Bobi Wine, presidential candidate in Uganda’s January 2026 elections, addressed the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18, 2026.
Victor Navarro
Exiled Venezuelan human rights activist and former political prisoner
Speakers and Participants
Ali Ehsassi
Member of Canadian Parliament, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee
Veronica Tsepkalo
Exiled Belarusian opposition figure and chair of the Belarus Women’s Foundation
Kylie Moore-Gilbert
British-Australian academic, formerly held as a diplomatic hostage in Iran
Toribia Lero Quispe
Bolivian indigenous leader from the Sura Nation, member of the Bolivian Legislative Assembly
Yunior García Aguilera
Cuban playwright and democracy activist
Alireza Akhondi
Swedish MP campaigning for the EU to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity
Dr. Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg
Mayor of Frankfurt, former political prisoner in Iran
Genoveva Tisheva
Vice Chair, U.N Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Job Sikhala
Zimbabwean opposition leader held for 595 days in pre-trial detention
Related
Political Prisoners
Abducted, Tortured, and Sentenced to Death in Iran
Gazelle Sharmahd, Iranian human rights activist and daughter of imprisoned journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, addressed the 16th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on May 15th 2024. Full remarks: My name is Gazelle Sharmahd and I wish I could be there with you today in person, but unfortunately we
Women's Rights
2019 International Women’s Rights Award
Nimco Ali, British-Somali feminist and social rights activist who co-founded and directs Daughters of Eve, a survivor-led organization focused on ending female genital mutilation (FGM), addresses the 11th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy after receiving the Summit’s International Women’s Rights Award – see quotes below, followed by
Just Released from Egyptian Prison
Maikel Nabil, Egyptian blogger and political activist, addresses the 4th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – see below for full prepared remarks. Full remarks Tom Gross: We have with us in this session, two very brave human rights and democracy activists, one from Egypt and the other
Tibet
Empty Chair: Kidnapped at Age Six, the Story of the 11th Panchen Lama
Kiran Tirado, a student at Institut Florimont in Geneva, presented the empty chair for the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, at the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026. Full Remarks: My name is Kiran Tirado, and I am a student at Institut