Baloch Human Rights Activist Condemns Pakistan’s “Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir” Event in Paris, Calls It a Distraction from Ongoing Abuses – Aomar Karim

Baloch political and human rights activist Aomar Karim has issued a statement condemning what he describes as a “shameful and hollow” event held by the Pakistani Embassy in Paris on 5 August, calling it an attempt to distract international attention from Pakistan’s own human rights record.

The event, organised by the Embassy of Pakistan in France to mark Youm-e-Istehsal Kashmir, saw Pakistan’s Ambassador to France, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, reaffirm that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains central to Pakistan’s foreign policy. The Ambassador pledged that Islamabad would continue to mobilise international support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination through diplomatic engagement.

Karim said Pakistan is using the “Kashmir card” as a diplomatic tool while, at the same time, failing to account for the killing of civilians in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), including in Rawalakot. He said the Paris event was designed to obscure this reality from the international community.

He pointed to the same day’s protest by Kashmiri activists outside the Pakistani High Commission in London as evidence of local discontent with Islamabad’s administration, alongside what he described as a widespread Kashmiri boycott of recent Pakistani elections.

Karim also raised concerns about press freedom, noting that Pakistan’s military establishment maintains tight control over domestic media, restricting coverage of events on the ground. He cited Al Jazeera English’s election-day coverage, which showed low Kashmiri participation in the vote, as an example of the kind of independent reporting Pakistani authorities have sought to suppress. He referenced a Guardian report on new restrictions requiring anyone, including Pakistani nationals, to seek permission before reporting from anywhere in the country.

Karim said the same pattern of media restriction applies to Balochistan, where Pakistan enforces a media blackout to prevent international scrutiny of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

He cited the case of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch, who was detained on 22 March 2025. On 22 June 2026, an anti-terrorism court in Quetta found her guilty in connection with the death of Frontier Corps soldier Shabbir Ahmad Baloch, who was killed during unrest at a BYC-led protest in Gwadar in July 2024. Karim said that the judge, witnesses and decision-makers in the case were selected by the military, and cited this as evidence of why Pakistan fears independent international media coverage.

“This time, the world is aware of Pakistan’s human rights violations, including in Balochistan, Kashmir and the Pashtun belt,” Karim said. “There is nothing left to hide.”

Karim concluded by calling on the international community, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, UN human rights bodies and the UN Security Council, to hold Pakistan accountable for human rights violations in the region.