AMNESTY International, once a moral compass in global human rights advocacy, now seems to have lost direction—especially in its stance on Pakistan.
Its fixation on the “missing persons” issue has turned into a one-sided campaign, detached from Pakistan’s decades-long fight against terrorism. While amplifying unverified disappearance claims, Amnesty ignores the 94,000 Pakistanis—teachers, laborers, civilians and security personnel—martyred by militancy. Pakistan has suffered over $150 billion in economic losses as a frontline state in the war on terror, yet Amnesty’s silence on this immense human and financial toll reveals its selective and biased approach towards the country.
Instead of acknowledging Pakistan’s documented evidence submitted to the United Nations detailing India’s state-sponsored terrorism through its proxies—Fitnat-ul-Hindustan (BLA, BLF, BRAS, BRA) in Balochistan and Fitna-tul-Khawarij (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—Amnesty parrots propaganda crafted by groups like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). It ignores Indian-backed operatives like Kulbhushan Jadhav and commanders such as Gulzar Imam Shambay, Sarfraz Bangulzai, and Abdul Rasheed, all of whom confessed to how the “missing persons” slogan was weaponized to disguise militancy and foreign funding.
Amnesty’s advocacy appears blind to the truth that many so-called “disappeared” individuals later emerge as active terrorists. Noor Zaman Baloch and Nadeem, killed during the Jaffer Express attack, were portrayed as missing by BYC. Similarly, Hamal Fateh Baloch, responsible for the Gwadar Pearl Continental Hotel assault, and Karim Jan Baloch, acknowledged by his own family as a militant, were romanticized as innocent victims. Even Jehanzeb Mengal, alias Balach—neutralized in Noshki after two years of insurgency—was falsely listed as a “disappeared person.”
In August 2024, Tayyab Baloch alias Lala was eliminated in a counter-terrorism operation in Lasbela, yet BYC and Mamma Qadeer shamelessly labeled him a victim of enforced disappearance. The same pattern followed for Kamran Baloch, previously claimed to be abducted but later revealed as a BLF militant. Others like Eid Muhammad alias Shikari, Engineer Zaheer Baloch, and Abdul Malik were all exposed as terrorists despite Amnesty’s silence. Zaheer, notably, resurfaced alive in Iran months after being declared “killed in a fake encounter.”
While Amnesty accuses Pakistan of systematic disappearances, it ignores verifiable progress. The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) has investigated 10,618 cases since 2011, resolving 8,873—over 83%. Compare this to India, where, according to the World Population Review, 88 people go missing every hour—totaling 2,130 a day and 64,851 a month. Yet Amnesty has never mustered the courage to question New Delhi’s record. Nor has it addressed the UNFPA’s revelation that India accounted for 45.8 million “missing females” as of 2020.
This double standard exposes Amnesty’s bias. By echoing propaganda from India-sponsored groups like BYC, it distorts Pakistan’s sacrifices and legitimizes terrorism under the guise of human rights. Those it portrays as victims often share a common link—complicity in terror. Pakistan is not suppressing dissent but defending its citizens from militancy. Enforced disappearances, though serious, are security imperatives, not state policy, in a nation under proxy war. Ignoring this reality makes Amnesty complicit in whitewashing extremism. True human rights advocacy demands balance—until Amnesty confronts India’s role and acknowledges Pakistan’s sacrifices, it will remain a partisan voice, blind to truth and context.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
