GENEVA — The International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons in collaboration of the International Humanist and Ethical Union is holding the Geneva Conference on Enforced Disapperances in Balochistan on Monday.The day long event will be held at the Rigi Room of Warwick Hotel in Geneva, which is called the human rights capital of the world.The conference has been called to draw world attention to the plight of more than 1,100 documented cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, a Texas-sized region struggling for independence in southwest Asia.Mary Aileen Bacalso, general secretary, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances and Roy Brown, immediate past president of International Humanist and Ethical Union will chair the morning and afternoon sessions.Delegates are arriving from the U.K., USA, Canada, Norway and Spain.Balochistan national hero and one the Three Shining stars of Balochistan, Hyrbyair Marri, is patron-in-chief of the conference while the U.K. coordinator of the I.V.B.M.P., Faiz Baluch, is the organizing secretary.The speakers who are expected are prominent UK lawyer James Nichols, James Nichols, counsel for Hyrbyair Marri in his terror trial in London. Randi Hagen Spydevold, Norwegian human rights lawyer and counsel for enforced disappearance victim Ehsan ArjemandiA team from Pakistan was also expected but complicated Swiss visa procedures bottlenecked their visit.Other prominent speakers include Laurie Deamer, presiding council member of the pro-independence American Friends of BalochistanBaloch intellectuals Shukat Aziz , and Prof. Mostafa S. Karimzadi, U.K. and Canada country coordinators respectively of the I.V.B.M.P. are among the key speakers.Baloch notable Zobeir Sheikhzadeh , president of Baloch Society of Norway, is also arriving in Geneva Sunday for the event.Others who have confirmed participation are Maya Pastakia, Pakistan and Afghanistan campaigner of the Amnesty International; Karlos Zurutuza, Spanish journalist and winner of Shaheed Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti Award; Rene Wadlow, Geneva representative of the Association of World Citizens and Abdul Hamid Khan, chairman, Balawaristan National Front.The conference is being held at the Rigi Room at the Warwick Hotel in Geneva.Those interested in attending, may please RSVP: ahmarivbmp@yahoo.com
