A powerful tribute to missing voices marked the ongoing World Expression Forum (WEXFO) in Lillehammer, where a symbolic gesture drew international attention: an empty chair reserved for Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a prominent Baloch human rights activist currently imprisoned in Balochistan.
Forum organisers left her designated seat unoccupied during the session to highlight her absence and honour her contributions to the fight for human rights. The announcement accompanying the gesture made it clear: “Dr. Mahrang Baloch is imprisoned today for speaking out against injustice. This empty chair stands in protest and in her honour.”
The act resonated deeply among the attendees, becoming a striking symbol of solidarity with voices silenced for advocating freedom of expression and human rights.
The forum was attended by leading human rights advocates including lawyer Imaan Mazari, journalist Kiyya Baloch, and several international youth leaders and activists.
Sharing a photo of the empty chair on social media, Imaan Mazari wrote, “Dr. Mahrang Baloch was remembered today at the Human Rights Conference in Lillehammer.” Journalist Kiyya Baloch commented, “During Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa’s speech to a packed hall, one silent chair paid tribute to Dr. Mahrang Baloch. It stood for those who are silenced for telling the truth.”
Dr. Baloch’s sister, Nadia Baloch, who is closely following her case, expressed gratitude to WEXFO: “They didn’t just remember her name, they honored her as a symbol of courage and conscience.”
She added, “Just last year, Mahrang stood on this very stage, fearlessly speaking the truth. Today, she is behind bars for that same truth. Her only ‘crime’ is refusing to remain silent in the face of injustice. As we prepare to spend a second Eid without her, her absence is a wound that has yet to heal.”
Nadia emphasised that the empty chair was more than just a sign of physical absence; it served as a reminder of the forces that seek to suppress dissent. “But it also reminds us that even in silence, resistance lives on,” she said.
Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a leading figure in the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), has been imprisoned for several months under the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO) law in Quetta. Legal petitions challenging her detention have been dismissed by local courts.
She was arrested alongside fellow BYC members Beebow Baloch, Shah Ji Sibghatullah, Bebarg Zehri, and Gulzadi Baloch, all of whom remain in custody under charges imposed by the Government of Balochistan.
The symbolic tribute at WEXFO drew renewed attention to the shrinking space for dissent in Pakistan and underscored the international community’s concern over the treatment of human rights defenders.
