Stop persecution of Pashtuns, PTM urges world

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief has called on the international community to take immediate action to stop the persecution of millions of innocent Pashtuns and other oppressed communities in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen delivered a historic speech at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, exposing the Pakistani state’s oppression of Pashtuns, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

Pashteen revealed since 2001, under the banner of the “War on Terror,” the world had sought to combat terrorism. The United States and its Western allies have partnered with Pakistan, particularly in Afghanistan and the Pashtun-inhabited belt.

However, he alleged, Pakistan exploited the alliance for its own strategic gains, committing severe human rights abuses against Pashtuns.

“The operation has led to systematic violence, land grab, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the destruction of Pashtun communities. Pakistan manipulated the narrative of terrorism to justify its repression of Pashtuns,” Pashteen claimed.

Campaign against Pashtuns

According to Pashteen, the Pakistani establishment deliberately portrayed Pashtuns as terrorists to legitimise their persecution, with financial and military support from the international community. This resulted in mass displacement, loss of property and civilian casualties.

Pakistan established 43 illegal detention centers, where detainees face torture, extrajudicial killings and indefinite detention without trial. Approximately 60,000 Pashtuns have been unlawfully detained and about 6,700 are still missing. Families are kept unaware of their loved ones’ whereabouts, and attempts to seek justice are met with state resistance.

Pakistan’s military courts, operating without transparency, sentenced individuals without due process, Pashteen charged.

Fabricated charges are common. In 2011, the Action in Aid of Civil Power law was enacted, granting security forces unchecked power to detain and punish individuals without accountability.

Over the past two decades, approximately 76,000 innocent Pashtuns have been killed and more than 6,000 disabled in military operations. The use of landmines has caused 1,274 incidents, with the majority of victims being children.

Over 9 million Pashtuns have been forcibly displaced, with 60% of those who returned losing their property and 67% deprived of their livelihoods. The destruction includes the loss of 300,000 homes and 2,000 schools, deepening regional instability.

Pakistani forces had seized one million acres of land in Pashtun areas, he said. Cultural suppression has led to the assassination of 44 musicians and 68 journalists, further undermining Pashtun rights and freedoms.

PTM’s peaceful advocacy

The Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), founded in 2018, peacefully advocates for human rights, demanding:

1. A cessation of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
2. Prosecution of security officials involved in human rights violations.
3. Removal of landmines from civilian areas.
4. An end to military-sponsored militias.
5. Transparency in the distribution of international aid.
6. Peace and stability in the region.

Despite its peaceful approach, he regretted, PTM had faced brutal repression, with over 5,427 members detained on false terrorism and sedition charges since 2013. PTM leaders have been targeted and assassinated.

Notably, Arman was killed in February 2019, Arif Wazir in 2020 and Senator Usman Kakar in 2022. In 2019, 16 peaceful PTM protesters were killed and 50 others injured by Pakistani military forces.

In 2024, Pakistan used chemical weapons in the Pashtun belt and white phosphorus bombs in North Waziristan, further exacerbating human rights violations.

Grand jirga, ongoing persecution

In October 2024, a grand Pashtun jirga was held, with decisions made for the region’s peace and stability. However, following the assembly, the Pakistani state escalated violence against its members.

Several individuals, including Haji Abdul Samad and Malik Nasir, remain in jail, and on the 15th of March 2025, Mufti Munir Shakir, a jirga member, was murdered. PTM’s activities continue to be banned, despite the non-violent nature of the rights-based alliance.

PTM’s demands to the international community are:

• Lift the ban on PTM..
• Hold Pakistan accountable for systematic human rights abuses.
• Apply diplomatic pressure to end enforced disappearances, illegal detentions and extrajudicial killings.
• Conduct an independent audit of international aid to ensure it supports humanitarian purposes and not state repression.
• Suspend Pakistan’s GSP+ trade privileges until human rights standards are upheld.
• Launch an independent investigation into war crimes.

Global solidarity for human rights

Pashteen emphasised the plight of Pashtuns was not an isolated act; as similar violations occurred in Balochistan, Sindh, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and other regions.

He asked the international community, including the UN and the US, to ensure justice for victims of state persecution, provide reparations for affected families and support human rights, particularly women’s rights, education and employment.

PTM remained committed to peaceful resistance, Pashteen said, explaining: “Our sole objective is to secure justice, dignity and basic human rights for our people

The PTM chief concluded. “We respectfully request the international community to take immediate action to address these violations.”

sa/mud