Latest

Press releases

Dissidents from Russia, Cuba, Iran, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Eritrea, and More to Spotlight Abuses at the 17th Geneva Summit

GENEVA, January 8, 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 25 human rights organizations, will showcase the voices

Press releases

Geneva Summit Exposes Systemic Abuses by World’s Most Oppressive Regimes

Prominent dissidents expose severe human rights violations in nations like Iran, China, Russia, Zimbabwe, Cuba, and more. “We live in a world where terrorists are invited on red carpets, and activists have to fend for their own lives,” testified Gazelle Sharmahd, daughter of Jamshid Sharmahd, a journalist currently on death

Press releases

25 Human Rights NGOs Announce: Targeted Iran International Journalists to Receive 2024 Courage Award

GENEVA, May 13, 2024 —  A cross-regional coalition of 25 human rights organizations announced today that its prestigious human rights award will go this year to Iran International, to be accepted by news director Aliasghar Ramezanpour and TV news presenter Pouria Zeraati. Ramezanpour was convicted in absentia two years ago by Tehran’s Revolutionary Court for the crime of

Press releases

Anti-FGM Campaigner Fatou Baldeh to Receive 2024 Women’s Rights Award

GENEVA, May 7, 2024 —  A cross-regional coalition of 25 human rights organizations announced today that Gambian women’s rights activist Fatou Baldeh will be honored with the Geneva Summit Women’s Rights Award. She campaigns to end female genital mutilation, a practice that she survived and now dedicates herself to ending. Baldeh will receive the prestigious

Posts

Dissidents from Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua to Spotlight Abuses at 16th Geneva Summit

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

Media Hits

Geneva Summit Speaker Nila Ibrahimi Featured in CBC Article

Around 1 million girls can’t go to school in Afghanistan, UN says By CBC Kids – October 11th, 2023 Click Here for the original story. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Nila Ibrahimi fled Afghanistan in August 2021 because it wasn’t safe for her and her family. Many girls in

Posts

Timothy Cho: “The power of love, democracy, and the right to free speech is more powerful than any nuclear power.”

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

Media Hits

Metro Article about Zimbabwean Lawyer and Activist Fadzayi Mahere

Zimbabwe election: Voters go to the polls with fear and change on their minds Jordan King | Aug 23, 2023 Click Here for the original article Polls are opening for the sourthern African country to elect its new leader (Pictures: EPA/Getty)  Zimbabweans are choosing their next president today, in the

Posts

Frances Hui: “Existing is part of resisting”

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

Media Hits

Metro UK Article on Swedish MP and Iranian Human Rights Activist Alireza Akhondi

‘Iran’s armed forces murdered my mum, it’s time the UK called them terrorists’ By: Gergana Krasteva | Jul 2, 2023 Click here for the original article Members of the Iranian community rally in solidarity with Mahsa (Jina) Amini (Picture: AP) A woman whose mother was killed by 167 shotgun pellets

Posts

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera: “You cannot be free when other people around the world are not free.”

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,

Media Hits

15th Geneva Summit: In the News

  Media Mentions of the 2023 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. For videos, photos, transcripts, quotes, and more, click here. CNN interview with Summit speakers, husband and wife Félix Maradiaga and Berta Valle: “‘An audit of the heart’: Nicaraguan dissident Felix Maradiaga and his wife Berta Valle on

Posts

The 15th Geneva Summit: Photos, Videos, and Testimony

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

Posts

Hope for Iran: Nazanin Afshin-Jam In Conversation With Hillel Neuer

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

Media Hits

14th Geneva Summit: In the News

Media Mentions of the 2022 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. For videos, photos, transcripts, quotes, and more, click here. The World story on Summit speaker and chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, Leonid Volkov: “‘Tectonic Shift’ as Support for Putin erodes” CNN segment on Summit speaker and chief

Posts

The 14th Geneva Summit: Photos, Videos, and Testimony

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,

Media Hits

2022 Courage Award: In the News

Media mentions of the Geneva Summit’s decision to award Enes Kanter Freedom its 2022 Courage Award: The National Endowment for Democracy article on the decision to award Freedom the Courage Award and other Summit speakers: “NGOs Announce Courage Award for activist NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom”. Newsweek article on the

Posts

“These Are Our Memories”: A Ukrainian Ex-MP On Why Kyiv Won’t Surrender

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