Geneva, March 24 — At the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Japanese activist Shun Fujiki delivered a forceful oral statement accusing Pakistani authorities of serious human rights violations in Balochistan.
Fujiki asked delegates to “imagine Baloch mothers desperately searching” for missing relatives and described a climate of fear and uncertainty across the region. He said that in 2025 more than 1,200 enforced disappearances were recorded in Balochistan, including women and at least 75 students, and that more than 1,000 people remain unaccounted for amid continuing reports of torture, extrajudicial killings and unlawful detentions.
He also alleged that provincial natural resources — notably significant copper and gold deposits — are being exploited in ways that benefit outside interests while local communities stay impoverished. Fujiki raised particular concern about the displacement of indigenous populations without their free, prior and informed consent, calling such actions breaches of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Fujiki pointed to the prolonged detention of activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch, reportedly held for more than a year after participating in a peaceful protest, as an example of state repression. Describing the overall situation as “a crisis of dignity and justice,” he warned against international complacency and said the world should not allow “an entire people to fade into silence.”
He urged the UNHRC to take concrete steps, including ordering independent fact-finding missions in hotspots such as Reko Diq, pressing Pakistan to ratify international instruments on enforced disappearances and indigenous rights, and making international assistance contingent on verified community consent, local employment guarantees and measurable poverty-reduction outcomes.
Fujiki closed by stressing the urgency of action with the reminder, “Justice delayed is justice denied,” as calls grew for greater international attention to what he described as a worsening humanitarian situation in Balochistan. (Reported by ANI)
