BASC Research Associate Aisha Baloch urges global action on Balochistan crisis at Human Rights Week 2025

Geneva [Switzerland], November 17 : On November 12, 2025, Aisha Baloch, a Research Associate at the Baloch Advocacy and Studies Centre (BASC), presented a formal talk at a conference titled "The Fight of Baloch Women Against the Absence of Rule of Law in Balochistan." This event, hosted by the Global Studies Institute at the University of Geneva during Human Rights Week 2025, focused on the theme of promoting the rule of law.

Taking place from November 10 to 14 in collaboration with major international human rights organisations, the week commenced with the participation of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winners and gathered researchers, activists, and policymakers, along with notable figures such as journalist Pierre Haski, Spanish historian Nicolas Sesma, photographer Andre Gazut, and choreographer Leslie Mannès.

During the session about Balochistan, Karen Chappuis, a member of the 2025 Human Rights Week Organising Committee, facilitated the discussion. The session included presentations from Aisha Baloch, Associate Professor Nida Yasmeen Kirmani, Dr Sabiha Baloch of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, and human rights activist Sammi Deen Baloch, followed by a panel discussion led by Louise Rotman and Julie Loustaunau from the University of Geneva.

The speakers and moderators wore Balochi attire to express solidarity with the Baloch women struggling against human rights abuses in Balochistan.

In her speech, Aisha Baloch drew attention to the systematic breaches of the rule of law in Balochistan, particularly how oppressive political, social, and economic policies have adversely impacted Baloch women and children, especially in light of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. She presented a brief history of Baloch women's resistance to these injustices.

Aisha stressed the pressing nature of the human rights crisis, mentioning enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the unsettling discovery of mass graves in 2014, while highlighting their significant psychological and social repercussions on families and communities. She recounted poignant testimonies from Baloch women who have spent years seeking information about their missing sons and loved ones. Her presentation also emphasised the essential roles of Baloch women activists and the emergence of women-led movements like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

Aisha described the difficulties that women activists encounter, such as threats, defamation, and unwarranted detentions, in addition to the barriers faced by researchers documenting abuses within a fearful environment characterised by limited access, absence of official support, and ethical challenges in safeguarding sources.

In closing her remarks, Aisha appealed for immediate international focus on the circumstances in Balochistan and reaffirmed the crucial role of Baloch women in the fight for human rights. She urged for a more robust international response to support the human rights of the Baloch people in Pakistan.

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