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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
By Sam Namias As Kim Jong Un’s hermit kingdom becomes an increasingly closed and dangerous country, I interviewed North Korean human rights activist and two-time defector Timothy Cho (GS’22). We discuss Cho’s inspiring personal story and outlook on life, the importance of the Geneva Summit, and what the international community should do to support those trapped
By Emma Waxlax Ahead of the 26th anniversary of the Hong Kong Handover on July 1st, I interviewed prominent Hong Kong activist Frances Hui (GS’23). Amidst a worsening crackdown on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, we discuss Hui’s experiences confronting CCP oppression, the situation in her home city today, and
By Emma Waxlax On May 29th, Uganda’s President Museveni signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act, a bill that expands already existent legislation targeting homosexuals, trans and gender non-conforming people. Sparking condemnation across the international community, the bill prescribes the death penalty for certain sexual relations involving individuals of the same-sex,
15th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy • Hi-res photos: Geneva Summit (May 17, 2023) | United Nations Opening (May 16)• Video of full event• Videos of individual speakers Remarks in video and transcript: • Abraham Jiménez Enoa, Prominent Cuban journalist forced into exile, grandson of the bodyguard to
On the 17th of May 2022 the 15th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy formally began at the United Nations opening event, hosted at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and attended by leading diplomats from around the world. Photos and Videos can be found below: For all photos,
By Emma Waxlax Following the one-year anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I spoke with Ukrainian civil society activist Olga Aivasovska (GS’22) on the current situation in her home country. We discuss ongoing efforts to hold Russia accountable, the importance of history in understanding the war, and the future of
As an award-winning investigative journalist and filmmaker, Hopewell Chin’ono has been repeatedly arrested for uncovering the truth and countering injustice. In 2022, we invited him to address the 14th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, where he spoke on corruption in Zimbabwe. In a candid discussion with Hillel Neuer, Chin’ono
In 2009, Nazanin Afshin-Jam chaired the first Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, where she spoke on the human rights crisis in Iran and the crimes committed by the Islamic Republic. More than a decade later and the situation in Iran has only worsened, igniting mass protests following the
By Emma Waxlax Amidst mounting violence inflicted by Burma’s military junta following their coup in February 2021, I spoke with democratic activist, author, and Geneva Summit alum Zoya Phan (GS’12). We discuss what has happened in the country over the past decade, its connection to the current plight faced by
Russian opposition activist Leonid Volkov on stage at the 14th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, April 6, 2022. For photos, videos, and speaker testimony, see below: For all high-res photos, click here. For a full video, click here. For individual videos, click here. To read full individual testimony,
On the 5th of April 2022 the 14th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy formally began at the United Nations opening event, hosted at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and attended by leading diplomats from around the world. Photos and Videos can be found below: For all photos,
By Dylan Rogers After the Beijing Olympics came to a close earlier this month, I talked to Uyghur attorney and Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Rayhan Asat (GS’21). In 2016 Rayhan’s brother Ekpar disappeared. It wasn’t until January 2020 that the Chinese state officially confirmed what had happened. Rayhan wasn’t surprised
The Geneva Summit announces today that its prestigious women’s rights award will go this year to Zarifa Ghafari, Afghanistan’s youngest female mayor and a survivor of three Taliban assassination attempts. Ghafari will receive the Geneva Summit 2022 International Women’s Rights Award at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 6th, where she
Interviewed by Dylan Rogers Almost every Ukrainian kid knows the phrase “4am Kyiv is bombed”. It is the expression that was used to announce the start of the German bombardment in 1941. Yet last Thursday morning it came alive again, as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin began an unprovoked attack on
Interviewed by Dylan Rogers. Kazakhstan’s strongmen have long cast the country as a bastion of stability in an otherwise restive region. Yet in January Kazakhstan erupted in protest, as an increase in fuel prices combined with political concerns to drive nationwide demonstrations […]
After an eventful year in which Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko illegally downed a plane carrying a dissident blogger and orchestrated a migrant crisis on Europe’s eastern border, I talked to democratic opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (GS’21).
Interviewed by Dylan Rogers. After elections denounced by President Biden as a “pantomime”, I sat down with Berta Valle, the wife of imprisoned opposition leader Felix Maradiaga (GS’19)
Interviewed by Dylan Rogers. Shortly after Russia went to the polls this September, I sat down with opposition leader Lyubov Sobol (GS’20). At 34 Sobol occupies an idiosyncratic place in Russia’s pro-democracy movement. She has been with the now-imprisoned Alexei Navalny from the start, joining his anti-corruption campaign in 2011.
Interviewed by David Naftulin. I sat down with pioneering Afghan women’s rights hero Dr. Massouda Jalal (GS’10), who just weeks ago was forced to flee her country as the Taliban took power. Originally a medical professor, psychiatrist and pediatrician, Dr. Jalal became one of Afghanistan’s most influential activists after the
A conversation with Geneva Summit speaker Rosa María Payá (GS’16), one of Cuba’s most renowned human rights activists.
Editor’s Note: On July 15, 2016, the day of the failed coup attempt in Turkey, there were 14,500 judges and prosecutors. One of them was Yavuz Aydin (GS’20) who, among 4,500 other jurists, was purged by the Erdogan regime, smeared as a terrorist, and ultimately exiled—all for the crime of
Editor’s Note: Tania Bruguera (GS’21) is a top enemy of the Cuban government. As a political performance artist, Tania is committed to telling the world the truth about the situation on the island which has sparked the ire of the regime. She has been repeatedly arbitrarily detained, beaten, interrogated and
Interviewed by David Naftulin.
I spoke with upcoming 2021 Geneva Summit speaker Nathan Law (GS’21), a pioneering Hong Kong activist. Nathan rose to prominence as a leader of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in 2014.
Interviewed by Hilary Miller. Editor’s Note: In January 2019, Chau Van Kham, a 72-year-old Vietnamese-Australian, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh after meeting with a fellow democracy activist. After authorities detained him on fake charges of conspiring against the Vietnam government, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Mr.
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