The Baloch National Movement (BNM) held a photo exhibition outside the United Nations office in Geneva, highlighting alleged enforced disappearances, “collective punishment” and the human rights situation in Balochistan.
According to the BNM, the exhibition featured photographs of allegedly forcibly disappeared people and their families and formed part of the organisation’s three-day Geneva campaign from September 24 to 26, which also included a conference, protest and rally.
Related: BNM Presents Enforced Disappearances Dossier to UN Working Group in Geneva
The group said the campaign aimed to draw international attention to Balochistan and present documentary and photographic evidence concerning enforced disappearances before international institutions.
A BNM spokesperson said enforced disappearances in Balochistan were not merely a matter of claims or statistics, but a reality affecting thousands of families who had spent years waiting for their loved ones to return or for information about their whereabouts.
“Enforced disappearances in Balochistan are not merely a claim or statistics, but a painful reality tied to the lives of thousands of families. These photographs represent families who have spent years waiting for the return of their loved ones or for answers about their whereabouts.”
They referred to years of protests by families of allegedly forcibly disappeared people, including the long march led by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) and prolonged hunger strikes, saying these efforts had yet to result in what the organisation considered an effective international response.
The BNM said its Geneva campaign sought to take the same issue to platforms such as the United Nations through documented and photographic evidence.
The spokesperson also referred to children who joined Mama Qadeer Baloch’s long march in search of missing parents, saying many had since grown up while some had themselves faced enforced disappearance and state pressure.
Citing Dr Mahrang Baloch as one example, they said she began speaking out over her father’s alleged enforced disappearance when she was a child and later became a prominent voice on Baloch rights. The spokesperson said she subsequently faced criminal cases over her activism and was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2026 in what the organisation described as a “false case”.
The organisation also cited the family of BNM Chairman Dr Naseem Baloch, alleging that his father, Muhammad Bakhsh Sajidi, uncle Naeem Sajidi and maternal uncle Engineer Rafiq Baloch were detained by Pakistani forces during raids on their homes in Hub on February 2 and have remained missing since.
The statement said the case had also been raised in an Early Day Motion in the British Parliament.
The BNM said the exhibition also reflected what it described as the continued political struggle of the Baloch people despite arrests, disappearances and other forms of pressure.
Through the exhibition, the organisation called for greater international attention to the human rights situation in Balochistan and urged international institutions to take notice of the cases and evidence presented during its Geneva campaign.