Matteo Mecacci, Italian Member of the European Parliament, elected official of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, and former Chairperson of the Italian Parliamentary Intergroup for Tibet, addresses the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.
Full remarks
Italian MP, OSCE Rapporteur
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
Yang Jianli, leading Chinese dissident and pro-democracy activist, addresses the 3rd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks
Namkyi, exiled Tibetan activist and former political prisoner, addressed the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Prepared Remarks (Translated from Tibetan): May his Holiness, the Dalai Lama, live long. Let his Holiness the Dalai Lama return to Tibet. Freedom for Tibet. I
A panel including Chinese-Canadian dissident whose father, Wang Bingzhang, is a prisoner of conscience in China, Ti-Anna Wang; leading Chinese dissident and pro-democracy activist, Yang Jianli; Uyghur rights activist and Chairman of the ‘Norway Uyghur Committee,’ Bahtiyar Omer; Tibetan dissident and founder of ‘High Peaks Pure Earth,’ a website that
Huệ Như, Vietnamese pro-democracy and anti-corruption activist and former political prisoner, addressed the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18, 2026. Full Prepared Remarks: Hello everyone! I would like to invite you to listen to a story. This is not the story of a
Irwin Cotler, Founder and Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, former Member of Parliament, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and international human rights lawyer, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes
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
Frances Hui, first Hong Kong activist granted political asylum in the US and Director of ‘We the Hong Kongers’ organization, addresses the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks I want to start with a statement that you may find confusing or
Chito Gascon, Chair of the Human Rights Commission of the Philippines, addresses the 9th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the fragility of human rights and democracy: “The Philippine case is a case of how quickly institutions such as rule of law, human rights,
Cuban Psychologist and journalist, Guillermo Fariñas Hernández, who has endured 23 hunger strikes and 11 years in prison for his defiance of the Cuban regime, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On lack of democracy in Cuba:
Masih Alinejad, Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist, accepted the 2026 Courage Award on behalf of the heroes of Iran at the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026. Click here to view the presentation of the award by Alice Teodorescu Måwe. Full
Antonio Ledezma, Venezuelan opposition leader and political prisoner who escaped in November 2017, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being an opposition leader in Venezuela: “In January 2014 we took to the streets and a wrote
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russian opposition leader, author, historian, filmmaker, and survivor of two poisoning attempts and harsh imprisonment, presented the 2025 Defender of Freedom Award to Irwin Cotler at the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Prepared Remarks: Executive Director Neuer, Your Excellencies,
Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and student leaders Alex Chow and Lester Shum discuss human rights in China with Dr. Yang Jianli and address the 7th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks Yang Jianli: Let me begin by repeating what I have said
Golog Jigme, Tibetan monk and human rights activist jailed and tortured by China for making 2008 documentary “Leaving Fear Behind,” addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being tortured: “It isn’t possible to share all the torture
Yavuz Aydin, Turkish judge purged by President Erdogan now living in exile, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the coup events and subsequent purge: “Even before this coup attempt was done, the High Council met
Survivor and activist fighting to end Female Genital Mutilation, Marie-Claire Kakpotia, addresses the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks I am very honored to speak here today and I want to thank the Geneva Summit for giving me the opportunity to break the
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
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
Kacem El Ghazzali, Moroccan human rights activist and intellectual, author of ‘Bahmut’, one of the most controversial blogs in the Arab world, adresses the 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks GS13 – The Silencing of Critical Voices in
Blessed Mhlanga, Zimbabwean journalist and former political prisoner, addressed the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18, 2026. Full Prepared Remarks: Last year, I spent 73 days in pre-trial detention for another man’s speech at a press conference I did not even attend. This
Ugandan LGBT activist and founder and director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, Kasha Jacqueline, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On being openly gay in Uganda: “Our struggle needs a face because we want people to know
Full Transcript Jared Genser: Thank you so much to all three of you for bringing to life the struggles that each of you are undertaking in your own countries, to restore democracy and achieve fundamental human rights for your families, for your country, and for your people. I’m going to
Nobel-nominated Uyghur activist and sister to imprisoned Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, Rushan Abbas, addresses the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On becoming an activist: “I am speaking today out of necessity. I’m a mother who had a fulfilling life
Javier El-Hage, chief legal officer of the Human Rights Foundation, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On learning the importance of liberty: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots