2024 Welcome with Hillel Neuer

 

International lawyer, diplomat and Executive Director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer delivers opening remarks at the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy

Speakers and Participants

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Authoritarianism

Presentation of Geneva Summit 2016 Courage Award with Javier El-Hage

Javier El-Hage, chief legal officer for the Human Rights Foundation, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On Venezuelan authoritarianism: “Venezuela is not just a regular authoritarian government.” “Venezuela happens to be the most active of the authoritarian

Political Prisoners

Snatched off the Street in Vietnam with Dennis Chau

Dennis Chau, son of Vietnamese political prisoner Van Kham Chau who was detained in January 2019 while visiting the country from Australia and given a 12-year prison sentence, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On learning

Human Rights

Do Human Rights Matter? with Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses, UN Watch Chair and a former special advisor to President Carter, addresses the 9th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the legacy of the fall of the Berlin Wall: “After the Berlin Wall came down, and

Opening Speech with Markus Löning

Markus Löning, Chair of the Human Rights Committee at Liberal International, addresses the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks Hillel Neuer: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Hillel Neuer, I am the Executive Director of UN Watch, and it is

Victim Testimonies with Jacques Beres

Jacques Beres, a war surgeon who smuggled himself into Homs in 2012 to help the Syrian people, addresses the 4th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks   Saba Farzan: Hello. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Because we are the last panel

Democracy

2025 Welcome with Hillel Neuer

Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, on behalf of 30 co-sponsoring NGOs, delivered the welcome address at the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the 17th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and

Human Rights

Call to Action: Carrying the Torch of Human Rights Forward with Brandon Silver

Brandon Silver, international human rights lawyer, 2024 Magnitsky Award laureate, and the Director of Policy & Projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, addressed the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: Congratulations President-elect Edmundo González and leader María Corina

Artivism

Art for Human Rights with El Sexto, Danilo “El Sexto” Maldonado

Danilo “El Sexto” Maldonado, a Cuban artist and human rights activist, addresses the 9th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On persecution in Cuba: “I have been a victim of many arbitrary detentions, searches, confiscations of my art material

Tibet

Presentation of Geneva Summit 2019 Courage Award with Dhondup Wangchen

“I realized the true meaning of freedom and how freedom is more important than one’s life.” On abuse of Tibetans: “Without the support I received from the international community, I would be long dead.” “The moment the Tibetan person is labelled — that is just a dead body.” “When I

Introduction for Professor Irwin Cotler with Brandon Silver

Brandon Silver, Director of Policy and Projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. Introducing Professor Irwin Cotler: “Professor Cotler has not only served as an academic and theoretician on

Yazidi Genocide

Presentation of Geneva Summit 2016 Women’s Rights Award with Anne Brasseur

Anne Brasseur, former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, awards Vian Dakhil and Dr. Jan Ilhan Kizilhan the Geneva Summit Women’s Rights Award at the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the threat of

Press Freedom

The Pen and the Sword with Asli Erdoğan

Asli Erdoğan, renowned Turkish novelist imprisoned for more than four months following the summer 2016 coup attempt, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On repression in Turkey before and after the coup: “I still have burn marks

War Crimes

Sudan’s Ongoing Nightmare: Preventing Further Atrocities with Niemat Ahmadi

Niemat Ahmadi, survivor of the Darfur Genocide, Sudanese women’s rights defender, and founder and president of Darfur Women Action Group, addressed the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: Good Afternoon, everyone, I am standing before you today, feeling incredibly dismayed that,

Tibet

Free Tibet with Chemi Lhamo

Tibetan-Canadian human rights activist and community organizer, Chemi Lhamo, addresses the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks: Home.  Where is home for one that has never seen their own beautiful country, and in my case: Bhoe. Tibet.  Tashi delek

Press Freedom

Covering An Uprising with Moayad Iskafe

  Moayad Iskafe, a Syrian journalist who played a central role at the start of the Syrian uprising by organizing a network of local journalists to break Assad’s media siege, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full Remarks  

Welcome with Hillel Neuer

International lawyer, diplomat and Executive Director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer delivers opening remarks at the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. Introducing the Geneva Summit: “It is my honor to open the 2022 edition of our annual world assembly of human rights

The Right Against Arbitrary Arrest with Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia

Luis Enrique Ferrer Garcia, a Cuban dissident who received a 28-year prison sentence in the Black Spring crackdown of 2003 and was later exiled along with his family, addresses the 3rd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full remarks    

The Human Rights Situation in Sudan with John Dau

John Dau, Sudanese activist and one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” addresses the 3rd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Thank you very much Kristen for your nice introduction. I appreciate it. By the way, this is my first time

Democracy

The Tragedy of Zimbabwe with Fadzayi Mahere

Constitutional lawyer and opposition spokesperson arrested repeatedly in Zimbabwe, Fadzayi Mahere, speaks at the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks Two years ago, I woke up in an overcrowded jail cell in Zimbabwe’s Maximum Security Prison. No water. No toilet. No underwear.

War Crimes

Surviving the Siege of Aleppo with Waad Al-Kateab

Waad Al-Kateab, Syrian refugee, activist and award-winning filmmaker, addresses the 13th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On eruption of 2011 Arab Spring in Syria: “The idea that people would fight back was something I’d always dreamed of, but

Human Rights

Virtual: Human Rights in Saudi Arabia with Ali Al Ahmed

Ali Al Ahmed, formerly Saudi Arabia’s youngest political prisoner, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.   Full Remarks   Thank you so much for having me. My name is Ali Al Ahmed, I’m calling you from Washington DC. I wanted