Self exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed will headline the 9th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy slated for February, a coalition of 20 non-governmental human rights groups announced Wednesday.
Nasheed serving 13 years in prison for the arbitrary arrest and subsequent detention of a sitting judge while he was president joins top-name dissidents from Russia, Turkey and Tibet, who would be shining a light on the human rights records of their home nations.
The acclaimed annual conference is timed to take place in Geneva days before foreign ministers gather to open the 2017 UN Human Rights Council session.
“It’s a focal point for dissidents worldwide,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, which for the ninth year in a row will be organizing the annual event together with a cross-regional coalition of 20 other human rights groups.
The global gathering is acclaimed as a one-stop opportunity to hear from and meet front-line human rights advocates, many of whom have personally suffered imprisonment and torture.
“The speakers’ compelling and vivid testimonies will aim to stir the conscience of the UN to address critical human rights situations around the world,” said Neuer.
Subjects on the program this year include discrimination against women, jailing of journalists, prison camps, Internet freedom, religious intolerance, and the persecution of human rights defenders.
Nasheed who is now living in self exile in the UK after he was allowed to leave for medical treatment in an internationally brokered deal also urged the archipelago to unite against corruption.
