First public event by BASC presented verified findings on extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances across Balochistan
London, UK – On 30 July 2025, the Baloch Advocacy and Studies Center (BASC), in collaboration with the SOAS Iranian Society, hosted an important seminar at the Djam Lecture Theatre, SOAS University of London, highlighting the grave and ongoing human rights violations against the Baloch people in Iran and Pakistan.
This seminar marked the Center’s first public event and previewed findings from its forthcoming Annual Human Rights Reports, to be released in August 2025.
The event, comprising two sessions, opened with welcoming remarks by Dr. Katayoun Shahandeh of the SOAS Iranian Society and Qambar Malik Baloch, General Secretary of BASC.
The first session addressed state violence in Balochistan, Iran, with a particular focus on extrajudicial executions and their disproportionate impact on women and children. The session also included testimonies from family members of victims of human rights violations.
Fariba Baloch, President of BASC, provided an overview of the broader human rights situation in the region. Abdullah Aref, Deputy General Secretary of BASC, presented data on executions carried out in 2024, highlighting patterns of state targeting against Baloch civilians. The keynote speaker, Dr. Mai Sato, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, expanded on the issue of extrajudicial executions in Balochistan, expressed grave concern over the evidence presented, and committed to raising the matter before the UN Human Rights Council.
The second session shifted focus to Balochistan, Pakistan, beginning with a historical overview of human rights issues delivered by Hassan Hamdam, Vice President of BASC. Dr. Khurshid Ahmed, BASC’s Director of Research, followed with a detailed presentation on enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in 2024, noting that students and laborers were among the most frequently targeted and emphasized that many of these atrocities, committed by Pakistani state forces, appear to be acts of retaliation and collective punishment directed against the Baloch population as a whole.This session featured keynote remarks by Dr. Sabiha Baloch, a prominent Baloch leader and representative of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), who provided an update on the current situation and emphasised the urgent need for international attention and intervention.
The seminar was attended by academics, diplomats, journalists, human rights defenders, NGO representatives, and members of oppressed peoples from both Iran and Pakistan. The event concluded with a powerful expression of solidarity with the victims and their families, as well as support for those courageously advocating for justice, particularly the Baloch Yakjehti Committee.
BASC reaffirmed its commitment to research-driven advocacy and pledged to continue working in collaboration with all those who stand for human rights and justice in the region.
Founded on 11 May 2025 by Baloch human rights defenders, writers, and researchers from both Eastern and Western Balochistan, BASC is dedicated to raising international awareness through research and advocacy around the shared and systematic injustices faced by Baloch people across the region of Balochistan.
