Cuban dissidents Berta Soler and Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez address the Oslo Freedom Forum

 

2013 Oslo Freedom Forum Opens in Norway, Celebrating Five Years of “Challenging Power”


OSLO (May 14, 2013)—The 2013 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) opens today in Norway, bringing an unprecedented gathering of courageous rights defenders, artists, innovators, authors, entrepreneurs, journalists, and policymakers from across the globe. They unite in Oslo to exchange ideas on how best to challenge repression and promote human rights.

“Freedom is in decline around the world. There are more countries considered ‘not free’ or only ‘partly free’ than there were ten years ago. For the last five years, OFF has provided a platform for survivors of some of the worst abuses and grown to become an incubator for effective action against tyranny and injustice,” said OFF founder Thor Halvorssen. “This event has brought together some of the world’s greatest thinkers and doers to form an idea factory and networking in the struggle against arbitrary power. This year’s summit is in recognition of this community’s incredible struggles and inspiring achievements.”

A full schedule of events is available here. Conference programming will be streamed live in high-definition at www.oslofreedomforum.com, beginning at 9:30am CEST (3:30am EST).
The fifth annual event will begin with a session, The Asymmetric Activist, featuring Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, Magnitsky Bill campaigner Bill Browder, Bangladeshi child marriage abolitionist Arzina Begum, Liberty in North Korea president Hannah Song, and Tibetan prime minister Lobsang Sangay.

An interactive panel discussion will follow on Women Under Threat around the world, featuring Lebanese journalist Jenan Moussa, Congo activist Lee Ann De Reus, Egyptian social entrepreneur Soraya Bahgat, and Ghanaian-British journalist Afua Hirsch, moderated by BBC presenter Philippa Thomas. Viewers are welcome to participate in the panel discussion by following OFF on Twitter at @OsloFF and using hashtag #OsloFF to ask questions, or by emailing questions@oslofreedomforum.com.

Espen Barth Eide, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, will also address the Forum. The day’s final two sessions—The Power of Media and The Instruments of Change—will feature Serbian media entrepreneur Sasa Vucinic, foreign affairs investigative journalist James Kirchick, Cuban independent journalist Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez, Palestinian journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul, abolitionist and photojournalist Stephanie Sinclair, Slate political and foreign affairs editor Will Dobson, Google Ideas product manager Justin Kosslyn, Malaysian democracy advocate and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan, Afghan reporter Shakeela Abrahimkhil, and Serbian nonviolent resistance maverick Srdja Popovic.

Inquiries: please contact info@oslofreedomforum.com.

All 2013 OFF talks and panel discussions will be uploaded to www.oslofreedomforum.com beginning Monday, May 20.

UN Watch Offensive Throws Castro-Chavez Alliance on Defensive

Banging on table, Cuba, China, Russia & Pakistan lash out after call to exclude Chavez, other abusers from UN rights council

Concerted U.N. speeches slam Chavez bid for rights council seat;
Dictatorships urge "striking NGO statement from the record" 

 VENEZUELAN EX-POLITICAL PRISONER ELIGIO CEDENO CHALLENGED HIS OPPRESSOR; CHAVEZ REP CALLS HIM A "TERRORIST" AND "CRIMINAL," UN WATCH A "U.S. LACKEY"

 GENEVA, June 28 - UN Watch's "Stop Chavez" campaign heated up today when Cuba, Russia, China and Pakistan lashed out at concerted speeches by high-profile guests Eligio Cedeno and Thor Halvorssen, in what one observer called a "major take-down" of Venezuela's Chavez regime and its bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council. (See video at mark 27:20.)
 
UN Watch, which heads an international campaign of parliamentarians and human rights groups opposed to Venezuela's candidacy, organized the speech today by Eligio Cedeno, Venezuela's most-wanted man (photo below). The banker and former political prisoner, who escaped the clutches of Hugo Chavez for asylum in the U.S., confronted his oppressor in a powerful plenary statement.

Exercising its right of reply, Venezuela's representative called Cedeno a "terrorist and criminal who fled justice." The Chavez diplomat falsely accused the U.S. of having invited Cedeno to the council, which he said was "to smear the reputation of my country." He also accused UN Watch of being a U.S. "lackey.“ (See video at mark 1:55:30)

And in a concerted effort with UN Watch, Thor Halvorssen, the Venezuelan-born head of the Human Rights Foundation -- whose mother was shot by Chavez forces -- also took the floor to challenge Venezuela's credentials, as well as those of existing members Cuba, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Click here for speech.

Thor Halvorssen of the Human Rights Foundaiton

Shouting repeatedly for the U.N. chair to stop the speech, the Cuban delegate flew into a range, fists banging on the table, and knocked over his chair.

Cuba insisted that non-governmental activists taking the floor at the U.N. “cannot question the hopes and aspirations of states to become members of the Human Rights Council, or their right to be members. You cannot say that my country does not have a right to be a member of this council.” Havana's delegate demanded that Halvorssen’s statement be “struck from the record.”

Russia and Pakistan similarly claimed that Halvorssen spoke out of turn. China said that activists at the U.N. “are not entitled to challenge the right of a country to become a member of the council.”

However, UN Watch director Hillel Neuer said that a quick intervention by the U.S. apparently convinced the chair to let the statement stand.

"Today was a rare moment at the U.N.," said Neuer. "We succeeded in putting Chavez -- who throws independent judges in jail, persecutes student activists, and aids mass murderers like Ahmadinejad and Assad -- on the defensive."

When Halvorssen referred to “authoritarian” regimes, Cuba interrupted again, calling this a “disrespectful term,” and asked the chair to prohibit him from speaking. China also objected, saying no one at the U.N. human rights council has a right “to label a sovereign state, to point a finger at a country that is a member, or which wishes to become a member.” 

This was reported in the Canada Free Press.
 http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=3265363&campaign_id=63111