by country
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President-elect of Belarus, delivered the 2026 Keynote Address at the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026. Full Prepared Remarks: Dear friends, A few months ago, my children hugged their father again. For years, they had only memories. There was no
Mathilde Gahier, a student at the Institut Florimont in Geneva, presented the empty chair for Maria Kalesnikava at the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: The empty chair on this stage is dedicated to Maria Kalesnikava, an opposition leader and defender
Exiled Belarusian opposition figure and chair of the Belarus Women’s Foundation, Veronica Tsepkalo, addresses the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks: Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, dear honorable guests! First, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to
Sister to imprisoned Belarusian opposition leader Maria Kalesnikava, Tatsiana Khomich, speaks at the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On her incredible sister: “On September 7, 2020, Belarus tried to forcibly exile my sister, Maria Kalesnikava – and they
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarusian opposition presidential candidate and human rights activist who was forced to flee Belarus after rigged elections, addresses the 13th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On imprisonment of husband Sergei: “When our daughter asks where he
GENEVA, March 7, 2022 — On Wednesday the United Nations voted to “deplore” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demand the withdrawal of Russian forces. Now the four states that voted with Russia and against the historic resolution—Eritrea, Belarus, Syria and North Korea—are coming under fire and will be featured at the upcoming Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on
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).
GENEVA, June 8, 2021 — Russian political prisoner Alexai Navalny today won a prestigious human rights award as Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, and Zimbabwe came under scrutiny at an annual assembly of dissidents and former political prisoners. The