Geneva: Mahra Baloch – @MahraJaleel, a member of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), highlighted the grave human rights situation in Balochistan during the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
She drew attention to ongoing enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the targeting of political activists by Pakistani authorities.
Mahra Baloch urged the international community to take immediate notice of the deteriorating situation and called for concrete steps to ensure accountability and the protection of fundamental human rights in Balochistan.
Here is complete text of her speech :
Mr. President,
In Balochistan, an entire people are being punished for existing. Under the guise of “counter-terrorism,” the Pakistani state has turned law into a weapon-criminalizing dissent, erasing lives, and silencing an entire nation.
Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act has been misused to label Baloch activists, students, and human rights defenders as so-called “proscribed persons.” This label strips them of freedom, denies their right to travel, and places them under constant threat.
In 2025 alone, “Paank” the Human Rights Department of the Baloch National Movement, documented 1,355 enforced disappearances and 225 extrajudicial killings. These are not statistics, they are fathers taken from homes, students abducted from campuses, and bodies returned as warnings.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has been arbitrarily arrested, denied medical care, and targeted solely for peaceful advocacy. Internet shutdowns, mass surveillance, and collective punishment are routine-designed to ensure that the world does not see what is happening in Balochistan.
Mr. President, silence enables these crimes.
We urge this Assembly to demand that Pakistan immediately end these violations, release all arbitrarily detained Baloch activists, and initiate independent, investigations into enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
I thank you.
