Washington, DC, USA | April 30, 2011

The following speech was presented by Reza Hossienbor to the Balochistan International Conference held on April 30, 2011, at the Carnegie Center for International Peace in Washington DC. The event was organized by Baloch Society of North America.

Reza Hossein Borr, a Baloch rights activist and writer based in London. Mr. Hossein Borr is originally from Iran

Click to watch video of Dr. Hosseinborr's speech

Conference notes:

Reza Hossein Borr introduced his talk with an outline of Baloch history and addressed the issue of what the Baloch might do now to solve their grievances with the states of Pakistan and Iran. Mr. Hossein Borr outlined eight conditions the international community has considered as sufficient grounds for secession and advocated that the Baloch do what is necessary to gain their rights in a civilized world.

Excerpt:

There are eight points that qualify a nation for secession and I would like my friends, especially the Baloch friends, to keep these things in mind. They can research this. Anyone who is interested in the cause of Balochistan"”they must know that there is a way out and this is the right of secession, not the right of self-determination. It is a little bit different.

The right of secession includes seven or eight points.

1) High injustices: When a state commits high injustices to the people of one portion of a country. These injustices could be massacres or genocides. If one documents these massacres, genocides or disappearances, these reasons could be used in a court of law against any state. And you claim that this nation is in danger and, therefore, it is entitled to secession.

2) Impoverishment: If a government employs a policy of systematic impoverishing"”making a people poor"”displacing them, misplacing them, taking their lands, stopping them from attending school, depriving them from an education, from business...these are called impoverishing policies. And accordingly, one can take the govt. to court.

3) Breach of contract: If there is a contract between two nations, and one of them breaks that contract, then the other side has a right to secede and break that union. And this is exactly what happened between Pakistan and Baluchistan.

4) Occupation: If the Baloch nation can prove that they have it has occupied, then they have again the right to secede.

5) Destruction of identity: If a government or state tries to destroy a nation's identity, whether it is religious identity, one's traditions, your racial identity...then again you can use that in a court of law.

6) Physical threat: If a nation is under physical threat, again they can go to court.

7) The right to prosperity: If a nation was not been given sufficient resources to prosper and if it has less than other people living in the same country, then that people has no other option except to secede to reach that level of prosperity.

8) The will of the people: If a nation decides to secede, they have the right to secede. Finally, I think the Baloch nation has reached the point that they are ready to give everything they have to liberate themselves. They are ready to give their lives, ready to give their property, and they are ready to do whatever is necessary to gain the same rights that every person in a civilized world has today.