Pakistan Faces Strong Condemnation for Human Rights Violations in UN Event

Human rights advocates denounced Pakistan for violations like enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture during a UN event in Geneva. Led by Fazal Ur Rehman Afridi, the panel highlighted Pakistan's military actions against Pashtun activists and detailed the systemic oppression of the Baloch people since 1948.

Human rights activists have strongly condemned Pakistan for an array of grave human rights abuses during a panel session at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The event titled "Human Rights Situation in South Asia: Enforced Disappearances, Extrajudicial Killings, Arbitrary Detentions & Torture in Pakistan" drew attention to severe allegations against the Pakistani state, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture designed to quell dissent.

The panel, led by Fazal Ur Rehman Afridi, a prominent Pashtun political activist and Principal Representative of TUMUKU (ECOSOC), gathered multiple voices of dissent. Key speakers included Shunichi Fujiki, Managing Director of the International Career Support Association, Naseem Baloch, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement, Vermaut Andy, a journalist and human rights advocate, Jafari Reza, Chairman of the Afghan Peace Dialogue, and Jabarkhail Azizullah, member of PTM International Advocacy (USA).

Afridi condemned the ongoing actions of the Pakistani military against Pashtun activists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting recent escalations. "This brutal crackdown is condemned by all activists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the international community present here," he stated, referencing recent clashes where authorities reportedly used tear gas and bullets on peaceful PTM protestors. Echoing this sentiment, Vermaut Andy spotlighted the case of Ayesha, whose husband disappeared without a trace, emblematic of over 32,000 such cases. Naseem Baloch recounted personal and communal tragedies faced by the Baloch people, arguing that enforced disappearances serve as an undeclared war against ethnic minorities.

(With inputs from agencies.)