Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy

In the press

16 March 2011
SwissInfo.ch: “The fight should continue”

Despite the chaotic “work-in-progress” democracies emerging in Tunisia and Egypt after revolutions in both countries, activists remain upbeat.
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21 January 2011
Fox News: Political Prisoner in Cuba Being Abused, Rights Group Says

Said to be in his 40’s, Rodríguez Lobaina is one of Cuba’s most high profile dissidents. Last year he was invited by organizers of the Geneva Summit to be a speaker at their Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy.
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15 March 2010
La Tribune de Geneve: La Chronique De Guy Mettan Timor et Djibouti à la une

Le 2 e Sommet de Genève pour les droits de l'homme, la tolérance et la démocratie a également eu lieu la semaine dernière en marge du CDH. Réuni à l'initiative d'une vingtaine d'ONG, dont UN Watch, la Licra et Freedom House, il a donné la parole pendant deux jours à des dissidents, des anciens prisonniers politiques et diverses personnalités des cinq continents: Iran, Corée du Nord, Afghanistan, Chine, Cuba, Birmanie, Tibet, Soudan, Zimbabwe ont ainsi passé sur le gril.
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$Il Legno Storto: \"Il Summit di Ginevra per i Diritti umani\"$ 11 March 2010
Il Legno Storto: "Il Summit di Ginevra per i Diritti umani"

Oltre alle analisi dello studioso cinese, la sessione ha dato spazio alla toccante esperienza personale della monaca tibetana Phuntsok Nyidron, che dopo aver ringraziato la comunità internazionale per il supporto offerto alla sua causa, ha ripercorso i lunghi anni di detenzione nelle prigioni cinesi per avere partecipato a una manifestazione di protesta....
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In the press

$Office of Tibet News Online: \"Tibetans Participate In Human Rights Summit in Geneva\"$ 10 March 2010
Office of Tibet News Online: "Tibetans Participate In Human Rights Summit in Geneva"

The Second Geneva Summit on Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy is being organised jointly by over 25 human rights groups from across the globe...
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$L\'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): \"La conférence des ONG condamne la censure sur internet\"$ 10 March 2010
L'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): "La conférence des ONG condamne la censure sur internet"

Dans une Déclaration sur la liberté de l'Internet, adoptée mardi soir, les participants condamnent le Bélarus, la Birmanie, la Chine, Cuba, l'Egypte, l'Ethiopie, l'Iran, la Corée du Nord, l'Arabie saoudite, la Syrie, la Tunisie, le Turménistan, l'Ouzbékistan et le Vietnam...
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$Inter Press Service - Spanish: \"EEUU: INTERNET COMO HERRAMIENTA DE POLÍTICA EXTERIOR\"$ 10 March 2010
Inter Press Service - Spanish: "EEUU: INTERNET COMO HERRAMIENTA DE POLÍTICA EXTERIOR"

El cambio de política del Departamento del Tesoro fue un "gran paso", dijo el director de políticas de comunicación de Google, Bob Boorstin, en una conferencia de derechos humanos convocada por organizaciones de derechos humanos en Ginebra esta semana....
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$Agence France Presse: \"Le fiancé de l\'Iranienne Neda a repris son combat pour la démocratie\"$ 10 March 2010
Agence France Presse: "Le fiancé de l'Iranienne Neda a repris son combat pour la démocratie"

Neda Agha-Soltan a été tuée d'une balle à la poitrine le 20 juin 2009 lors d'une manifestation post-électorale à Téhéran. Publiées sur l'internet, les images de sa mort captées par téléphone portable, notamment son visage ensanglanté, avaient suscité l'indignation....
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In the press

$Le Temps: \"Le témoignage poignant du fiancé de Neda\"$ 09 March 2010
Le Temps: "Le témoignage poignant du fiancé de Neda"

De passage à Genève, Caspian Makan parle de celle qui est devenue l’égérie du mouvement vert, assassinée par les miliciens de la République islamique. Il raconte aussi sa fuite par les montagnes, sa nécessité d’exprimer sa douleur...
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$Intellectual Property Watch: \"Google, ITU Address Policies Of Global Internet Freedom\"$ 09 March 2010
Intellectual Property Watch: "Google, ITU Address Policies Of Global Internet Freedom"

Google's Bob Boorstin and Alexander Ntoko, head of corporate strategy at the ITU, spoke today at the 8-9 March Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy... The Geneva Summit today announced a “Declaration on Internet Freedom” which...
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$El Financiero: \"Activistas denuncian represión y torturas en Irán y Cuba\"$ 09 March 2010
El Financiero: "Activistas denuncian represión y torturas en Irán y Cuba"

La Segunda Cumbre sobre los Derechos Humanos, la Tolerancia y la Democracia se celebró hoy en esta ciudad con la denuncia de activistas sobre actos de represión y tortura en Irán y Cuba...
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$Spanish News Agency EFE: \"El novio de la joven iraní muerta ante las cámaras pide valentía para luchar contra régimen\"$ 09 March 2010
Spanish News Agency EFE: "El novio de la joven iraní muerta ante las cámaras pide valentía para luchar contra régimen"

El que fue prometido de la joven Neda Agha-Solta, muerta ante las cámaras durante las protestas antigubernamentales en Teherán, pidió hoy "valentía a los iraníes para plantarse y luchar contra el Gobierno" de Mahmud Ahmadineyad, y cambiar un régimen que "no respeta los derechos humanos"...
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In the press

$Radio Free Europe: \"Google Welcomes U.S. Easing Of Internet Export Rules For Iran, Others\"$ 09 March 2010
Radio Free Europe: "Google Welcomes U.S. Easing Of Internet Export Rules For Iran, Others"

Robert Boorstin, head of Google's communications division, told the forum that Google has sponsored conferences allowing activists to get together and talk about the latest methods authoritarian regimes are using to block access to the Internet -- as well as developments on how to circumvent information blockades. "It's not something that I really, frankly, want to talk about publicly -- for obvious reasons...
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$ANSA Notiziario Generale: \"GOOGLE: AZIENDA, CENSURA PEGGIORA NEL MONDO, CASO ITALIA\"$ 09 March 2010
ANSA Notiziario Generale: "GOOGLE: AZIENDA, CENSURA PEGGIORA NEL MONDO, CASO ITALIA"

"La censura su Internet sta peggiorando e diventando più sofisticata", ha detto Boorstin. "Più di 40 Paesi hanno fatto ricorso alla censura a un momento o un altro e Google è stata interrotta in 25 Paesi", ha affermato in un intervento nel corso del secondo Summit di Ginevra sui diritti umani, la tolleranza e la democrazia, promosso da organizzazioni non governative quali UnWatch e Freedom House...
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$ANSA Notiziario Generale: \"USA: GOOGLE, BENE A REVOCA EMBARGO WEB A IRAN, SUDAN\"$ 09 March 2010
ANSA Notiziario Generale: "USA: GOOGLE, BENE A REVOCA EMBARGO WEB A IRAN, SUDAN"

"E' un grande risultato" ha detto Robert Boorstin, direttore della comunicazione di Google nel corso di un dibattito internazionale a Ginevra su Internet, la censura ed i diritti umani. "Speriamo che aiuti attivisti di tutto il mondo. E' un piccolo passo su un lungo cammino da percorrere", ha affermato Boorstin....
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$ANSA English Media Service: \"WEB CENSORSHIP UP SAYS GOOGLE\"$ 09 March 2010
ANSA English Media Service: "WEB CENSORSHIP UP SAYS GOOGLE"

"More than 40 countries have resorted to censorship at one time or another and Google has been interrupted in 25 countries," he told the second annual Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, sponsored by non-governmental organisations like UN Watch and Freedom House. Boorstin stressed he did not "want to compare repressive regimes like Burma with Western democracies"...
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In the press

$Wall Street Journal: \"Friend and Faux on Human Rights; Iran bids to join the U.N.’s rights body\"$ 08 March 2010
Wall Street Journal: "Friend and Faux on Human Rights; Iran bids to join the U.N.’s rights body"

Some of the world’s most courageous champions of human rights will convene today, Monday, March 8, in Geneva, seat of the United Nations’s Human Rights Council. But don’t expect the Council itself to welcome these distinguished visitors. The Geneva Summit-organized by groups such as U.N. Watch and Freedom House, and chaired by Poland’s Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Havel-will bring together political dissidents from China, Iran and Burma, rights activists for the Tibetan and Uighur peoples, a survivor of the North Korean gulag, plus a former Sudanese slave named Simon Deng... In Geneva today, the real truth tellers will be [at the Geneva Summit]...
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$Radio Free Europe: \"Shadow Summit In Geneva Focusing On Neglected Rights Issues\"$ 08 March 2010
Radio Free Europe: "Shadow Summit In Geneva Focusing On Neglected Rights Issues"

Dissidents, diplomats, and NGO representatives from around the world have gathered in Geneva for a two-day summit aimed at giving voice to victims of the world’s worst human rights abuses...
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$L\'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): \"Rendez-vous des dissidents à Genève\"$ 08 March 2010
L'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): "Rendez-vous des dissidents à Genève"

Les dissidents de plusieurs pays ont témoigné lundi à Genève des pires violations des droits de l'homme. Réunis pendant deux jours à l'appel de 25 ONG, ils ont lancé un appel à la liberté sur Internet, en marge de la réunion du Conseil des droits de l'homme...
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$ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano: \"DIRITTI UMANI: \'SUMMIT\' DISSIDENTI A GINEVRA\"$ 08 March 2010
ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano: "DIRITTI UMANI: 'SUMMIT' DISSIDENTI A GINEVRA"

Il Summit ha dato oggi la parola a personaggi quali Rebya Kadeer, militante del popolo uighuro, Caspian Makan, attivista iraniano e fidanzato di Neda Agha Soltan, uccisa il 22 giugno 2009 mentre partecipava a Teheran alle manifestazioni di protesta successive alle elezioni presidenziali, Massouda Jalal, ex ministro afgano per le donne, o l'attivista birmano Bo Kyi....
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In the press

$Tribune de Geneve: \"ÉCHOSONUSIENS\"$ 08 March 2010
Tribune de Geneve: "ÉCHOSONUSIENS"

AU CICG Le 8 et 9 mars 2010, des dissidents de renommée internationale, des activistes des droits de l'homme et des experts se réunissent à Genève, pour appeler à agir contre les violations des droits de l'homme, pour soutenir les dissidents dans le monde et pour lancer un appel pour la liberté de l'internet.
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$L\'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): \"Un dissident cubain empêché de venir à Genève\"$ 05 March 2010
L'Agence télégraphique suisse (ATS): "Un dissident cubain empêché de venir à Genève"

L'évocation, devant le Conseil des Droits de l'homme, de Néstor Rodrìguez Lobaina, a causé la colère de la délégation cubaine, a-t-on appris vendredi. Ce dissident n'a pas pu quitter Cuba, alors qu'il devait assister lundi à une conférence d'ONG à Genève...
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$Television Suisse Romande: \"Entretien avec Caspian Makan, fiancé de Neda\" (video)$ 18 February 2010
Television Suisse Romande: "Entretien avec Caspian Makan, fiancé de Neda" (video)

On Monday March 15th, Interview by Darius Rochebin on Swiss TV (TSR) of Caspian Makan, fiancé of Neda Agha Soltan, killed on camera by a sniper's bullet on the streets of Tehran during a demonstration...
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$New York Times: \"Nelson Mandela’s Captive Audience: My Hero, Page by Page\"$ 07 February 2010
New York Times: "Nelson Mandela’s Captive Audience: My Hero, Page by Page"

New York Times op-ed by Geneva Summit co-organizer Ko Bo Kyi...
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Press releases

20 February 2012
Blogger Maikel Nabil, Just Released from Egyptian Prison, to Headline Geneva Rights Summit on March 13th, 2012

A student blogger just released from Egyptian prison, made famous by the global campaign that mobilized on his behalf, and other top-name dissidents from Syria, Burma, Iran and China are expected to be among the biggest newsmakers at the 4th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, on March 13, 2012.
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26 January 2012
Leading Dissidents to Headline Human Rights Issues at Global Summit on March 13th, 2012

Geneva Gathering Seen as Influential Complement to UN Human Rights Council Debate
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14 March 2011
World-Renowned Tiananmen Square Dissident to Address Tomorrow’s Geneva Rights Summit

Yang Jianli, the world-renowned Chinese dissident and survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, will join other former prisoners of conscience tomorrow for the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. Dr. Yang, who served a five-year jail term in China for his social activism, will speak about the situation of jailed writer Liu Xiaobo, whom he represented at the Oslo Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December.
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14 March 2011
Dissidents Gather for Geneva Rights Summit

500 Dissidents, Victims, Activists from 40 Countries will appeal for action. Follow Live Webcast & updates on Twitter, Blog, YouTube and Facebook
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Press releases

09 March 2011
Iran stoning case lawyer heading to next week’s Geneva rights summit

The Iranian lawyer of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the 43 year old mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning on charges of adultery, will join other prominent human rights defenders at the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, on March 15, 2011. Mohammad Mostafaei is credited with saving the lives of over 50 clients.
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04 March 2011
Libyan dissident Mohamed Eljahmi heading to Geneva

It was announced today that Mohamed Eljahmi, one of the world's most well-known Libyan dissidents, will join other prominent human rights defenders as a speaker at the third annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, on March 15, 2011.
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24 February 2011
Leading Ugandan LGBT activist to speak at Geneva Summit

Jacqueline Kasha, FARUG Coordinator and close associate of murdered activist David Kato, will discuss her fight for LGBT rights in Uganda
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14 February 2011
Dissidents, Ex-Political Prisoners Organizing Geneva Summit to Urge Help from UN Rights Council

Dissidents to propose draft resolutions on Egypt, China, Iran, Zimbabwe & other hotspots; summit organized by global coalition of 20 NGOs
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Press releases

$Media Advisory: \"Human Rights Summit Opens Today in Geneva; 800 Victims, Dissidents, Activists, Diplomats Participating From 67 Countries\"$ 08 March 2010
Media Advisory: "Human Rights Summit Opens Today in Geneva; 800 Victims, Dissidents, Activists, Diplomats Participating From 67 Countries"

Today and tomorrow, March 8-9, 2010, renowned dissidents, rights activists and experts will come together in Geneva, Switzerland, to urge action against rights abusers, boost democracy dissidents worldwide, and issue a call for internet freedom...
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$Press Release: \"Cuba Bars Dissident From Attending Geneva Rights Summmit; 30 NGOs Appeal for UN Intervention\"$ 04 March 2010
Press Release: "Cuba Bars Dissident From Attending Geneva Rights Summmit; 30 NGOs Appeal for UN Intervention"

Cuba created a stir at the UN Human Rights Council today when its envoy began banging his country name-plate on the table to interrupt a speech about a political prisoner, who is being blocked from going to a Geneva conference for dissidents this Monday...
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$Press Release: Fiancé of Neda, Iran\'s Slain ‘Angel of Freedom,’ Heading to Geneva Rights Summit$ 02 March 2010
Press Release: Fiancé of Neda, Iran's Slain ‘Angel of Freedom,’ Heading to Geneva Rights Summit

One day after Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the UN in Geneva that President Ahmadinejad's June election was "an exemplary exhibition of democracy and freedom," Caspian Makan, the fiancé of slain Iranian icon Neda Agha Soltan, announced today that he will join other world-famous dissidents as a speaker at next Monday's Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, co-organized by UN Watch, Freedom House, Ibuka and more than 20 other human rights NGOs....
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$Press Release: \"Google to address rights summit on Web freedom\"$ 25 February 2010
Press Release: "Google to address rights summit on Web freedom"

Google is sending one of its senior executives to address a March gathering of political dissidents for internet freedom, according to an announcement today by 25 activist groups organizing the 2nd Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy...
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Press releases

$Communique de Presse: \"Dissidents et anciens prisonniers politiques organisent le Sommet de Genève\"$ 17 February 2010
Communique de Presse: "Dissidents et anciens prisonniers politiques organisent le Sommet de Genève"

Le 8 et 9 Mars 2010, en parallèle et en soutien de la session annuelle du Conseil des Droits de l’Homme de l’ONU, des dissidents de renommée internationale, des activistes des droits de l’homme et des experts se réuniront à Genève, en Suisse, pour appeler à agir contre les violations des droits de l’homme, pour soutenir les dissidents dans le monde et pour lancer un appel pour la liberté de l’Internet...
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$Media Advisory: \"Dissidents, Ex-Political Prisoners Organizing Geneva Rights Summit\"$ 12 February 2010
Media Advisory: "Dissidents, Ex-Political Prisoners Organizing Geneva Rights Summit"

On March 8-9, 2010, to enhance the annual session of the UN Human Rights Council, renowned dissidents, rights activists and experts will come together in Geneva, Switzerland, to urge action against rights abusers, boost democracy dissidents worldwide, and issue a call for internet freedom. The second annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, to be held at the Geneva International Conference Center, is organized by a global civil society coalition of 25 human rights groups, including UN Watch, Ibuka, Freedom House, and Burmese, Tibetan and Zimbabwean organizations (see list below), with support from the Canton of Geneva...
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Media