Pakistan behaving like a rogue state, activists tell UNHRC over mass disappearances

New Delhi,UPDATED: Oct 3, 2025 06:12 IST

Political activists from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) at the United Nations in Geneva accused Pakistan of carrying out systematic enforced disappearances, urging the global body to act against what they called grave and escalating human rights abuses.

The Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy hosted a side event during the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council under the theme “Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan: Amplifying Voices, Demanding Justice, Calling for Global Action.” Speakers from Kashmiri, Pashtun, and international advocacy groups painted a grim picture of civilians vanishing without trace, tortured in custody, or killed in crackdowns.

Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, spokesperson for the United Kashmir People's Party, warned that violence had escalated in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. “More than 12 people have lost their lives since September 29. Pakistan is using brutal force against peaceful protesters, firing indiscriminately, jailing hundreds who are tortured,” he told ANI. He added that senior party leaders were arrested in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad simply for demonstrating against the killings. “Pakistan has no right to kill Kashmiris, occupy our land and our resources, torture and eliminate our people,” Khan said, urging the UN to step in.

Pashtun activist Fazal-Ur-Rehman Afridi said enforced disappearances were not isolated incidents but part of a wider campaign across ethnic groups. “We recently submitted 6,500 confirmed cases of enforced disappearances of just Pashtun people. In total, we have received more than 32,000 cases,” he told the gathering, describing 44 known internment centers where detainees are tortured, killed, and buried in mass graves. Afridi noted that more than 300 cases had already been verified by the UN and communicated to Islamabad, but Pakistan’s responses remained unsatisfactory.

Chongshi Yeah Joseph, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Peace, framed the issue in broader terms of international law. He called enforced disappearances “a war crime” and warned that Pakistan was increasingly behaving like a “rogue state.” He pressed the UN to act decisively, reminding delegates that the organization was founded to prevent atrocities from repeating after two world wars. “If they don’t do this, they will be failing in their duty to restore peace wherever it is threatened,” he said.

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(With inputs from ANI)

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