Experts gathered in Berlin on January 30 to slam Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment, predicting it will gut judicial autonomy and empower the executive. Nowhere is the fallout more acute than in Balochistan, a hotspot of human rights crises including abductions and sham police actions.
The incisive panel, chaired by Sahr Baloch of BBC fame, spotlighted voices like Rafiullah Kakar and Abdullah Abbas from the Human Rights Council of Balochistan. Abbas was unequivocal: ‘This hits Balochistan hardest.’ He detailed how years of state-fueled vilification of protesters has legitimized horrors, rendering the constitution irrelevant on the ground.
The new law, he charged, obliterates slim chances for legal relief. Paired with anti-terror revisions, it greenlights enforced disappearances – a tactic Abbas likened to China’s Uyghur oppression, branding it systemic subjugation.
Kakar broke down the power realignment: the amendment strips courts of their review muscle over executive edicts, forging a lopsided governance model.
As Balochistan simmers with discontent, this amendment exacerbates risks of further marginalization and conflict. International watchdogs are sounding the alarm, advocating for measures to preserve Pakistan’s judicial integrity.