SW News: Human rights advocates, intellects and diplomats gathered in Switzerland's Geneva to express their concerns over Pakistan and China's systematic torture and discrimination against racial and religious minorities. The activists raised concern over Pakistan's gross human rights violations against Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun minorities, and the Uyghur Muslims in China.

The Symposium on Freedom of Religion, Human Rights and Politics event was organized by Interfaith International, an NGO based in Switzerland. According to political activist Fazal-ur-Rehman Afridi, Pakistan routinely oppresses the Pashtun ethnic group. He said, "The South Asian country has engaged in severe human rights abuses over the past 20 years under the pretext of fighting terrorism, including forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and torture."

He added, "How can the religious and ethnic minorities trust the state of Pakistan, the military establishment when even the former prime minister cannot file an FIR against the ISI officer who was involved in the attempted murder of that Prime Minister."

The attendees also called for quick action from the international community, pointing out the systematic persecution of racial and religious minorities in both nations through harsh laws and military forces. The activists also blamed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor connecting the Uyghur-populated Xinjiang to Gwadar Port in Balochistan, which is well known for killing and displacing indigenous people.

Dolkun Isa, the President of the World Uyghur Congress, said, "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor impacts not only Uyghurs' lives but also so many Balochi people, Sindh people, Gilgit people and the rest of the people. They have destroyed daily life. But, unfortunately, the entire world is silent over the issue."

The people of Pakistan and China, who have endured persecution and crimes by their governments, are continuously speaking out on international stages, particularly at the United Nations.