Manzoor Pashteen is a human rights defender and a key leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a peaceful human rights movement against extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances, discrimination and surveillance of the Pashtun community by the Pakistani state. Pashtuns in North-West Pakistan have been made especially vulnerable by the war against terror, unwillingly caught up and targeted in the battle between State security forces, the taliban, and US – Afghanistan regional tensions. Their demand for the protection of the constitutional rights of Pashtuns, and their peaceful human rights work for the protection of their community have been met with hostility, criminalization and often violent reprisals by the Pakistani authorities. As a leader of PTM, Pashteen has been a vocal critic of human rights violations by the military and has led public campaigns and peaceful protests calling for peace, accountability and redress for human rights victims, and an end to discrimination.
Defenders investigating human rights violations in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) face a particularly hostile climate, as they are targeted by security agencies, religious groups, militants, and armed gangs.
