2023 Geneva Summit for
human rights and democracy
May 17, 2023, Geneva, Switzerland
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Watch past speeches and get a sense of what to expect from the Geneva Summit.
PRogram
Morning Session
10:00 WELCOME
Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of United Nations Watch, on behalf of the 25 NGO co-sponsors of the Geneva Summit
10:10 OPENING ADDRESS
10:20 TYRANNY, OPPRESSION AND ATROCITIES IN CHINA
11:10 THE TRAGEDY OF ZIMBABWE
11:20 ESCAPING THE TALIBAN
11:30 2023 International Women’s Rights Award
Afternoon Session
14:30 THE UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS
14:40 North Korea: Escape FROM STARVATION AND OPPRESSION
Songmi Han, North Korean escapee and survivor of extreme poverty, oppression, and abandonment
14:50 DIARY OF AN INVASION: EYEWITNESS TO RUSSIA’S WAR ON UKRAINE
Andrey Kurkov, Renowned Ukrainian novelist, author of “Diary of an Invasion” on Russia’s war
15:00 THE TERRIBLE COST OF RESISTING PUTIN
Anastasia Shevchenko, First dissident convicted under Russia’s “undesirable organizations” law, profiled in Oscar-shortlisted film “Anastasia”
15:10 FIGHTING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
15:20 ERDOGAN, JOURNALISM & THE ELECTIONS IN TURKEY
Nevsin Mengu, Turkish journalist dropped from CNN Türk after she criticized President Erdogan
Interviewer: Melissa Mahtani, journalist, former CNN producer
15:40 THE HIDDEN ISLAND: THE LIFE OF CUBANS UNDER DICTATORSHIP
15:50 VENEZUELA: BUILDING UNITY TO CHALLENGE OPPRESSION
16:00 THE 2023 COURAGE AWARD
Interviewer: Melissa Mahtani, journalist, former CNN producer
17:00 END OF #GENEVASUMMIT2023
speakers
Learn more about the incredible speakers and moderators who will highlight urgent rights issues from around the world.
Shima Babaei
Activist imprisoned for removing hijab, daughter of forcibly disappeared dissident Ebrahim Babaei
Songmi Han
North Korean escapee and survivor of extreme poverty, oppression, and abandonment.
Frances Hui
First Hong Kong activist to win political asylum in the US, director of We the Hong Kongers
Nila Ibrahimi
15-year-old Hazara activist who narrowly escaped the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
Hasler Iglesias
Venezuelan youth leader, went into hiding to escape arrest by the Maduro regime
Dolkun Isa
President of the World Uyghur Congress, former pro-democracy student leader targeted in China
Soomaya Javadi
Young Hazara activist who fled Afghanistan following the overthrow of Kabul
Yang Jianli
Chinese dissident, former political prisoner, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor and President of Initiatives for China
Abraham Jiménez Enoa
Prominent Cuban journalist forced into exile, grandson of the bodyguard to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara
Andrey Kurkov
Ukraine’s most famous novelist, author of “Diary of an Invasion” on Russia’s war
Dr. Gyal Lo
Tibetan activist, educational sociologist, and a leading expert on China’s assimilation and education policies in Tibet
Fadzayi Mahere
Constitutional lawyer, opposition spokesperson arrested repeatedly in Zimbabwe
Félix Maradiaga
Nicaraguan opposition leader and former political prisoner, targeted by the government on false criminal charges
Anastasia Shevchenko
First dissident convicted under Russia’s “undesirable organization” law, subject of Oscar-shortlisted film “Anastasia”
Kalbinur Sidik
Activist, victim of forced sterilization, witness of Chinese reeducation camp atrocities
Berta Valle
Nicaraguan journalist, wife of opposition leader and former political prisoner Félix Maradiaga
Peter Yang
Son of Guo Feixiong, imprisoned Chinese “barefoot lawyer” and civil rights activist
