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
Darya Safai, Iranian women’s rights campaigner and founder of Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On growing up in Iran: “I grew up in the religious dictatorship of the Islamic Republic
Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, human rights lawyer who represents prominent Venezuelan opposition leaders and political prisoners including Leopoldo López and Juan Guaido, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On arrest and imprisonment of Dr. Eduardo Cardet: “Dr. Cardet
Member of Grand Conseil of the Canton of Geneva, Joelle Fiss, presents the International Women’s Rights Award at the 16th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy to Fatou Baldeh, a Gambian women’s rights activist and survivor fighting to end Female Genital Mutilation.
Van Trang Nguyen, Vietnamese democracy activist and survivor of regime attacks and transnational repression, addressed the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: Hello everyone, Hello to all who fight for freedom and human rights! My name is Nguyen Van Trang, a
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
Maryam Malekpour, sister of Saeed Malekpour, Iranian developer serving life sentence in Evin prison on spurious charges, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On Iran’s abduction and imprisonment of Saeed Malekpour: “Our nightmare began on October
A panel including Member of the French National Assembly outspoken for victims of repression in Iran, Hadrien Ghomi; Mayor of Frankfurt and former political prisoner in Iran, Dr. Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg; Member of the Swedish Parliament and leading campaigner for the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity, Alireza
Pakistani journalist and social media activist, Taha Siddiqui, who narrowly escaped a recent abduction attempt, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On attacks on journalists in Pakistan: “To a visitor, it may seem that the media in
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
Co-Founder of the Cuban dissident San Isidro Movement and recently released political prisoner, Hamlet Lavastida, speaks at the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On speaking out: “I agreed that I’d stay silent, that I wouldn’t talk about the
Blind Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng recieves the 2014 Geneva Summit Courage Award and addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks Hillel Neuer: As I said when we opened today’s summit, all of our speakers today
Dicki Chhoyang, Minister for Development and International Relations for the Central Tibetan Administration, addresses the 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Dicki Chhoyang: Thank you for the very nice introduction. I want to start speaking about
Hillel Neuer, international lawyer, diplomat, activist and Executive Director of UN Watch, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the dream of the founders of the UN Commission on Human Rights: “Seventy years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt
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
Journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari, who was jailed and tortured by Iran, addresses the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the recent protests in Iran: “The most surprising aspect of these protests was not the fact that people
Astrid Thors, a former OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities and Finnish MP, addresses the 9th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. Presenting the 2017 Moral Courage Award to former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed: “Mister President, your work shows how
Former Minister of Women’s Affairs and the first woman to run for president Massouda Jalal, and her activist daughter, Husna Jalal, will be awarded the International Women’s Rights Award on behalf of all Afghan women’s rights activists at the 17th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy to Afghanistan’s
Vietnamese scholar and former political prisoner imprisoned for his dissident blogging, Minh-Hoang Pham, addresses the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On repression in Vietnam: “Many people imagine Vietnam as a tourist paradise, a place above is the sun
José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, Cuban human rights activist, who was expelled from the University of the Orient in 1993 after founding the first human rights organization in the Eastern region of the island, and was arrested and tortured in the 1990s, addresses the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights
Forcibly displaced Ukrainian civil society leader and Chair of the NGO Opora, Olga Aivazovska, speaks at the 14th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “There is nothing special about me, my only superpower is that I’m Ukrainian.”
Human rights activist Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, founder of Persian2English.com, a website documenting Iranian human rights violations and co-founder of Oslo Women’s Rights Initiative, prepares to address the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the recent protests in Iran:
Professor Irwin Cotler, Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, addresses the 13th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On rising authoritarianism: “We are witnessing…a global political
A panel including scholar and practitioner of international religious liberty law, Angela Wu; Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs for The Heritage Foundation, Brett Schaefer; expert on US constitutional law and freedom of speech, Floyd Abrams; director, teacher, columnist, and the co-founder of the journal ProChoix who has previously
Pete Pattisson, award-winning investigative journalist who reports on labor exploitation and modern forms of slavery around the world, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On exploitation of migrants in Qatar: “My reporting began in the summer
Potkin Azarmehr, Iranian activist and blogger who left Iran for the UK after the revolution of 1979, since becoming a key activist resisting religious extremism and political intolerance in Iran, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. Quotes: To Be