Jared Genser, international human rights lawyer, and Paula Schriefer, former Vice President for Global Programs at Freedom House, lead a human rights skills-building workshop at the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks.
Full remarks
International human rights lawyer
Advocacy Director, Freedom House
Taha Bawa, co-founder of Goodwall, the humanitarian and environmental social network that encourages people to actively contribute to society and seek to inspire others, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks My name is Taha, and I’m here
International lawyer, diplomat and Executive Director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer delivers opening remarks at the 3rd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Good morning. My name is Hillel Neuer. I’m the executive director of UN Watch. On behalf of our organization, the
Jihyun Park, two-time North Korean escapee and human rights activist who survived a North Korean forced labor camp, addresses the 13th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On life in North Korea: “North Koreans are stripped of their individuality
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 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026.
Osiris Puerto Terry, a victim of brutality by the Cuban regime who was shot twice at the 11J protests, addressed the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks (Translated from Spanish): I am not a politician. I am not an activist. I
Irwin Cotler, international human rights lawyer for political prisoners, legal scholar, and former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, received the 2025 Defender of Freedom Award at the 17th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2025. Full Remarks: May I begin by saying how moved
Abidine Merzough, Mauritanian activist and European Coordinator of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, addresses the 5th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Abidine Merzough: Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to be able to inform
Annick Cojean, special correspondent at Le Monde and the author of the internationally acclaimed Gaddafi’s Harem, addresses the 6th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full Remarks Annik Cojean: Thank you, I’m sorry, I think I would speak in French, if you don’t mind. I can
Turkish journalist dropped from CNN Türk after she criticized President Erdoğan, Nevşin Mengü interviewed by journalist and former CNN producer Melissa Mahtani at the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for the interview. Interview: Melissa Mahtani We have heard some incredibly powerful testimony from our last
International lawyer, writer and Executive Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer gives the opening address at the 10th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Full Remarks Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Hillel Neuer. I am the executive director of United Nations Watch. On behalf of the 25
Full Transcript Moderator: Good morning. My name is Luke de Pulford. Friends, we have 45 minutes together and we need to use every moment of that time because as I speak to you from this podium the People’s Republic of China is perpetrating atrocities on a scale not seen since
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
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
Alexander Ntoko, Chief of the Operations and Planning Department at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), addresses the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Alexander Ntoko: Good morning everybody. I am usually not used to reading declarations but I
A panel including Associated Press reporter at the United Nations in Geneva, Frank Jordans; former Director of Communications in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Edward Mortimer; and International lawyer, diplomat, and Executive Director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, address the 2nd Annual Geneva Summit for
Human rights activist, wife of jailed Russian prisoner of conscience and opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, Evgenia Kara-Murza, addresses the 15th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for her remarks. Full Remarks Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, I am deeply honoured and deeply humbled to be standing on this
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
Sophia Aram, French comedian and actress, presents the International Women’s Rights Award at the 18th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy to Marzieh Hamidi, Afghan-Iranian taekwondo athlete and advocate for women’s rights in Afghanistan. Full Prepared Remarks: Excellencies, human rights defenders, distinguished guests, It is an honor
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.
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of imprisoned British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was arrested in Iran almost three years ago while on holiday with her infant daughter, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the arrest and
Michael Levitt, Canadian MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On the need for advocacy: “Unfortunately, we are seeing a resurgence of gross human rights violations around the word…And the
Chloe Cheung, the youngest Hong Kong dissident on Beijing’s “Wanted Persons” list and Manager of Public Affairs and Advocacy at the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, addressed the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18, 2026. Full Prepared Remarks: You hear chanting.
Rosa Orozco, mother of student Geraldine Moreno killed by the Venezuelan National Guard while protesting against the government in February 2014, addresses the 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy — see quotes below, followed by the full prepared remarks. On her daughter being shot and killed by
Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a Turkish human rights lawyer and journalist, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On press freedom in Turkey: “Then they started to sue journalists who said that Erdogan is a dicator, or Erdogan
Rosa Maria Paya, one of Cuba’s leading human rights and democracy activists and the daughter of the late Oswaldo Paya, addresses the 8th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see quotes below, followed by full prepared remarks. On dictatorship in Cuba: “Let me tell you that as a