"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)
UN opening session sponsored by U.S., Canada & Czech Republic
GENEVA, February 22, 2016 -- Covered by major media from around the world, the UN human rights headquarters in Geneva was the site today of a rare gathering of courageous dissidents from Iran, China, Russia, North Korea, and Eritrea, together with family members of famous political prisoners in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, united for the 8th annual Geneva Summit of Human Rights and Democracy, organized by 25 non-governmental organizations, including UN Watch and Human Rights Foundation.
Day 2: Live Streamed
Today's opening UN session was co-sponsored by the U.S. Canada, and the Czech Republic.
The two-day Geneva Summit, whose main public session takes place tomorrow, features presentations by noted right activists, former political prisoners and victims from human rights hotspots, with the aim of placing key issues on the global agenda days before UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the world's foreign ministers gather to open the 10th anniversary session of the UN Human Rights Council. World political figures and diplomats are also participating. Today's keynote address was delivered by Maria Leissner, Secretary-General of the Community of Democracies. Tomorrow the summit will hear from Anne Brasseur, the outgoing president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Program & Media Interviews
For journalists, this week's Geneva Summit provides a one-stop opportunity to hear from and interview frontline human rights advocates, many of whom have personally suffered imprisonment and torture.
The speakers’ compelling and vivid testimonies today have called on UNHRC delegates not to allow politics to override the cries of human rights victims.
Speakers today and tomorrow include:
Antonietta Ledezma, daughter of Caracas mayor and political prisoner Antonio Ledezma · Svitlana Zalishchuk, Ukrainian MP and key figure in 2013 EuroMaidan movement · Yang Jianli, Former Chinese political prisoner, survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre
· Vian Dakhil, Iraq's only female Yazidi MP and champion of ISIS victims · Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, German psychologist who treats female ISIS victims
· Ensaf Haidar, Wife of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi (winner of 2015 Geneva Summit Courage Award) · Anastasia Lin, Miss World Canada 2015, advocate for human rights in China · Jigme Golog, Tibetan monk and filmmaker recently released from jail · Darya Safai, Campaigner for Iranian women's rights · Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Turkish human rights lawyer & columnist · Daniel Mekonnen, Exiled Eritrean human rights lawyer and scholar · Lee Young-guk, Bodyguard to former North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il who fled to South Korea · Rosa Maria Paya, Cuban human rights activist and daughter of late dissident Oswaldo Paya · Polina Nemirovskaia, Russian human rights activist
· Joan Hoey, Editor of The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index
· Lord David Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former First Minister of Northern Ireland
· Christopher Walker, VP, National Endowment for Democracy · Irwin Cotler, Former Canadian Minister of Justice and lawyer for political prisoners
Now in its eighth year, the annual conferences of the Geneva Summit have enjoyed widespread coverage by CNN, Le Monde, and other major media.
All sessions to be held at the Geneva International Conference Center (CICG)
9:30 Opening Address: Reflections on the 10th Anniversary
of the United nations Human Rights Council Lord David Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, member of the British House of Lords, former First Minister of Northern Ireland 9:50 The Return of Authoritarianism Moderator: Christopher Walker, Executive Director, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy
Svitlana Zalishchuk, Ukrainian MP, Steering Committee of World Movement for Democracy
Irwin Cotler, Former Canadian Minister of Justice & MP, lawyer for political prisoners, Emeritus McGill University Professor of Law
Yang Jianli, President of Initiatives for China, former political prisoner
Joan Hoey, Editor of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index
11:00 Presentation of Geneva Summit 2016 Women’s Rights Award Presenter: Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, former Minister of Education of Luxembourg Moderator: Sohrab Ahmari, Journalist, The Wall Street Journal
Vian Dakhil, Yazidi Member of Iraqi Parliament
Jan Ilhan Kizilhan, German psychologist who created a clinic in northern Iraq for women victimized by ISIS
12:00 Flogged for Blogging: The Case of Raif Badawi
Ensaf Haidar, wife of Raif Badawi, Saudi blogger
currently in jail, 2015 Laureate of the European Parliament’s Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought, interviewed by journalist Tom Gross
12:30 Networking Lunch 14:00 Presentation of Geneva Summit 2016 Courage Award Moderator:Javier El-Hage, General Counsel, Human Rights Foundation
Mitzy Capriles, wife of Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma who is currently in jail on politically-motivated charges
14:20 Is China Upholding Its Duties as a UN Human Rights Council Member? Moderator:Yang Jianli, President of Initiatives for China, ex-political prisoner
Anastasia Lin, Human rights advocate on China, 2015 Miss World Canada
Jigme Golog, Tibetan monk, recently released from jail
15:00 Fighting Oppression, Defending Human Rights Moderator: Irwin Cotler, Former Canadian Minister of Justice & MP, advocate for political prisoners, Emeritus McGill University Professor of Law
Mohamed Fahmy, Al Jazeera journalist, recently released from Egyptian prison, now launching his own press freedom foundation
Darya Safaei, Campaigns for right of Iranian women to enter sports stadiums
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, Turkish human rights lawyer, columnist for Today’s Zaman and Özgür Düşünce
16:00 Voices for the Voiceless Moderator:Philippe Robinet, CEO Editions Kero
Daniel Mekonnen, Exiled Eritrean human rights lawyer and scholar
Lee Young-guk, Former bodyguard of Kim Jong-il, arrested and tortured for trying to defect, eventually escaped to South Korea
Rosa Maria Paya, Cuban human rights activist, daughter of late dissident Oswaldo Paya
17:15 Beyond Geneva: Advancing Human Rights in 2016
Ambassador Alfred H. Moses, Chair of UN Watch
The price of speaking truth to power against the Castro brothers
Cuban human rights defender, Damarys Moya Portieles, addressed the 2014 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 25, 2014. During her presentation she explained how she had been warned that what she said there would have consequences. Yesterday she was detained for several hours. She was freed after four hours of detention, threats and insults. The following is her description of what transpired, as it appeared on her twitter account shortly after hear release:
"My name is Damaris Moya Portieles today March 4th at 11 in the morning I was arrested on the corner of my house and taken to police headquarters in Santa Clara, for the space of 4 hours they kept me in a cold room as a method of torture. Near the four hour mark arrived Lieutenant Colonel Enrique, who told me all sorts of insults and threats. The dictatorship of the Castro brothers feel rancor towards me for my recent intervention denouncing the Cuban government..."
Primero
quiero agradecer a UN Watch y los organizadores y patrocinadores de
esta Cumbre de Ginebra por los Derechos Humanos y la Democracia por
haberme invitado a brindar mi testimonio.
Mi
nombre es Damaris Moya Portieles, soy presidenta de la Coalición
Central Opositora, directiva del Frente Nacional de Resistencia Cívica
Orlando Zapata Tamayo, y miembro del Movimiento Femenino por los
Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks, todas entidades defensoras de los derechos
humanos en Cuba, que el régimen de Raúl Castro no reconoce ni permite
legalizar dentro del país.
Vivo
en Cuba, en la ciudad central de Santa Clara y es la primera vez que
puedo salir a otro país, porque en Cuba los ciudadanos no tienen derecho
a viajar libremente y a volver a su país sin restricciones.
Por
mi activismo a favor del respeto a los derechos humanos y las
libertades fundamentales de los cubanos, he sido golpeada por las
fuerzas represivas hasta dejarme inconciente, me han amenazado de muerte
en varias ocasiones, han amenazado a mi pequeña hija con ser violada
sexualmente,me
han golpeado estando embarazada, me han negado asistencia médica a mi y
a mis familiares, incluyendo la negación de atención médica a mi
abuelita de 72 años, quien murió por esta causa el pasado 8 de diciembre
cuando se negaron en el Hospital Provincial de Santa Clara a ponerle
una transfusión sanguínea; mi
casa ha sido allanada en numerosas ocasiones, mis hijos pequeños han
sido golpeados por los policías, y en más de una ocasión mis hijos que
en este momento tienen 7 y 3 años han sido arrestados junto conmigo,
incluso en una ocasión mujeres agentes
de la Seguridad del Estado me introdujeron la punta de un zapato sucio,
y la punta de un lapicero en mi vagina mientras me aguantaban de pies y
manos.
Mi
caso no es un caso aislado en Cuba. A Yris Pérez Aguilera, presidenta
del Movimiento Femenino por los Derechos Civiles Rosa Parks, las fuerzas
de la Seguridad del Estado la mantienen sitiada en su casa de Placetas
desde el pasado 24 de enero de 2014, días antes de la celebración de la
Cumbre de la CELAC en Cuba. No puede salir de su vivienda a comprar ni
alimentos, y nadie puede llegar tampoco a la misma. Ella ha sido
golpeada, dejada inconciente en la calle, ha sido introducida en bolsas
cerradas durante arrestos arbitrarios, donde casi la asfixian, también
ha recibido amenazas de muerte y de violación sexual. Otras muchas
mujeres defensoras de derechos humanos en Cuba sufren el mismo
atropello.
Cuando
salimos a las calles a marchar pacíficamente, los hombres policías,
agentes de la Seguridad del Estado, se ensañan con las mujeres, nos
golpean sin clemencia. La activista de 50 años Dulce María Castillo
Águila del Municipio Sagua la Grande ha sido golpeada, arrestada
arbitrariamente y llevada a lugares inhóspitos donde la abandonan, a
pesar de que está operada de cáncer en el endometrio y padece de
hipoglucemia. Esto lo hacen con las mujeres activistas a modo de castigo
por defender los derechos humanos en Cuba.
La
activista María del Carmen Martínez López, de Santa Clara, ha sido
amenazada con cortarle la cara a sus hijos, que son jóvenes. Y Donaida
Pérez Paseiro de Placetas, ha sido golpeada en múltiples ocasiones
durante arrestos arbitrarios y sufrió en una ocasión una golpiza tan brutal que le partieron el coxis.
Hay
muchos otros casos de violencia contra mujeres defensoras de derechos
humanos en Cuba, no solamente dentro del grupo de mujeres del Movimiento
Rosa Parks, también dentro de las Damas de Blanco. Nos agreden con
objetos cortantes, nos patean la cabeza. También en numerosas ocasiones
utilizan automóviles para amedrentar, agredir y hasta matar, como
sucedió con la activista y ex prisionera política Daysi Talavera Ortiz
quien fue asesinada por un automóvil enviado por la Seguridad del Estado
en el municipio de Cárdenas, Matanzas, en enero del 2011. Y Laura
Pollán Toledo, líder de las Damas de Blanco murió en condiciones no
aclaradas en octubre de 2011, bajo el control de altos oficiales de la
Seguridad del Estado en La Habana.
Por
eso cuando el Secretario General de la ONU el Señor Ban Ki-moon, visitó
Cuba a fines de enero del presenta año, pensamos que iba a solicitar
una visita con los defensores de derechos humanos. Nuestra organización
de mujeres había enviado un informe sobre los atropellos a las mujeres
cubanas defensoras de derechos humanos y ese informe fue tomado en
cuenta durante el Examen
Periódico Universal de Cuba en el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU y
está publicado en la página del Consejo. No pueden decir que desconocen
la realidad de violación a los derechos humanos en Cuba, y
especialmente contra las mujeres de la raza negra. Pero en cambio el
Secretario General escogió reunirse solamente con el gobierno, y además
en una de sus declaraciones dijo y cito: “Como la violencia contra las
mujeres tiene su raíz en la discriminación, la impunidad y la
complacencia, necesitamos cambiar las actitudes y conductas, y
necesitamos cambiar las leyes y estar seguros que esas leyes son
cumplidas como ustedes están haciendo en Cuba”, fin de la cita.
Es
falso que en Cuba haya leyes y además que se cumplan en cuanto a la
violencia contra las mujeres, porque el primer violador de los derechos
de las mujeres es el Estado. Los que nos golpean y nos agreden son
policías enviados a reprimirnos por el Estado. En Cuba no existen leyes
que protejan a la mujer, no sólo a las mujeres defensoras de derechos
humanos, sino en general a todas las mujeres cubanas.
La
violencia de los hombres contra las mujeres es un problema social muy
grande en Cuba. Los casos de muertes por golpes, acuchillamiento y otros
atentados contra la vida son muchos, pero el régimen no publica esas
estadísticas. Las niñas de doce y trece años que deberían estar
estudiando en las escuelas se encuentran prostituyéndose en las calles
para poder comer. El propio gobierno cubano promueve la prostitución de
las mujeres cubanas creando páginas de Internet para vender favores
sexuales a extranjeros y recibir dinero de esas transacciones.
Es
una ironía que la organización gubernamental Federación de Mujeres
Cubanas, que no es una ONG verdadera, y cuyas miembros nos han
reprimido, han organizado actos de repudio frente a nuestras casas, y
han golpeado con objetos contundentes a muchas mujeres pacificas, les
han lanzado huevos y excremento a nuestras viviendas, sea una ONG
reconocida por ECOSOC en la ONU.
Vengo
aquí hoy a denunciar la falsedad y la mentira del régimen militar y
totalitario de los hermanos Castro. Yo soy una victima, mi familia es
una víctima de ese régimen, pero no me voy a callar, tampoco abandonaré
mi país.
Antes
de llegar a Ginebra mi casa ha permanecido rodeada completamente, las
esquinas se encuentran militarizadas por la Seguridad del Estado y la
Policía Nacional Revolucionaria. Fui arrestada en dos ocasiones, durante
los preparativos de mi viaje, fui amenazada por el Teniente Coronel
Enrique en la sede de Instrucción Penal en Santa Clara, quien me dijo
que cuidara muy bien lo que iba a decir aquí porque podía tener
consecuencias. La amenaza es basada en represalias que dice la policía
que podría tomar en mí contra cuando regrese.
El
líder opositor Jorge Luis García Pérez “Antúnez”, quien en primer lugar
fue la persona invitada a este evento, se encuentra preso en su
vivienda, sus documentos y todas sus pertenencias le fueron confiscadas y
su vivienda fue allanada en cuatro ocasiones en solo ocho días. Esa es
la verdad, esa es la realidad de hostigamiento y represión que se vive
en Cuba.
Quiero
decir que estamos agradecidos con las personas, instituciones y a veces
algunos países que han sido solidarios con nuestra lucha. A todos les
estamos eternamente agradecidos, pero decimos que necesitamos que otros
sigan ese ejemplo.
Me
pregunto cuántos cubanos y cubanas pacíficos y defensores de los
derechos humanos seguirán muriendo a manos del régimen de los hermanos
Castro mientras ese mismo régimen vuelve a ser elegido como miembro del
Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU.
Me
pregunto si los testimonios de las victimas de la represión en Cuba no
son suficientes para que el mundo escuche el clamor de un pueblo que
lleva 55 años de dictadura sangrienta y violación permanente a todos sus
derechos.
Hoy
pido solidaridad con el pueblo cubano. Los cubanos que luchamos dentro
de Cuba por el respeto a los derechos humanos corremos peligro de
muerte. Mientras el régimen se legitima con las visitas del Secretario
General de la ONU, o del Secretario General de la OEA, mientras se
legitima con el silencio de las democracias del mundo, y con la
membresía en entidades como el Consejo, a nosotros nos golpean y nos
acosan, nos amenazan y nos matan con total impunidad. Estamos luchando
por la libertad, por nuestros derechos, no pedimos que luchen por
nosotros, solo le pedimos solidaridad con nuestra causa.
If one is the last speaker at the end of a long day of panels, and speeches followed by question and answer sessions then the need to balance the desire to relay information with that of not exhausting the patience of the audience becomes a challenge. In this exercise painful sacrifices of content are made but with the world of blogging it is no longer lost on a note pad.
Below are some observations that were not included in the closing statement of the Geneva Summit. Their omission is due solely to the desire to keep the remarks at less than eight minutes. To achieve this half the original content was cut. Otherwise it would have been a 20-minute long presentation. The odds and ends have been refashioned into the essay below.
One objective of the Geneva Summit over the past five years has been to give voice to victims of the world’s worst human rights abuses and in bearing witness hold the perpetrators of such atrocities accountable. If not today in a court of justice then tomorrow in the court of history with the facts and evidence documented for posterity. The program throughout the day has made its contribution to this ambitious and just goal.
It seems providential that Rosa Maria Payá and Regis Iglesias Ramirez would be addressing a gathering that in the recent past had been co-chaired by both Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa. Two men that had a profound influence on the life of Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and who considered the Cuban human rights defender a friend.
Lech Walesa had been exchanging letters with Oswaldo since the late 1980s and the Christian Liberation Movement was greatly influenced by the Polish Solidarity movement. Vaclav Havel, the Czech playwright and dissident who helped usher in the Velvet Revolution in his country engaged Oswaldo in a dialogue of letters and along with Lech Walesa and others had a role in seeing that the Cuban dissident leader win the European Union’s Sakharov Freedom of Thought Prize in 2002 and his later nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thanks to the solidarity and pressure of world leaders, such as Vaclav Havel and Jose Maria Aznar, that Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas was able to travel to Strasbourg to receive the Sakharov Prize in December of 2002.
Sadly, Vaclav Havel is no longer with us. He passed away on December 18, 2011, but his contributions and good works live on. Today in the Czech Republic activists, intellectuals and politicians still gather to reflect on and discuss challenges facing humanity today seeking solutions at the Forum 2000. His physical presence may be gone but his words live on. For example in his 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless he made the following observation that was being echoed today by many gathered here:
"When I speak of living within the truth, I naturally do not have in mind only products of conceptual thought, such as a protest or a letter written by a group of intellectuals. It can be any means by which a person or a group revolts against manipulation: anything from a letter by intellectuals to a workers' strike, from a rock concert to a student demonstration, from refusing to vote in the farcical elections to making an open speech at some official congress, or even a hunger strike, for instance."
The exercise of moral conscience in the sphere of concrete action or inaction as circumstances may demand is a necessary good in scarce supply in today’s world. That today, here at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, Oswaldo’s daughter, Rosa Maria, and his right hand man Regis Iglesias are demanding justice and concrete solidarity for this martyred Cuban human rights defender is Havel’s Power of the Powerless in action.
Lech Walesa, who thankfully is still with us, has spoken out on the death of his comrade in nonviolence:
“No words can express the pain I felt when I learned of the sudden death of one of the leading democratic activists, the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas - my friend. … “Oswaldo Payá will remain in my memory as a man of courage, determination and extraordinary fighting spirit. He was one of the most important voices of freedom in Cuba - and therefore incessantly spoke of the need to initiate political and economic reforms and to recognize the general human rights of every person.”
The Solidarity leader and former president of Poland on July 31, 2012 joined the cause of learning the truth about what happened in Bayamo, Cuba when Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero were taken from this world in a letter in which he stated:
“It's hard to calm the pain and be resigned to the loss of a loved one. It is difficult to understand the meaning of this suffering, when the family is denied the truth about the circumstances of the death of someone close. The lack of official information, the denial of contact with the participants of the accident, raises questions about the version of events presented in the mass media in Cuba. That is why I am supporting your efforts and those of the MCL for an open transparent investigation and to convene an international commission to investigate the circumstances of the accident.”
The past three years have been difficult ones for human rights defenders in Cuba. We heard today about Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero but also in 2012 there was Wilman Villar Mendoza, and in 2011 Laura Pollan and Juan Wilfredo Soto Garcia, and in 2010 Orlando Zapata Tamayo. Hopefully the human rights bureaucracy at the United Nations and the countries involved in this year’s peer review of Cuba will ask the regime’s representatives about these victims. Unfortunately, all too often even people of good will in order to avoid an inconvenient situation avoid asking the tough questions.
Vaclav Havel on October 12, 2009 at the Forum 2000 Conference he had organized spoke out on the dangers of small lapses of principle and cited President Obama as an example:
I believe that when the new Laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize postpones receiving the Dalai Lama until after he has accomplished his visit to China, he makes a small compromise, a compromise which actually has some logic to it. However, there arises a question as to whether those large, serious compromises do not have their origin and roots in precisely these tiny and very often more or less logical compromises.
The choice that each and every one of us faces today is the choice of living an integrated life within the truth backing it up with action or passively accepting the lie propagated by those in power. It may not serve one’s self-interest and it may not seem logical in the world of Machiavellian political power calculations, but it is necessary if human civilization is not only to survive but thrive.
“We wish to express our solidarity with all those who suffer from any form of oppression and injustice, and with those in the world who have been silenced or marginalized.” - Oswaldo Payá, December 17, 2002
Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia to Address Geneva Summit
Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia, Cuban dissident and former prisoner of conscience who received a 28-year prison sentence for his work on the Varela project, a civic initiative calling for democratic reforms in Cuba will join other former prisoners of conscience today for the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Luis Enrique, who served nearly 8-years of his 28 year jail term in Cuba for his nonviolent civic activism and was released in November 2010, will speak about the situation of his imprisoned brother Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia, who is still in Cuba serving a 25-year prison sentence and is also an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience.
Brothers José Daniel and Luis Enrique Ferrer García, both unjustly imprisoned by the Castro regime during the 2003 “Black Spring”crackdown, come from a working class family from the neighborhood of Manganeso in Santiago de Cuba.
Prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia serving 25-year prison sentence
Luis Enrique Ferrer was harassed and detained on numerous occasions. Both brothers began their activism in the opposition in the Movimiento Cubano de Jóvenes por la Democracia (Cuban Youth for Democracy Movement), and by the mid nineties had become members of Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (Christian Liberation Movement), as a leader of which José Daniel emerged in Eastern Cuba.
For his opposition activities in Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (Christian Liberation Movement), he was summarily tried in December 1999 in the Mella Municipality and sentenced to 6 months house arrest for his refusal to pay a fine which he claimed was imposed upon him unfairly. At his trial, when asked why he did not accept the Revolution, he responded that he did not accept it because life for people was very bad. At that moment a State Security agent participating in the trial struck him in the face, breaking his lower lip. During his trial, Luis Enrique Ferrer's family members were denied access to the court room, instead having to wait in the corridor. At the end of the trial, a mob insulted and physically assaulted family members, including pushing Luis Enrique Ferrer's mother to the floor.
Luis Enrique Ferrer García was the coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement (Movimento Cristiano Liberación-MCL) in Las Tunas province. He organized groups of people who collected hundreds of signatures for the Varela Project. As a result of this work by organizers like Luis Enrique Ferrer and his older brother, independent journalist José Daniel Ferrer, over 11,020 signatures were collected and presented to the National Assembly in May 2002. Luis Enrique Ferrer personally presented copies of the signatures to visiting foreign legislators. Despite the fact that the Varela Project calling for democratic reforms in Cuba was an initiative that was legal under the Cuban regime’s laws, they were taking a great personal risk in promoting it.
Beginning on March 18, 2003, the Castro dictatorship began a massive crackdown, rounding up scores of human rights defenders, independent journalists and opposition activists in what eventually became known as the Cuban Black Spring. Both José Daniel and Luis Enrique Ferrer García were arrested.
During Luis Enrique’s show trial on April 3, 2003 in Las Tunas, the tribunal asked him if he had anything to say in his defense. He stood up and explained to the regime’s representatives what the Varela Project consisted of: an independent citizen initiative that sought a referendum to reestablish basic rights. At the end of his explanation he invited them to sign the petition stating, “because this is a project open to all Cubans.”
Luis Enrique Ferrer received the longest prison sentence of all of those arrested in the March 2003 crackdown. He was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment. He was transferred from "El Típico" provincial prison in Las Tunas to Combinado del Este prison after being involved in a protest with other activists caught up in the March 2003 crackdown.
Following the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo on February 23, 2010 and brutal assaults against the Cuban Ladies in White in March of 2010, international attention focused on Cuba in a negative light, which forced the regime for the first time in a the long history of dictatorship to reach out to the Catholic Church as a mediator. In July of 2010, Raul Castro committed to releasing all the prisoners of conscience from the 2003 crackdown by November 5, 2010. Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia was released in mid November and exiled to Spain. His brother Jose Daniel, who wants to remain in Cuba, is still imprisoned today.
* Guang-il Jung: North Korean Dissident, tortured and escaped from labor camps.
* Farid Tukhbatullin, Turkmen human rights activist, former prisoner, threatened with death by his government
* Mohammad Mostafaei, Prominent human rights lawyer from Iran, defended Sakineh, the woman sentenced to death by stoning on charges of adultery
Admission to tomorrow’s Geneva Summit is free, and the public and media are invited to attend. For accreditation, program and schedule information, please visit http://www.genevasummit.org.
Global Civil Society Coalition: Collectif Urgence Darfour; Darfur Peace and Development Center; Directorio Democratico Cubano; Freedom House; Freedom Now; Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l; IBUKA; Ingénieurs du monde; Initiatives for China; Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children; International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY); Ligue International Contre le Racisme; LINK; Respect Institut; Stop Child Executions; Tibetan Women's Association; Ticino Tibet; Uighur American Congress; UN Watch; Viet Tan.
The Geneva Summit is organized by a cross-regional coalition of 20 NGOs, including UN Watch, Freedom House and Ibuka, with the aim of providing a voice for the voiceless and advocating action on urgent human rights situations. The conference will feature victim testimonies from renowned human rights defenders, dissidents and experts, and produce draft resolutions for the UN Human Rights Council to adopt. For more on the conference, speakers and program, click here.
Yang Jianli, the world-renowned Chinese dissident and survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, will join other former prisoners of conscience tomorrow for the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Dr. Yang, who served a five-year jail term in China for his social activism, will speak about the situation of jailed writer Liu Xiaobo, whom he represented at the Oslo Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December.
The Geneva Summit is organized by a cross-regional coalition of 20 NGOs, including UN Watch, Freedom House and Ibuka, with the aim of providing a voice for the voiceless and advocating action on urgent human rights situations. The conference will feature victim testimonies from renowned human rights defenders, dissidents and experts, and produce draft resolutions for the UN Human Rights Council to adopt. For more on the conference, speakers and program, click here.
The Chinese government has been criticized by human rights groups and the U.S. State Department for gross and systematic violations of basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion, and for oppressing minority groups.
Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist was sentenced to 11 years in prison last year for “inciting subversion of state power.” His receipt of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize turned a global spotlight on the human rights situation in China, which is currently witnessing a brutal crackdown by authorities fearful of the freedom revolutions that have spread in the Middle East.
With Liu in jail, and his wife and supporters placed under house arrest by the Chinese government, Yang Jianli, as a friend of the couple and fellow activist living in exile in the U.S., was appointed by Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, to be the peace award winner's representative and spokesman at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Yang played a key role in preparations for the ceremony, organizing a delegation of exiled dissidents to be present and publishing an open letter imploring the Chinese government to let Liu Xia come to Oslo to accept her husband’s award.
Like Liu, Yang was a participant in the Tiananmen democracy movement in 1989, and considers the June 4 crackdown to be a turning point in his life. "I saw tanks rolling over students," he says. "I felt China had no choice but to change." While in the United States doing pro-democracy work, his passport expired and the Chinese government refused to issue him a new one. When he tried to return to China in 2002 to observe labor unrest he was arrested and jailed for five years. He now lives in exile in the U.S., where he heads the Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which advocates political transition and supports rights activities on the mainland.
Despite his personal experiences, Yang remains hopeful about the future of democracy in China. "I am always optimistic," he says. "On the surface you can only see the hardening of China's attitude, but the real change is in people's hearts. You can feel the change already in China." At the Geneva Summit tomorrow he will offer his take on the human rights situation in China in the aftermath of Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Prize.
Other participants in the panel include:
Dechem Pemba, a UK-born Tibetan and editor of the website High Peaks Pure Earth, on which Tibetan blogs written in Tibetan and Chinese are translated into English.
Bahtiyar Ömer, a Uyghur human rights activist whose wife, Gulmire Imin, received life in prison for her role as an “illegal organizer” during the 2009 demonstrations.
Ti-Anna Wang, the daughter of Bingzhang Wang, a Chinese dissident serving a life sentence in solitary confinement, and one of the founding members of the overseas Chinese Democracy Movement.
Admission to tomorrow’s Geneva Summit is free, and the public and media are invited to attend. For accreditation, program and schedule information, please visit http://www.genevasummit.org.
Global Civil Society Coalition: Collectif Urgence Darfour; Darfur Peace and Development Center; Directorio Democratico Cubano; Freedom House; Freedom Now; Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l; IBUKA; Ingénieurs du monde; Initiatives for China; Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children; International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY); Ligue International Contre le Racisme; LINK; Respect Institut; Stop Child Executions; Tibetan Women's Association; Ticino Tibet; Uighur American Congress; UN Watch; Viet Tan.
Adopted by the Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society Representatives assembled at the 2nd Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, March 9, 2010.
Preamble
We, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society from all regions of the world, having assembled here at the Second Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy,
Guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantee the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,
Recognizing that the Internet is a universal space for communication and the exchange of ideas that can promote freedom and mutual understanding among all people, regardless of race, religion, geography or economic status,
Mindful that the Internet has become a primary vehicle for communication in all sectors of life in a globalized economic and civil society, requiring its transparency and openness to function properly,
Believing that the preservation of a free Internet is essential to the full enjoyment of human rights, civil liberties and a free and democratic society,
Alarmed that the situation of Internet freedom in many regions of the world is increasingly perilous and under assault,
Acknowledging that the intimidation and the use of technologies aimed at the restriction and monitoring of Internet creates an environment of repression,
Affirming that suppression of independent thought by filtering, monitoring and censoring of websites, online content, blogs and messaging services constitutes a violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Recognizing that all countries have obligations to guarantee Internet freedom,
Emphasizing that countries which enjoy secure and open Internet technologies are obliged to prevent exported communications technologies from being used as a vehicle for suppression and censorship, and that Internet companies should take reasonable steps to avoid complicity with, and liability for, violations of human rights,
Recognizing that the struggle for freedom of expression has today largely shifted online as the Internet has become the means of choice for political dissidents, democracy activists, human rights defenders and independent journalists worldwide,
Considering that there are particular countries in which the situation of Internet freedom is under a grave and gathering threat, with imprisoned political dissidents, journalists and bloggers who are in urgent need of protection by the international community,
Recalling the proposed 2008 Directive of the European Parliament concerning the EU Global Online Freedom Act, in particular its finding that authoritarian states such as Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam censor the internet by blocking websites and filtering search results and intimidate internet users through cyber police and obliged registration,
Deeply concerned that authorities in China have seized computers, imprisoned individuals for sharing information online, blocked and deleted blogs and other online services, and incarcerated journalists and social activists for online activity,
Alarmed that authorities in Iran have acted to suppress the free flow of information by blockading Internet traffic and suspending email providers and messaging services, and have created a special police division to hunt down Internet users suspected of so-called “insults and spreading of lies” against the regime,
Deeply disturbed that authorities in Cuba imposed near-total restrictions on access through prohibitive user fees, few public access points and slow connection speeds, and restricted distribution of service to a state-controlled provider,
Decide to hereby adopt this Declaration on Internet Freedom, in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 9, 2010;
Urge the United Nations Human Rights Council, now meeting in its 13th Regular Session, to endorse this Declaration and support the cause of Internet freedom in the face of repression;
Urge all other relevant United Nations and international bodies to endorse this Declaration and support the cause of Internet freedom in the face of repression;
Urge all like-minded supporters of freedom, human rights and democracy to adopt similar declarations, resolutions, or other statements to support the cause of Internet freedom in the face of repression, and urge that these be submitted to the United Nations.
Article 1
Everyone has the right to equal access to the Internet, regardless of race, religion, ethnic or geographical origin.
Article 2
Everyone has the right to the free flow of information and freedom of expression without fear of discrimination.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to a transparent and open Internet without the subjection of individual licensing or prohibitive, discriminatory requirements such as heavy tolls.
Article 4
Everyone has the right to preserve and protect their intellectual property, kept private and confidential from invasion, seizure or monitoring.
Article 5
Everyone has a right to protect Internet access, Internet infrastructure and communication technologies from government seizure.
Article 6
Everyone has a right to anonymity and online privacy, free from intrusive monitoring by the state or third parties.
Article 7
Everyone has the right to encrypt or otherwise secure their identities and the security of their information as it travels across the Internet, to protect themselves and their information from unwarranted monitoring.
Article 8
No one should be allowed to export or sell technologies, equipment or software that enables the restriction of Internet use or access for the purpose of violating human rights.
Article 9
Internet providers should not be allowed to provide governments, corporations or third parties any information about their users without their legal consent.
Article 10
Any attempt to restrict or intimidate people from free, uncensored, and secure access of the Internet constitutes a fundamental abridgement of human rights and undermines the promotion of peace and world order.
Article 11
The rights and freedoms set out in this Declaration are guaranteed subject only to such reasonable limits, prescribed by law, as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Good Morning and welcome to the 2nd Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy. My name is John Suarez. I am a human rights activist and the International Secretary of the Cuban Democratic Directorate. The Cuban Democratic Directorate is part of a civic nonviolent resistance movement that defends pro-democracy activists, human rights defenders, and members of independent civil society from the abuses of a 51-year old communist dictatorship. We publish an annual human rights report on Cuba as well as Steps to Freedom - our last two issues are available here - it is an exhaustive accounting of opposition and independent civil society activities inside of Cuba.
On behalf of the co-organizers, an international coalition of more than 25 human rights NGOs I am both honored and humbled to welcome all who have come near and far to join us today here at the Geneva International Conference Center directly across from the United Nations Human Rights Council which is now in session and all those joining via web cast from around the world.
The first Geneva Summit coincided with the Durban Review and the second summit takes place now in tandem with the main annual session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Summit organizers are honored to have human rights heroes Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa, the former presidents of the Czech Republic and Poland as co-chairs of the Geneva Summit's Honorary Committee. As we gather here and many of us are also watching, listening, and participating in the Human Rights Council session across the way and are witnessing some of the worse systematic human rights abusers exerting undue influence and power over the Council and the session. In some cases silencing victims from speaking and frustrating human rights activists I think back to both of our co-chairs.
In Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, Vaclav Havel was a dissident play write followed by secret police, imprisoned for his beliefs and in Poland Lech Walesa, an electrician working at the Gdansk shipyards before being fired in 1976 for his activities as a shop steward would later be followed and frequently detained for his independent labor activism. All this at a time when the world was convinced that these repressive communist states would go on forever.
Both have said much that is relevant to the challenges that we face today:
Months after the Warsaw Pact invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia crushing the Prague Spring and the idea of Socialism with a human face. Vaclav Havel wrote a letter to the overthrown Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek in August of 1969 in which he stated: "Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance." That in one sentence describes the evolution of dissident movements in Communist states and their impact in shaking up a seemingly all powerful totalitarian state creating cracks in its edifice and over time tearing it down.
By 1983 Lech Walesa had played an important role in organizing labor strikes that brought the Polish communist government to the negotiating table where for the first time in a communist state an independent labor union - Solidarity - was legally recognized - only to face repression and attempts to destroy it through Martial law, but by 1983 through great repression Martial law was formally lifted but repression continued. This was the year when Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was not allowed to attend the award ceremony in Oslo but Walesa's wife Danuta was able to go in his place and read his acceptance speech in which he explained what motivated this movement: "We are fighting for the right of the working people to association and for the dignity of human labour. We respect the dignity and the rights of every man and every nation. The path to a brighter future of the world leads through honest reconciliation of the conflicting interests and not through hatred and bloodshed. To follow that path means to enhance the moral power of the all-embracing idea of human solidarity."
Through a combination of great courage, persistence, patience, civic nonviolent resistance, international solidarity, and a little luck both of these men played a crucial role in seeing that repressive totalitarian regimes in their respective countries were brought to an end without democrats engaging in bloodshed against their oppressors and today in both of their countries they and their countrymen are free to travel, express themselves, associate freely, and enjoy all those rights that many in the West have long taken for granted. Looking around the room and seeing human rights defenders from Azerbaijan, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Tibet, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. Activists that today live in societies where fundamental human rights are systematically denied and abused. They share with Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa the real knowledge of living in countries that are not free and where exercising your fundamental human rights is an act of defiance and great courage.
One objective of the 2010 Geneva Summit is to give voice to victims of the world’s worst human rights abuses and a second objective is to empower those who suffer repression under closed systems of government. The program over the next two days addresses both these goals whether they will be accomplished is up to all of us. It is a tall order because the global human rights situation is deteriorating.
In Iran, the contested June election sparked an unprecedented wave of state-sponsored violence and repression. Thousands of peaceful protesters were beaten, arrested, tortured, and killed. One of them Neda Agha-Soltan, age 27, was shot and killed on June 20, 2009 during the protests denouncing election fraud. Her fiancé, Caspian Makan, is with us here today, and will address the Summit tomorrow. Neda’s death was captured on video and in those terrible moments reflected the great crime committed by the Iranian government against the people of Iran. Official numbers place the number of killed at 36 during the protests but the opposition places the dead at 72. In 2009 at least 270 people were hanged and in 2010 at least 12 so far. 4,000 have been arrested including journalists and reformist politicians.
In China, according to Amnesty International "...a minimum of 7,000 death sentences were handed down and 1,700 executions took place" in 2009. Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo was arrested on June 23, 2009 and charged with “inciting subversion of state power” for co-authoring Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one-party rule in China that has been signed by hundreds of individuals from all walks of life throughout the country. On December 25, 2009 Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years' deprivation of political rights. The Beijing High Court rejected his appeal on February 11, 2010.
In North Korea, the Communist regime continues to deny all basic freedoms to its citizens. According to Amnesty International opposition of any kind is not tolerated. According to reports, any person who expresses an opinion contrary to the position of the ruling party faces severe punishment, and so do in many cases their families. Unauthorized assembly or association is regarded as a "collective disturbance", that is punishable. Religious freedom, although guaranteed by the constitution, is in practice sharply curtailed. There are reports of severe repression of people involved in public and private religious activities, through imprisonment, torture and executions. Many Christians are reportedly being held in labour camps.
In Sudan, the regime of Omar al-Bashir continues to kill thousands of innocent people with impunity. On 24 November, three prominent human rights defenders were arrested in Khartoum: Amir Suleiman, Abdel Monim Elgak and Osman Humeida and tortured in custody before being released. Amnesty International considered the three individuals to be prisoners of conscience who were detained solely because of the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and association.
In Zimbabwe, elections were followed by a wave of human rights violations that resulted in at least 180 deaths, and at least 9,000 people injured from torture, beatings and other violations perpetrated mainly by government forces. About 28,000 people were displaced from their homes.
In Burma, Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who won the last free election held in Burma in 1990 whose results were ignored by the ruling military junta who then imprisoned her unjustly. Last years sham trial by the military junta to extend her imprisonment has caused major damage to the process of national reconciliation and indicates that the upcoming 2010 elections in Burma will be a farce.
In Cuba, the communist regime continues to systematically deny Cubans there human rights, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, mentioned here at the Summit last year was abducted by Cuban State security and beaten to stop her and Claudia Cadelo another blogger from attending a performance art happening celebrating nonviolence. On International Human Rights Day government organized mobs assaulted the Ladies in White as they marched for the release of Cuba's prisoners of conscience. At least 24 Cuban patients died of exposure at Mazorra, a government hospital in January of this year and when Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo initiated a water only hunger strike to demand that prisoners be treated decently in December of 2009 prison officials responded by taking away his water for more than two weeks when he was already extremely weak trying to break his spirit and failed but contributed to his death on February 23rd.
In Venezuela, the government response to those Venezuelan citizens protesting against the Chavez regime shutting down independent media outlets is to denounce those using twitter and text message as terrorists; police firing tear gas at students and a call for government supporters to prepare for battle. In the midst of all this President Hugo Chavez continues to demonize the opposition and welcomes into his ranks a high ranking Cuban official: Commander Ramiro Valdez, "a historic leader of the revolution" to address the energy crisis in Venezuela currently suffering power outages. Valdez is the Vice President of the Council of State and Minister of Communications in the Cuban government. He doesn’t know much about electricity but knows how to set up the repressive apparatus of a totalitarian police state which is what he did in Cuba. Ironically, the man Hugo Chavez does not want to visit Venezuela with much experience in electricity is Lech Walesa who he has barred from entering the country. In addition to being an electrician Lech Walesa knows a thing or two about defending human rights and democracy. A skills set that Mr. Chavez views as a threat. At the same time a Spanish court offers an insight into terrorism in Venezuela but twitter/text messages sent by students are not the object of the inquiry but Mr. Chavez’s ties with terrorist groups ETA and the Colombian FARC and apparent plans to assassinate the Colombian head of state.
Regrettably, the chief international body charged with protecting human rights is failing to live up to its mission to stop these and other abuses. The Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council—as acknowledged in a recent report by 17 of its 47 member states, supported by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Commission of Jurists—falls short in its handling of country situations, in the efficiency of the process involved in highlighting violations, and in its reactivity to crisis situations. Strong politicization of the Council, driven by bloc-based voting patterns, has led to inaction in face of atrocity and abuse. We saw this sad spectacle last week within the Council, first with the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights denying the documented and rampant instances of torture, executions, and mass detentions of Iranians followed by the Cuban Foreign Minister’s speech who echoing his Iranian colleague also denied Cuba’s horrible human rights record and to add insult to injury went on to blame the United States for the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo as well as slander the deceased Cuban prisoner of conscience as a criminal.
Little wonder that the March 1st magazine issue of Newsweek contains an article titled “The Downfall of Human Rights.” The article highlights Freedom House's report "Freedom in the World," released in January, and reveals a global decline in political freedoms and civil liberties for the fourth year in a row, the longest drop in the almost 40 years that the survey has been produced.
In his 1986 Nobel Acceptance speech writer, activist, and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel issued a challenge not only to activists but to people everywhere challenging us all when he said: "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
Amidst all the documented evils of the past year there is hope. The rise of citizen journalists, social networks, twitter, and cell phones able to document these atrocities and show them to the world is a response to Elie Wiesel's call not to remain silent to speak out and denounce repression. We've seen its impact across the world. This meeting has a focus on internet freedom, and it is necessary because the enemies of freedom recognize this technology as a profound enemy to maintaining monopoly control over information which for totalitarians is a pillar of their power.
New opportunities exist, and human rights defenders need to brainstorm and collaborate to improve activism and to offer a counterbalance to the collaboration and coordination of repressive regimes and movements. The international stage can be used to put a spotlight on the world’s worst abusers. We saw it this last week when 30 NGOs from this Summit called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to intervene on behalf of Cuban human rights defender Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina barred by the Cuban dictatorship from attending this meeting. The Cuban ambassador protested loudly when Hillel Neuer of UN Watch raised the matter in an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner, but Nestor on the other hand was grateful that you spoke up for his human rights.
The Geneva Summit seeks to offer dissidents and human rights activists from around the world a global platform and forum to share their personal struggles, their fight for freedom and equality, and their vision for how to bring change. This past week we saw with action how it can be done and how much it upsets those who would prefer that we remain silent. Let us make sure that the victims of human rights violations receive the solidarity of people of goodwill and that the abusers be given cause to be shamed by their actions and to change there ways.
The Geneva Summit is organized by a cross-regional coalition of 20 NGOs, including UN Watch, Freedom House and Ibuka, with the aim of providing a voice for the voiceless and advocating action on urgent human rights situations. The conference will feature victim testimonies from renowned human rights defenders, dissidents and experts, and produce draft resolutions for the UN Human Rights Council to adopt. For more on the conference, speakers and program, 
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