The Baloch National Movement held a photo exhibition outside the UN office in Geneva, highlighting what it described as enforced disappearances and other rights abuses in Balochistan….reports Asian Lite news Desk
The Baloch National Movement (BNM) has held a photo exhibition outside the United Nations Office in Geneva, highlighting what it described as alleged enforced disappearances, collective punishment and other human rights abuses in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
The exhibition displayed photographs of people the group said had been forcibly disappeared, along with images documenting the impact on their families.
According to the BNM, the event was intended to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Balochistan and present photographic documentation of alleged disappearances to international institutions.
The group said enforced disappearances were an ongoing concern for thousands of families and that the photographs represented relatives who had been waiting for years for information about missing family members.
The BNM’s Geneva campaign comes during the ongoing international focus on human rights issues in Balochistan. Earlier in September, the group said it had presented documentation on alleged enforced disappearances to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in Geneva.
What did the Balochistan photo exhibition highlight?
The BNM said the exhibition focused particularly on families of people whose whereabouts remain unknown.
The organisation said protests by relatives of missing people, a long march by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and hunger strikes had failed to produce what it considered an effective response to the issue.
It described the Geneva exhibition as part of a wider campaign to place documentation and photographic evidence before international organisations.
The claims presented at the exhibition are allegations made by the BNM and were not independently established by the exhibition itself.
The event also highlighted the case of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Mahrang Baloch, whom the BNM described as a prominent voice for Baloch rights.
Mahrang Baloch was sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court in Quetta in June 2026 in connection with the death of a security official during a 2024 protest in Gwadar. Pakistani authorities and the prosecution maintained that the case involved serious criminal and terrorism-related offences, while rights groups criticised the proceedings and raised concerns about due process.
Her appeal against the life sentence was admitted for regular hearing by the Balochistan High Court in July.
What cases did the BNM raise in Geneva?
The BNM also cited the alleged disappearances of Muhammad Bakhsh Sajidi, Naeem Sajidi and Rafiq Baloch, whom it said were taken during raids in the Hub region of Balochistan on February 2, 2026.
The organisation said their whereabouts remained unknown and that the case had also been raised through an Early Day Motion in the British Parliament.
The BNM used the Geneva exhibition to call for greater international attention to what it described as a deteriorating human rights situation in Balochistan.
The group said the photographs were intended to show the human impact of disappearances and give families seeking information about missing relatives a platform at an international forum.
The exhibition formed part of a broader BNM campaign in Geneva during the UN Human Rights Council session, which has included protests, meetings and other events focused on alleged rights violations in Balochistan.
The organisation said it would continue seeking international attention for cases of alleged enforced disappearance and other rights concerns in the province.
