta and took him to an undisclosed location. For one year, his family received no official information about his fate or whereabouts.

Individuals who were reportedly detained on different dates and later released stated that Imran Ali had been held in custody and subjected to torture. These accounts raise serious concerns that he was subjected to enforced disappearance and ill-treatment while in state custody.

On 6 August 2026, during a hearing before Pakistan’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, a police officer stated that Imran Ali had been killed during an alleged encounter in May 2026. Authorities further claimed that his remains could not be preserved and that his body was buried in June 2026, approximately one month after his alleged killing.

Following this disclosure, Ali’s family visited the Civil Hospital in Quetta and identified his body from photographs contained in hospital records. However, the authorities have not provided the family with the exact location of the grave, complete documentation concerning his death and burial, or conclusive forensic confirmation of the remains’ identity.

According to information received by HRCB, Imran Ali’s body was brought to the Civil Hospital in Quetta alongside six other bodies. The families of those individuals were reportedly not notified, and the bodies were allegedly buried without proper identification or documentation.

This raises urgent concerns about the fate of the six unidentified bodies and the possibility that they may belong to other victims of enforced disappearance. In light of the longstanding pattern of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and alleged “kill-and-dump” operations in Balochistan, the authorities must immediately preserve all relevant records, locate the graves, conduct independent forensic examinations, and notify the families concerned.

HRCB considers the alleged abduction, detention, torture, and killing of Imran Ali a grave human rights violation requiring an urgent, independent, and impartial investigation.

His family has the right to know what happened to him, where he was buried, and whether the remains identified in hospital records are genuinely his. They must be provided with all relevant official records and allowed to recover his remains and give him a dignified burial.

The demand for Imran Ali’s remains is not merely a request for information. It is a demand for truth, dignity, justice, and accountability. No family should be forced to live with uncertainty about the fate of a missing loved one or denied the right to recover and bury their remains.

Imran Ali’s case also reflects broader concerns regarding unlawful detention, torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing in Balochistan, including abuses allegedly committed in the context of counter-terrorism operations. These violations require not only accountability in individual cases but also an end to the policies and practices that enable them.

HRCB calls on the Government of Pakistan to take the following immediate steps:

1. Disclose the exact location of Imran Ali’s grave and ensure the prompt recovery and dignified return of his remains to his family.
2. Conduct an independent forensic examination and DNA test to conclusively establish the identity of the remains attributed to Imran Ali.
3. Provide his family with all official records concerning his detention, alleged killing, burial, and the handling of his remains.
4. Initiate a prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation into his alleged enforced disappearance, torture, and death, and prosecute all those responsible.
5. Ensure the independent forensic identification of the six other bodies reportedly brought to the Civil Hospital in Quetta, locate their graves, notify their families, and assist them in recovering the remains.
6. Preserve and disclose all hospital, police, military, burial, and forensic records relating to Imran Ali and the six other bodies.
7. Disclose the fate and whereabouts of all persons subjected to enforced disappearance in Balochistan and inform their families without delay.
8. End the practice of enforced disappearance, ensure effective legal safeguards against it, and hold perpetrators accountable under the law.
9. Grant independent international observers unimpeded access to investigate allegations of enforced disappearance, torture, and extrajudicial killing in Balochistan.

HRCB stands with Imran Ali’s family in demanding a full accounting of the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, detention, alleged torture, death, and burial. The authorities must act immediately to recover his remains, identify the other unidentified bodies, and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.