Pakistan's ISI and Forced Disappearances: Activists Vanish Without Trace

Enforced disappearances in Pakistan follow a documented pattern, carried out by Pakistan's intelligence services — the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), and Frontier Corps — with Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun activists, journalists, and PTI supporters targeted. The UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances has repeatedly cited Pakistan.[1]

Enforced disappearances in Pakistan are not isolated incidents. They are a documented state practice. Thousands of cases are recorded; many more are unrecorded. The state framework — Frontier Corps, ISI, MI, Rangers, Anti-Terrorism Act framework — combines to produce a pattern of secret detention, torture, and often death without formal accountability.

The Intelligence Apparatus

Multiple state services are implicated.[2]

ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)

Founded 1948. Military-controlled intelligence service. Reports to Army Chief. Extensive domestic operations. Political monitoring role documented.

Military Intelligence (MI)

Army intelligence arm. Domestic operations documented.

Frontier Corps

Paramilitary force under federal Ministry of Interior. Operates in Balochistan and KPK. Documented in enforced disappearance cases.

Rangers

Paramilitary under Ministry of Interior. Sindh and Punjab operations. Karachi anti-terrorism operations.

IB (Intelligence Bureau)

Civilian intelligence. Reports to Prime Minister.

FIA (Federal Investigation Agency)

Civil investigation agency. Cybercrime, immigration, terrorism.

Who Gets Disappeared

Documented Pattern

The Sequence

Person abducted from home, workplace, road, or during travel. Usually plainclothes actors. Sometimes uniformed Frontier Corps/Rangers. Held in secret detention. Family denied information. Habeas corpus petitions blocked. Weeks, months, years of detention. Some released. Some killed (bodies found). Some never returned.

Detention Sites

Cantonment areas. Rangers/Frontier Corps facilities. Undisclosed "safe houses". Some transferred to formal detention later.

Physical Treatment

Torture documented. Beatings. Electric shock. Waterboarding-type methods. Sleep deprivation. Sexual violence in some cases.

Balochistan Focus

Balochistan is the concentrated site of enforced disappearances.[3]

Context

Baloch insurgency since 1948, escalated post-2004. BLA, BLF, BRA armed groups. Extensive Frontier Corps and ISI presence. China's CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) securitisation.

Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP)

Founded 2009 by Mama Qadeer Baloch. Documents thousands of cases. Camp outside Karachi Press Club continuously.

Mahrang Baloch and BYC

Baloch Yakjehti Committee. Female-led activism 2023-2026. Islamabad protests 2024. Mahrang Baloch prosecuted. Continuing crackdown.

Notable Cases

Dr Allah Nazar Baloch (BLF leader, killed/disputed). Manzoor Ahmed Bhutto (documented case). Priya Kumari (Hindu girl, disappearance). Countless unnamed individuals.

Pashtun PTM

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (Pashtun Protection Movement).[4]

Founded 2018

After extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi. Manzoor Pashteen founder. Anti-military establishment platform.

Prosecutions and Disappearances

Manzoor Pashteen prosecuted multiple times. Arif Wazir killed 2020. Multiple activists detained. PTM leaders regularly targeted.

Journalist Disappearances

Journalists face disappearance risk.[5]

Documented Cases

Umar Cheema (September 2010, abducted and tortured). Absar Alam (April 2021, shot). Arshad Sharif (October 2022, killed in Kenya — extraterritorial reach). Multiple journalists briefly detained.

Framework

PECA 2016 (amended 2022, 2025) — expanded framework. Anti-Terrorism Act. Sedition provisions.

PTI Supporter Framework

Post-9 May 2023 riots.[6]

Mass arrests documented. Some detentions extending months. Military court trials of civilians (26th Amendment). Continuing 2024-2026.

Legal Framework

Constitutional

Article 10 — safeguards on arrest. Article 10-A — fair trial. Article 14 — dignity and privacy.

Statutory

Anti-Terrorism Act 1997. Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulations 2011 (FATA/KPK). 26th Constitutional Amendment 2024.

Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED)

Established 2011. Investigates disappearance complaints. Weak enforcement powers. Case backlog thousands.

International Response

UN WGEID

Pakistan repeatedly cited. Country visits requested/granted. Communications sent. Recommendations largely unimplemented.

UN CAT

Pakistan Concluding Observations concern.

ICCPR

UN Human Rights Committee concerns.

Diaspora Targeting

Some documented reach of ISI to diaspora.[7]

Karima Baloch case (Toronto December 2020). Arshad Sharif killed Kenya October 2022. Sajid Hussain (Sweden 2020). UK diaspora threats documented. Sur place activism creates risk.

Asylum Framework

Convention Grounds

Political opinion — Baloch, PTM, journalist, PTI, activists. PSG — "Baloch activists"; "Family members of disappeared"; "Journalists in Pakistan". Ethnicity — Baloch, Pashtun in some framings.

State Protection

State IS the persecutor. Horvath framework triggers absence.

Internal Relocation

Not viable. ISI/MI reach nationwide. Even Islamabad not safe for high-profile targets.

UK Case Law

MK (duty to give reasons) Pakistan [2013] UKUT 641. Continuing UK CPIN Pakistan updates.

Evidence Framework

Country Evidence

UN WGEID country visit reports and communications. HRCP Pakistan annual reports. UK CPIN Pakistan: Balochistan; Pashtuns. Amnesty Pakistan enforced disappearance reports. HRW Pakistan. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons documentation.

Personal Evidence

Prior disappearance evidence. Family threat documentation. Prior habeas corpus petitions. COIED complaints. Community attestations. Political party membership.

Grant Rates

CPEC and Securitisation

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) intensifies Balochistan securitisation.[8]

Gwadar Port. Special Security Division deployed. Continuing BLA attacks on CPEC infrastructure. Security operations expanded. Chinese personnel targeted; retaliatory operations.

Women Activists

Increasing targeting of Baloch women activists 2024-2026.[9]

Mahrang Baloch prominent. Sammi Deen Baloch. Prosecution under sedition, terrorism. Islamabad long march December 2023. Continuing crackdowns.

Pakistan's intelligence apparatus produces documented enforced disappearances at scale. Baloch primary; Pashtun PTM, Sindhi nationalists, journalists, PTI supporters also targeted. The UN Working Group has repeatedly cited Pakistan. Domestic accountability effectively absent. State protection under Horvath framework absent — the state is the persecutor.
UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances; Voice for Baloch Missing Persons

Conclusion

Pakistan ISI disappearances — documented state practice targeting Baloch, Pashtun (PTM), Sindhi activists, journalists, PTI supporters. ISI, MI, Frontier Corps, Rangers implicated. Thousands of cases; UN WGEID repeatedly cites. COIED weak enforcement. Diaspora targeting documented (Karima Baloch, Arshad Sharif, Sajid Hussain). Convention grounds — political opinion, PSG, ethnicity. State IS persecutor; Horvath framework triggers absence of protection. Internal relocation not viable. Grant rates 45-75%. See our companion Pakistan analytical article, return risk, and non-state persecution.