36th Meeting 61st Session of Human Rights Council UN Web TV
Description
- Item 5: General debate (cont’d)
SPEAKER
Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture, Jamal Baloch
I stand before this Council to speak about the systematic and deliberate human rights violations in Balochistan, carried out by the State of Pakistan, its military and intelligence agencies, and sustained through the strategic and economic involvement of the People’s Republic of China.
In Balochistan, enforced disappearances are not allegations—they are state policy. Pakistan’s military operates above the law, abducting students, teachers, journalists, and political activists without warrants, due process, or accountability. In 2025 alone, over 1,300 people were forcibly disappeared and more than 200 were extrajudicially executed. Many were later found tortured and dumped, others remain missing—erased by the state.
Peaceful dissent is treated as terrorism. Women-led civil rights movements are crushed. Entire districts are placed under internet blackouts to conceal military operations and silence victims. This is not counterterrorism; it is collective punishment.
Mr. President, these crimes have escalated alongside projects tied to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. To secure strategic interests and resource extraction, Pakistan’s military has intensified repression, displaced communities, and militarized civilian life. China’s continued investment and diplomatic shielding—despite full knowledge of these abuses—renders it morally and politically complicit.
Let us be clear: enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity. Extrajudicial killing is murder under international law. Development cannot be built on mass graves, and sovereignty cannot be used as a license to brutalize an entire people.
The question before this Council is no longer whether violations are occurring—but why impunity is still being tolerated.
I call for an independent international fact-finding mission, accountability for Pakistan’s military leadership, and an end to international partnerships that enable repression.
The people of Balochistan are watching this Council. History will record not our statements—but our actions.
Thank you Mr.President.
Source:
UN WEB TV, 36th Meeting – 61st Session of Human Rights Council,https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1o/k1onw8nxq2.
