The 2013 program centered on a range of topics: the art of dissent, asymmetric activism, new tools for rights advocates, the power of media, women under Islamic law, and the threat of authoritarian capitalism.
Speakers at this year's forum represented a diverse group of countries, including: Angola, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Malaysia, North Korea, Palestine, Peru, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Syria, Tibet and Zimbabwe.
Hannah Song, president of Liberty in North Korea, spoke about the rising civil society in North Korea despite all the efforts of the totalitarian regime there to crush it.
Nobel Laureate in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa made a powerful address to the Freedom Forum on "Literature, Freedom and Power":
Another notable presentation was made by Lobsang Sangay the prime minister of Tibet on the subject of "Democracy in Exile":
The conference concluded on the evening of May 15, with the presentation of the second Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent which was presented by Emil Constatinescu and Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen.
The 2013 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent laureates are: Berta Soler representing The Ladies in White from Cuba, Ali Ferzat from Syria, and Park Sang Hak from North Korea.
"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)
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