Rights Groups Spotlight Abuses In Oil Rich Regimes As West Seeks New Energy Sources

GENEVA, March 9, 2022 — A coalition of 25 human rights NGOs announced today that dissidents from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela will deliver keynote remarks at the 14th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. The move comes as Western countries seek to replace Russian energy with resources from the repressive regimes.

Areej al-Sadhan, sister to Saudi aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who disappeared after the state hacked his satirical Twitter account, and Miguel Henrique Otero, owner of the embattled Venezuelan daily El Nacional, will address the event on April 6, 2022.

They will be joined by 15 other champions of human rights from around the world, who will tell compelling personal stories of arrest and imprisonment by the globe’s most brutal regimes before an audience of diplomats, journalists and activists.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro released two American prisoners on Tuesday in an apparent goodwill gesture after weekend talks with US officials aiming to avoid an energy supply gap. Reports emerged yesterday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had refused a call with President Biden to discuss surging energy prices.

Co-sponsored by 25 rights groups including Liberal International and Human Rights Foundation, the Geneva Summit will take place at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland.

Click here to register for the event. Participation is free, but registration is mandatory.

For media inquiries, please contact Pat Rose at media@genevasummit.org.

The Geneva Summit’s 2022 line-up includes:

GENEVA, March 9, 2022 — A coalition of 25 human rights NGOs announced today that dissidents from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela will deliver keynote remarks at the 14th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. The move comes as Western countries seek to replace Russian energy with resources from the repressive regimes.

Areej al-Sadhan, sister to Saudi aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who disappeared after the state hacked his satirical Twitter account, and Miguel Henrique Otero, owner of the embattled Venezuelan daily El Nacional, will address the event on April 6, 2022.

They will be joined by 15 other champions of human rights from around the world, who will tell compelling personal stories of arrest and imprisonment by the globe’s most brutal regimes before an audience of diplomats, journalists and activists.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro released two American prisoners on Tuesday in an apparent goodwill gesture after weekend talks with US officials aiming to avoid an energy supply gap. Reports emerged yesterday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had refused a call with President Biden to discuss surging energy prices.

Co-sponsored by 25 rights groups including Liberal International and Human Rights Foundation, the Geneva Summit will take place at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland.

Click here to register for the event. Participation is free, but registration is mandatory.

For media inquiries, please contact Pat Rose at media@genevasummit.org.

The Geneva Summit’s 2022 line-up includes:

Areej al-Sadhan, Sister of Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, a humanitarian aid worker who was kidnapped in Riyadh by Saudi authorities during a mass crackdown on human right activists in 2018 for posting satirical tweets about the regime.

Miguel Henrique Otero, Owner and CEO of El Nacional, Venezuela’s last remaining independent media outlet whose headquarters were seized in February, forced into exile for speaking out against the Maduro regime.

Minh-Hoang Pham, Vietnamese math professor who wrote a blog critical of the regime and taught activism to his students at Ho Chi Minh City University, jailed and then deported to France.

Enes Kanter Freedom, Turkish NBA player and activist currently risking his career to speak out against China’s persecution of the Uyghurs, and winner of the Geneva Summit 2022 Courage Award.

For media inquiries, please contact Pat Rose at media@genevasummit.org.

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