"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)
Showing posts with label Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Show all posts
GENEVA, February 17, 2025 — Leading dissidents and courageous activists worldwide will gather in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 18, 2025, for the Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy at the Centre International de Conférences Genève.
The Summit, hosted by a coalition of over 30 human rights
organizations, will showcase the voices of the world’s bravest human
rights defenders, many of whom have suffered torture and unjust imprisonment. The event will
also provide a vital platform to family members of political prisoners
who are struggling to free their loved ones.
• Osiris Puerto Terryis a victim of brutality by the Cuban regime, shot twice at the 11J protests.
• Sebastien Lai, democracy activist and son of the pro-democracy media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai.
• Rahima Mahmut, Uyghur human rights activist, translator, and singer.
• Nazanin Afshin-Jamis an Iranian-Canadian human rights and democracy advocate.
• Massouda Jalal, Former Afghan Minister of Women’s Affairs and the first woman to run for President of Afghanistan.
• Husna Jalal, Exiled Afghan women’s rights activist and the daughter of Massouda Jalal.
• Assita Kanko, Belgian Member of the European Parliament, writer, and women’s rights activist.
• Betlehem Isaak, Swedish-Eritrean writer and daughter of Dawit Isaak, the longest arbitrarily detained journalist in the world.
• Times Wang, Human rights lawyer and the son of Chinese political prisoner Wang Bingzhang.
• Namkyi, exiled Tibetan activist and former political prisoner.
• Tirad Badawi, son of Raif Badawi, an iconic figure of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia.
• Nguyen Van Trang, Vietnamese democracy activist and victim of transnational repression.
Speakers are available for interviews before the event and more
speakers are set to be announced soon. For a full list of speakers,
please see our media kit. For media inquiries or interview requests, contact media@genevasummit.org.
The annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy assembles
hundreds of brave dissidents, human rights activists, diplomats,
journalists, and student leaders, shedding light on pressing global
human rights issues. It offers a platform for activists, former
prisoners, and heroes to share their struggles for democracy. The Summit
draws hundreds of attendees and garners extensive media coverage
worldwide from major media outlets, including CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Le
Monde, and TIME magazine.
Admission to this year’s Geneva Summit is free and open to the public, but registration is mandatory.
GENEVA, April 2, 2024 — Leading dissidents and courageous activists worldwide will gather in Geneva, Switzerland on May 15, 2024, for the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy at the Centre International de Conférences Genève.
The Summit, hosted by a coalition of 25 human rights organizations,
will showcase the voices of the world’s bravest human rights defenders,
many of whom have suffered torture, and give a vital platform to family
members of political prisoners who are struggling to free their loved
ones.
Featured speakers include:
Carolina Barrero, Cuban
art historian, writer, and pro-democracy activist who faced repression
from the Cuban regime before fleeing to Spain, where Barrero continues
her advocacy work.
Lesther Alemán, Nicaraguan
student leader and activist who faced persecution after confronting
Ortega in person. Alemán was held as a political prisoner before being
exiled from Nicaragua in 2023.
Lisa Yasko, Member
of the Ukrainian Parliament at the forefront of Ukraine’s public
diplomacy efforts following Russia’s invasion. Founder of the Yellow
Blue Strategy initiative.
Victor Navarro, Venezuelan
journalist and rights advocate who endured arbitrary detention and
torture for criticizing the Maduro regime. Now in exile in Argentina,
Navarro developed a VR experience that shows what conditions are like
for political prisoners in Venezuela’s infamous El Helicoide.
Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Australian-British
academic freed after two years in Iranian prison as a victim of hostage
diplomacy. She endured solitary confinement and psychological torture
at the hands of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Speakers are available for interviews before the event and more
speakers are set to be announced soon. For a full list of speakers
please see our media kit. For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact media@genevasummit.org.
The annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy assembles
hundreds of brave dissidents, human rights activists, diplomats,
journalists, and student leaders, shedding light on pressing global
human rights issues. It offers a platform for activists, former
prisoners, and heroes to share their struggles for democracy. The Summit
draws hundreds of attendees and garners extensive media coverage
worldwide from major media outlets including CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Le
Monde, and TIME magazine.
Admission to this year’s Geneva Summit is free and open to the public, but registration is mandatory.
Tomorrow human rights heroes from across the globe will gather at #GenevaSummit2024.
Today begins the 14th edition of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Yesterday there was a non streamed opening session, but today begins the live streamed portion.
This gathering presents an opportunity for pro-democracy activists from around the world to gather and exchange best practices, and compare notes on what authoritarians are doing to continue their 16 year track record of undermining international human rights standards, and reducing the number of democracies in the world.
Video of the April 5th opening session is available here.
Here is a also a Twitter thread from yesterday's opening session.
HAPPENING NOW: The United Nations opening session of #GenevaSummit2022.
We'll be live-tweeting the event from the home of human rights—the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Follow along as we hear from the world's most courageous dissidents 👇
— The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy (@GenevaSummit) April 5, 2022
Not in Geneva Switzerland? Follow the live stream of the summit here, and use the hashtags #GS22 and #GenevaSummit2022 to comment, and also to follow the conversation online.
Rushan Abbas, Founder of Campaign for Uyghurs, sister of political prisoner in China
Joey Siu, Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch, Advisor to Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China
Tenzin Tsundue, Tibetan refugee and writer, arrested 16 times for his activism
11:20 The War in Ukraine: An Eyewitness Account
Olga Aivazovska, Forcibly displaced civil society leader & advocate for war crimes tribunal against Putin
11:30 Price of Dissent: The Plight of Political Prisoners
Moderator: Yonah Diamond, International human rights lawyer
Areej Al-Sadhan, Activist & sister of Saudi political prisoner Abdulrahman al-Sadhan
Sophie Luo, Activist, wife of Chinese political prisoner Ding Jiaxi
Tatsiana Khomich, Activist fighting to free Belarus political prisoners, including her sister Maria Kalesnikava
Mariam Claren, Daughter of Nahid Taghavi, jailed political prisoner in Iran
12:15 Exiled From Vietnam: The Fight for Freedom of Speech
Pham Minh Hoang, Vietnamese scholar & former political prisoner
12:25 The 2022 International Women’s Rights Award
Presented by: Nazanin Boniadi, Award-nominated actress and Amnesty International Ambassador
Zarifa Ghafari, Youngest elected mayor in Afghanistan, survivor of three assassination attempts Interviewer: Melissa Mahtani, CNN journalist, senior producer
Afternoon Session
14:30 Uncovering Corruption
Hopewell Chin’ono, Zimbabwean journalist and filmmaker arrested 3 times for exposing corruption
14:40 Scarred by North Korea
Timothy Cho, North Korean human rights activist who escaped from prison
"The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage
evil than from those who actually commit it." - Albert Einstein
The 14th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy
convenes in Switzerland on April 6, 2022. Over the past fourteen years this summit has been and continues to be a vital space for
dissenting voices to gather and engage in an important conversation: to
diagnose the problems challenging human rights and dignity and to do
better and be better in order to turn around the 16 year global decline in human rights.
The first edition was held on April 19, 2009, "one day before the international community gather[ed] in
Geneva to address racism, intolerance and persecution in the High-Level
Segment of the UN Durban Review Conference (DRC)" and it had a longer title, "Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy" and the tag line, "Stop Discrimination, Go for Human Rights." UN Watch,
a Geneva based NGO whose mission is "to monitor the performance of the
United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter", brought together an
international coalition of nineteen organizations to co-sponsor the
summit.
Arielle Herzog, Leon Saltiel, Hillel C. Neuer and other UN Watch staff
were the chief organizers of the first six editions and responsible for
their great success and establishing this space for dialogue. UN Watch
today continues to lead this coalition and build on this great legacy,
but it is important to return to the beginning to see how we arrived
were we are today.
The UN Durban Review Conference (DRC) of 2009 was one more example of the ongoing moral bankruptcy of the United Nations. The star speaker, and apparently the only head of state invited to speak, was Iran's notorious president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who engages in holocaust denial
and has called for the destruction of Israel. This conference,
ostensibly to confront the problem of racism, began a gathering point of
the worse dictatorships on the planet to legitimize themselves and demonize Israel.
Meanwhile, in marked contrast, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy was held at the Centre International de Conférences Genève, just down the street from the Palais des Nations
UN compound where the DRC was being held. Human rights defenders,
victims of repression and political dissidents gathered to share their
experiences, bear witness, and attempt to wield real political force from
the power of human conscience. This is what the martyred Czech
dissident and philosopher Jan Patočka called the "solidarity of the shaken". This coalition called for an end to discrimination and for human rights promotion.
The first summit's inaugural speech was given by by Iranian Activist and President of Stop Child Executions, Nazanin Afshin Jam,
who outlined the human rights situation in Iran. She addressed that
under Iranian laws the life of a woman is worth half of a man's and
other sexist practices, the execution of homosexuals, and the executions
of minors. The Iranian activist also gave an overview of the summit
that began at 9:00am and ended at 6:30pm.
The inaugural summit was divided into four sessions that were tied into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Session I was titled "Racism, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity: Assessing the Genocide Convention After 60 Years" and the panel was made up by Irwin Cotler, Counsel for genocide victims and dissidents, Canadian
MP, Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch and International
Association of Genocide Scholars, Ester Murawajo, Tutsi survivor,
founder of AVEGA and Dominique Sopo, President of SOS Racisme.
Session II was titled "Resisting Authoritarianism: Human Rights, Democracy, and the Dissident Movement"
with speakers Bo Kyi, Burmese dissident and winner of the Human Rights
Prize from Human Rights Watch, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egyptian dissident,
José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Cuban dissident and prisoner of conscience,
and Esra'a Al Shafei, dissident blogger, Mideast Youth - Thinking
Ahead.
Session III was titled "Torture and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment"
with speakers Nazanin Afshin-Jam, president of Stop Child Execution,
Parvez Sharma, Producer of the documentary Jihad for Love, and Ahmad
Batebi, Iranian dissident.
Session IV was titled "Freedom of Expression and 'Defamation of Religion'"
with panelists Mohamed Sifaoui, Journalist, Algeria, Floyd Abrams,
U.S. advocate for First Amendment press freedom, Patrick Gaubert,
President of LICRA and Member of the European Parliament.
The 2nd Geneva Summit was held on March 8-9, 2010, strategically timed
to coincide with the main annual session of the U.N. Human Rights
Council. The objective of the 2010 Geneva Summit was to give voice to
victims of
the world’s worst abusers, empowering those who suffer repression under
closed systems of government.
The program featured plenary sessions, workshops and training sessions
over two days. A large portion of the program was dedicated to
presentations—personal and compelling testimony—from victims of the
world’s worst abusers.
On March 8, 2010 gave the opening address
on behalf of the Geneva Summit Coalition for the second edition of the
Geneva Summit. Sadly, these words remain relevant today, but now the
global decline in political freedoms and civil liberties has expanded
from four to thirteen years in a row.
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.
According to Summit organizers, "[m]ore
then 800 people registered to attend the summit and over 1600 watched
the live webcast. 35 dissidents and human rights activists took the
floor to condemn and testify about some of the worst human rights
situations around the world and issued a joint call for Internet
Freedom around the world."
Cuban dissident Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina was denied an exit visa by the
Castro regime despite being invited to attend the Geneva Summit, but the
coalition did not stop there and started a campaign for him to attend.
In the end Nestor addressed the summit by phone, and would attend and
address the 2012 Summit in person. Still remember the powerful and
haunting testimony of Caspian Makan, human rights activist, and fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was murdered in Iran by pro-regime agents months earlier on June 20, 2009. Another speaker who made a powerful impression was Yang Jianli,
activist in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, a former political
prisoner, and founder of Initiatives for China and today a friend. The
Geneva Summit created network of activists that remain in contact and
continue to collaborate.
Cuban human rights defenders and victims of repression have had a voice
at this gathering over the past fourteen years to denounce their plight and call
for human rights and freedom for Cuba. Former Cuban prisoners of
conscience and human rights defenders Jose Gabriel Ramon Castillo (2009, 2010), Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia (2011), Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina (2012), Regis Iglesias (2013), and Juan Francisco Sigler Amaya (2015), human rights defender and daughter of martyred actvist Rosa Maria Paya (2013, 2016), human rights defender Damarys Moya Portieles (2014), human rights defender and social democrat Manuel Cuesta Morua (2015), former prisoner of conscience, human rights defender and artist Danilo MaldonadoEl Sexto (2017), Sakharov laureate Guillermo Fariñas Hernández (2018), human rights lawyer Juan Carlos Gutiérrez representing Cuban prisoner of conscience Dr. Eduardo Cardet (2019), Cuban lawyer, journalist, and human rights defender who serves as Executive Director of the nonprofit Cubalex Laritza Diversent (2020), Cuban political performance artist Tania Bruguera (2021), and Cuban visual artist and political activist Hamlet Lavastida(2022).
2013 was the last time I addressed the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy
during the fifth edition of the gathering and less than seven months
after Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante had been
murdered by State Security on July 22, 2012. Present in the room were
Rosa María Payá Acevedo, and Regis Iglesias Ramírez of the Christian
Liberation Movement. Both had addressed the meeting.
The 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy
today is an opportunity for reflection. Unfortunately, the human rights
situation around the world has not improved over the past five years
and in many instances worsened. The question is why? Cuban democratic
opposition activist, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, when awarded the Sakharov
prize for Freedom of Thought on December 17, 2002 observed that
“The cause of human rights is a single cause, just as the people of the
world are a single people. The talk today is of globalization, but we
must state that unless there is global solidarity, not only human rights
but also the right to remain human will be jeopardized.” The past
decade has demonstrated that he was right.
Cuban state security has worked for decades trying to discredit and
silence authentic dissident voices and continues to today with their spies and agents of influence.
It is a constant struggle to frustrate their efforts. They are willing
to lie, slander, assault and even murder those who have the courage to
dissent. The 2012 killings of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero and the firing on unarmed protesters during the 11J protests in Cuba demonstrate this.
For decades Cuban victims of repression said that nobody listened, and in 1987 an award winning documentary titled "Nobody Listened"
interviewed Cuban political prisoners and human rights defenders
describing the lack of international solidarity.
Over the past fourteen
years thanks to the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy their
voices have been and continue to be heard.
The next summit begins on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 9:00am Central European Time. For more
information visit the Geneva Summit website here. Use hashtags #GenevaSummit2022 and #GS22
The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy will begin tomorrow now
for the 14th time, and needs your help. Never heard of the Summit? Here
is what this gathering is about:
The
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is a major conference that
shines a spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require
global attention. It provides human rights heroes, activists and former
political prisoners with a unique platform to testify about their
personal struggles for democracy and freedom, while building an
international community to take on dictatorships.
The Summit is
held around the main annual session of the United Nations Human Rights
Council, when foreign ministers gather in Geneva, to force critical
issues onto the international agenda. The 14th Geneva Summit will be
held on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, on the heels of the main session.
The
event is attended by hundreds of dissidents, victims, diplomats,
journalists, student leaders and other concerned citizens. Thousands
more watch online.
The Geneva Summit is sponsored by a coalition
of 25 human rights NGOs from around the world. It has been featured in
media around the glove, including CNN, AFP, AP, DW, the Wall Street
Journal and The Australian.
Over the past 14 years the Geneva Summit has provided a space for victims of repression from around the world. One of the countries constantly represented for its terrible human rights record over this time has been Cuba. This year for the first time Geneva Summit speak Hamlet Lavastida will address the gathering.
Below is a brief biography of the Cuban artist and dissident.
Hamlet Lavastida is
a Cuban visual artist and political activist. He was a founder at both
of Cuba’s most prominent artist-led campaign groups, 27N and the San
Isidro Movement (MSI).
Lavastida was imprisoned on June 26th,
2021, as he returned from an artistic residency in Berlin. He was
arrested for an unrealised idea he had shared with members of the 27N
activist group, to stamp Cuban currency with subversive anti-Communist
symbols.
Lavastida spent three months incarcerated in Villa
Marista, the high security prison famous for holding political
prisoners, and was named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty
International in August 2021.
He was released in September on
condition of exile for him and his partner, the poet and activist
Katherine Bisquet. He resides in Germany.
Rosa Maria Payá Acevedo will also be attending the gathering. She has spoken in the past at the Geneva Summit in 2013 and 2016. This year also marks 10 years since her father Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, and friends Harold Cepero Escalante were killed by Castro's secret police on July 22, 2012.
On April 6, 2022 the live streamed session of the Geneva Summit will begin at 10:00am Central European Time with presentations on Russia and China. In the afternoon at 14:50pm there will be a panel on resisting dictatorship in Latin America that will feature speakers from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Representing Cuba will be Hamlet Lavastida of the San Isidro Movement.
Register for the Summit, participate virtually in this gathering, add your views, and share them over your social media platforms with the hashtag #GenevaSummit2022 and #GS22.
"Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation
away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be
fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only
once to a people."
The future American President was right and #GenevaSummit2022 is correctly calling attention to complacency in democracies, and the fragility of both freedom and democratic institutions as the world faces an expanded conflagration in Ukraine, and an ascendant China backing autocracies worldwide.
The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is underway right now for the 13th time, and needs your help. Never heard of the Summit? Here is what this gathering is about:
On
the eve of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s main annual
session, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy assembles each
year hundreds of courageous dissidents and human rights victims,
activists, diplomats, journalists and student leaders to shine a
spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require global
attention.
The
Geneva Summit is sponsored by a coalition of 25 human rights NGOs from
around the world. This annual conference builds on the success and
momentum of the previous gatherings, which have been widely acclaimed in
the international human rights community.
Human
rights heroes, activists and former political prisoners from China,
Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela and other countries
testify about their personal struggles for human rights, democracy and
freedom, and join hands to plan action strategies.
Register for the Summit, participate virtually in this gathering, add your views, and share them over your social media platforms with the hashtag #GenevaSummit2021.
"Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation
away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be
fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only
once to a people."
The future American President was right and the #GenevaSummit2021 is correctly calling attention to complacency in democracies, and the fragility of both freedom and democratic institutions.
Human rights heroes to spotlight Algeria, China, Cuba, Hong Kong, Iran, Malawi, Mauritania, Pakistan, and Venezuela. This is the 12th time that human rights defenders are gathering at this important shadow human rights summit. It was broadcast live on February 18, 2020 over the live stream video below.
Cuba was highlighted during the summit with a presentation by Laritza Diversent of Cubalex. She described how her legal aide service was shut down by the secret police, and how the dictatorship made threats against her person for being a human rights defender. Below is a quote taken twitter earlier today.
"In Cuba, the public prosecutor interrogated us as if we were terrorists. We feared having a trial without due process. We feared ending up in prison and not being able to do our work." #GS2020
Liberal International also reported over Twitter on her presentation and the fact that free legal advice is not one of the 240 services permitted by the Cuban government.
Cuban #HumanRights lawyer & activist, Laritza Diversent, addresses hundreds attending the @GenevaSummit where she explains that in #Cuba, "being a lawyer that offers free legal advice is NOT among the 240 services that citizens are 'allowed' to offer."#GS2020#LIHRCpic.twitter.com/KaB7hZxQKK
Venezuela was featured with political leaders of the interim government, intellectuals, and Rosa Orozco, the mother of Geraldine Moreno, a Venezuelan martyr. The 23 year old university student and athlete, who was shotrepeatedly in the face byBolivarian National Guardmembers onFebruary 19, 2014during a protestin Venezuela. Geraldine died three days later on February 22, 2014. Six years later, her mom continues to demand justice.
“I lost my daughter and endured the absence of justice. This is my double tragedy." #GS2020#Venezuela
- Rosa Orozco, mother of Geraldine Moreno, killed by the Bolivarian National Guard in Venezuela pic.twitter.com/5kX4YVO6vh
UN Watch's Shadow Rights Summit to Turn Tables on Tyrants
Human rights heroes to spotlight China, Cuba, Turkey, Venezuela, Burundi, Vietnam, after UNHRC session turned blind eye. Watch it live on March 26, 2019 in the live stream video below.
GENEVA,
March 24, 2019 — Dissidents and political prisoners' families from
around the globe have gathered in Geneva for a summit that opens to the
public on Tuesday, at the Palexpo conference center, aimed at giving a
voice to victims of the world’s worst human rights abuses. The event
is organized by an international coalition of 25 human rights NGOs, led
by UN Watch.
Human rights defenders gather in Switzerland for the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy
The 11th annual
Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy opens on the heels of the
UN Human
Rights Council's main 2019 session, which wrapped up on Friday without
adopting resolutions on most of the countries represented by the
activists, including China, Cuba, Turkey, Venezuela, Burundi and
Vietnam.
The summit organizers say they will focus on issues
the UN session—under pressure by its powerful members—omitted from its
agenda.
Former political prisoners from China, Tibet, Turkey,
Vietnam will join the family members of existing political prisoners in
Iran, Saudi Arabia and other countries that will be announced only at
the session.
The teenage children of jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who live in Canada, will speak for the first
time.
Richard Ratcliffe, whose British-Iranian wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe,
has been detained in Tehran for three years on trumped-up spying
charges, will speak publicly for the first time since UK Foreign
Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced that he was granting her diplomatic
protection—a highly rare move that elevated Nazanin’s case from a
consular matter to a formal legal dispute between Britain and the one in
which she remains prisoner.
In separate ceremonies on Tuesday, the summit will give its 2019 Courage Award to Tibetan filmmaker and former political prisoner Dhondup Wangchen, and its 2019 International Women's Rights Award to Nimco Ali, a Somali-born campaigner against female genital mutilation.
Diego Arria,
one of the leading Venezuelan opponents to the Maduro regime and
the former president of the UN Security Council, will be one of the
keynote speakers, along with Michael Levitt, chair of the Canadian
Parliament's foreign affairs committee. See list of presenters here.
With
numerous diplomats
attending, the acclaimed annual conference is timed to take place in
Geneva days after the UN Human Rights Council ended its main annual
session, to ensure the world does not forget critical human rights
situations.
"The annual Geneva Summit,
founded in 2009, has become a focal point for dissidents worldwide,"
said Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, which for
the 11th year in a row will be organizing the annual event as part of a
cross-regional coalition of 25 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 U.N. to address critical human rights situations
around the world," said Neuer.
Subjects on
the program this year include political prisoners, discrimination
against women, jailing of journalists, prison camps, religious
intolerance, and the persecution of human rights defenders.
Videos of past speaker testimonies are available here.
Admission to this year’s main session on March 26, 2019 is free and open to the public, but registration is mandatory.
For accreditation, program and schedule information, click here.
The main event on Tuesday, starting at 9:30 am Geneva time, will be live webcast at www.genevasummit.org.
"Truth-tellers arrive at the United Nations, unite to confront dictatorships." - The Geneva Summit
Geneva Summit for Democracy and Human Rights 2018
Yesterday at the United Nations Human Rights Council a group of human rights defenders and victims of repression gathered to denounces what is going on in their respective countries. Today, beginning at 9:00am and for entire day these activists will be gathered along with hundreds of registered participants to attend and participate in the 10th edition of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Watch it here over live stream, and get involved providing your commentary, questions and hashtags over social media. Please use the hashtag #GS18 and #GenevaSummit so that your comments can be readily found and share the live stream link with others.
Over the past couple of days have taken a look back to the beginning when the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy came into existence and also speculate on its future. Today will look at some of the highlights from yesterday, from around the world and look forward to commenting over twitter during the event. Former Venezuelan prisoner of conscience Antonio Ledezma tweeted: "Three years ago I was forcibly abducted for thinking differently from the narco-regime of Venezuela.I will not stop my struggle to defend the freedom and human rights of our Venezuelan brothers." UN Watch highlighted the plight of Cuban prisoner of conscience Eduardo Cardet. Venezuela
Hace 3 años me secuestraron a la fuerza por pensar diferente al narco-régimen de Venezuela. No detendré mi lucha por defender la libertad y los derechos humanos de nuestros hermanos venezolanos #GS18pic.twitter.com/BAaxK6rVpB
"Tomorrow we'll hear from our human rights heroes. It is this whole handful of 'troublemakers' who are keeping the boat of the entire humanity afloat. We should be grateful to these heroes who remind us that dictators are bound to fail."
—Yang Jianli #GS18https://t.co/r2xoVHgsFkpic.twitter.com/1opIDSC3wh
"As Vladimir Bukovsky once noted, it’s a remarkable feature of Russian history that even in the absolute darkest periods of repression and propaganda you always find people who are willing to stand up against tyranny — and that’s what we see today.”
—Vladimir Kara-Murza @UN#GS18pic.twitter.com/5PnzrSA7pX
Sophia Hopperger: "The empty chair on this panel is dedicated to Eduardo Cardet. ... Dr. Cardet was sentenced to 3 years in prison on trumped up charges. ... Today we say to Dr. Cardet we have not forgotten you." #GS18#Cubapic.twitter.com/Po1pRCZfrt
"The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from those who actually commit it." - Albert Einstein
The 10th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy convenes in Switzerland tomorrow on February
20, 2018 at 9:00am and is open to the public. The opening address will be given by Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), who has revived the relevance of the OAS by calling attention to the unfolding crisis in Venezuela and taking leadership in pursuing solutions.
There is still much more to do.
Over the past decade human rights have been in decline worldwide and democracy in recession. Long time democracies, such as Venezuela, and Turkey have slid into dictatorship. Communist China is ascendant offering an alternative development path without freedom.
Andrew MacLeod, who was chief of operations at the United Nation’s Emergency
Coordination Center, estimated in The Times on February 14, 2018 that
UN staff in the past decade carried out 60,000 rapes "with
3,300 pedophiles working in the organization and its agencies." The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is in the midst of a scandal with former UNICEF consultant Peter Newell who was jailed for raping a 13 year old boy.
The international human rights consensus has been shattered while contradictions have emerged that threaten its very foundations.
Restoring the dynamic tension to the human rights conversation
In 1961 Amnesty International was founded by Peter Benenson
and consisted of a board of trustees that included all the major
British political parties: Labour, Conservative, Liberal and religions:
Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Jewish and Humanist.
If human rights are to regain their relevance and end its worldwide
decline then all parties (and this includes religions) must be invited
to the table and not censored beforehand because it does not serve a
particular political agenda. Furthermore the right to life, enshrined in
both Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in Article 1 of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man
should apply to all, at all stages of life. Competing rights claims
need to be weighed and measured carefully, but recognizing the
transcendent importance of the person.
Finally, human rights defenders instead of focusing on what divides us
by race, sex, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and religion
should seek to recognize our common humanity with a focus on the dignity of the person. Identity politics is a dangerous and divisive dead end.
The change for the better begins with each one of us and the challenge
to be better and to do better. This also means a return to first
principles and a rejection of identity politics. Everyone must be
welcome to the conversation regardless of background and ideas and arguments should rule the day.
It is time for self-examination and a reawakening to the consensus achieved 70 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy is a space where this conversation is taking place and can lead to important and positive changes over the next decade and beyond.
Reflection on ten years of summits and a call to attend the next one
The 10th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy convenes in Switzerland on February
20, 2018. Over the past decade this summit has been a vital space for dissenting voices to gather and engage in this important conversation to diagnose the problems challenging human rights and dignity and to do better and be better in order to turn the global decline of human rights around.
The first edition was held on April 19, 2009, "one day before the international community gather[ed] in
Geneva to address racism, intolerance and persecution in the High-Level
Segment of the UN Durban Review Conference (DRC)" and it had a longer title, "Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy" and the tag line, "Stop Discrimination, Go for Human Rights." UN Watch, a Geneva based NGO whose mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter", brought together an international coalition of nineteen organizations to co-sponsor the summit.
Arielle Herzog, Leon Saltiel, Hillel C. Neuer and other UN Watch staff were the chief organizers of the first six editions and responsible for their great success and establishing this space for dialogue. UN Watch today continues to lead this coalition and build on this great legacy, but it is important to return to the beginning to see how we arrived were we are today.
The UN Durban Review Conference (DRC) of 2009 was one more example of the ongoing moral bankruptcy of the United Nations. The star speaker, and apparently the only head of state invited to speak, was Iran's notorious president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who engages in holocaust denial and has called for the destruction of Israel. This conference, ostensibly to confront the problem of racism, began a gathering point of the worse dictatorships on the planet to legitimize themselves.
Meanwhile, in marked contrast, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy was held at the Centre International de Conférences Genève, just down the street from the Palais des Nations UN compound were the DRC was being held. Human rights defenders, victims of repression and political dissidents gathered to share their experiences, bear witness and attempt to wield real political force from the power of human conscience. This is what the martyred Czech dissident and philosopher Jan Patočka called the "solidarity of the shaken'. This coalition called for an end to discrimination and for human rights promotion.
The first summit's inaugural speech was given by by Iranian Activist and President of Stop Child Executions, Nazanin Afshin Jam, who outlined the human rights situation in Iran. She addressed that under Iranian laws the life of a woman is worth half of a man's and other sexist practices, the execution of homosexuals, and the executions of minors. The Iranian activist also gave an overview of the summit that began at 9:00am and ended at 6:30pm.
The inaugural summit was divided into four sessions that were tied into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Session I was titled "Racism, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity: Assessing the Genocide Convention After 60 Years" and the panel was made up by Irwin Cotler, Counsel for genocide victims and dissidents, Canadian
MP, Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch and International
Association of Genocide Scholars, Ester Murawajo, Tutsi survivor,
founder of AVEGA and Dominique Sopo, President of SOS Racisme.
Session II was titled "Resisting Authoritarianism: Human Rights, Democracy, and the Dissident Movement" with speakers Bo Kyi, Burmese dissident and winner of the Human Rights Prize from Human Rights Watch, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egyptian dissident, José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Cuban dissident and prisoner of conscience, and Esra'a Al Shafei, dissident blogger, Mideast Youth - Thinking Ahead.
Session III was titled "Torture and Cruel and Inhuman Treatment" with speakers Nazanin Afshin-Jam, president of Stop Child Execution, Parvez Sharma, Producer of the documentary Jihad for Love, and Ahmad Batebi, Iranian dissident.
Session IV was titled "Freedom of Expression and 'Defamation of Religion'" with panelists Mohamed Sifaoui, Journalist, Algeria, Floyd Abrams, U.S. advocate for First Amendment press freedom, Patrick Gaubert, President of LICRA and Member of the European Parliament.
The 2nd Geneva Summit was held on March 8-9, 2010, strategically timed to coincide with the main annual session of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The objective of the 2010 Geneva Summit was to give voice to victims of
the world’s worst abusers, empowering those who suffer repression under
closed systems of government.
The program featured plenary sessions, workshops and training sessions over two days. A large portion of the program was dedicated to presentations—personal and compelling testimony—from victims of the world’s worst abusers.
On March 8, 2010 gave the opening address on behalf of the Geneva Summit Coalition for the second edition of the Geneva Summit. Sadly, these words remain relevant today, but now the global decline in political freedoms and civil liberties has expanded from four to thirteen years in a row.
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.
According to Summit organizers, "[m]ore
then 800 people registered to attend the summit and over 1600 watched
the live webcast. 35 dissidents and human rights activists took the
floor to condemn and testify about some of the worst human rights
situations around the world and issued a joint call for Internet
Freedom around the world."
Cuban dissident Nestor Rodriguez Lobaina was denied an exit visa by the Castro regime despite being invited to attend the Geneva Summit, but the coalition did not stop there and started a campaign for him to attend.
In the end Nestor addressed the summit by phone, and would attend and address the 2012 Summit in person. Still remember the powerful and haunting testimony of Caspian Makan, human rights activist, and fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was murdered in Iran by pro-regime agents months earlier on June 20, 2009. Another speaker who made a powerful impression was Yang Jianli, activist in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, a former political prisoner, and founder of Initiatives for China and today a friend. The Geneva Summit created network of activists that remain in contact and continue to collaborate.
2013 was the last time I addressed the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy during the fifth edition of the gathering and less than seven months after Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas and Harold Cepero Escalante had been murdered by State Security on July 22, 2012. Present in the room were Rosa María Payá Acevedo, and Regis Iglesias Ramírez of the Christian Liberation Movement. Both had addressed the meeting.
The 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy today is an opportunity for reflection. Unfortunately, the human rights situation around the world has not improved over the past five years and in many instances worsened. The question is why? Cuban democratic opposition activist, Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas, when awarded the Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought on December 17, 2002 observed that “The cause of human rights is a single cause, just as the people of the world are a single people. The talk today is of globalization, but we must state that unless there is global solidarity, not only human rights but also the right to remain human will be jeopardized.” The past decade has demonstrated that he was right.
Cuban state security has worked for decades trying to discredit and silence authentic dissident voices and continues to today with their agents and agents of influence. It is a constant struggle to frustrate their efforts. They are willing to lie, slander, assault and even murder those who have the courage to dissent. The 2012 killings of Oswaldo Payá and Harold Cepero and the aftermath demonstrate this.
For decades Cuban victims of repression said that nobody listened, and in 1987 an award winning documentary titled "Nobody Listened" interviewed Cuban political prisoners and human rights defenders describing the lack of international solidarity. Over the past ten years thanks to the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy their voices have been heard.
This is the first reflection on the past decade of Geneva Summits. The next summit begins on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at 9:00am. For more information visit the Geneva Summit website here.
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