The 12th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy – February 18, 2020
PROGRAM
9:30 WELCOME
- Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of United Nations Watch, on behalf of the 25 NGO co-sponsors of the Geneva Summit.
9:40 CONFRONTING OPPRESSION, DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS
Moderator: Melissa Mahtani, Senior producer and reporter, CNN
- Peter Bhatti, Brother of Pakistani minister assassinated for defending victim of blasphemy law.
- Lyubov Sobol, Russian lawyer, anti-corruption activist & social media influencer
- Kaveh Shahrooz, Lawyer, human rights activist, Senior Fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
- Nury Turkel, Attorney & co-founder of Uyghur Human Rights Project. (By Video)
11:00 QATAR’S WORLD CUP SLAVES
- Pete Pattisson, International labor rights photojournalist.
11:15 FIGHTING AUTHORITARIANISM
Moderator: Phil Bennion, Vice-Chair, Liberal International Human Rights Committee, former Member of the European Parliament.
- Laritza Diversent, Cuban human rights lawyer & executive director of Cubalex, a legal aid organization for Cuban citizens.
- Rebecca Kabuo, Pro-democracy activist in Democratic Republic of Congo, was one of the youngest prisoners of conscience in the world.
- Yavuz Aydin, Turkish judge purged by President Erdogan, now in exile.
12:00 TRAILBLAZER: JAILED FOR SHOWING HER HAIR
Presented by: Dr. Stephanie Krisper, Member of the Austrian Parliament, human rights expert
- Shaparak Shajarizadeh, Iranian women’s rights activist arrested and jailed for removing her headscarf, named by BBC as one of Top 100 inspiring and influential women around the world.
Interviewed by: Melissa Mahtani, Senior producer and reporter, CNN
————– 12:30 Lunch —————-
14:00 ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE
- Memory Banda, Leads Malawi’s fight to end child marriage through her work with Let Girls Lead and the Girl Empowerment Network of Malawi.
14:15 SUPPORTING POLITICAL PRISONERS
Moderator: Prof. Irwin Cotler, Chair of Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, former Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada.
- Dennis Chau, Son of Vietnamese political prisoner Van Kham Chau.
- Jewher Ilham, Daughter of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, political prisoner in China.
- Dr. Elham Manea, Middle East scholar at the University of Zurich, writer, advocate for Saudi political prisoner Raif Badawi.
15:30 THE HONG KONG PROTESTS: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
- Denise Ho, Hong Kong pop singer and human rights activist. (By Video)
15:45 REFLECTIONS ON 75th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UN CHARTER
- Alfred H. Moses, Chair of United Nations Watch, former U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Special Presidential Envoy for the Cyprus Conflict, Special Counsel to President Jimmy Carter.
16:00 VENEZUELA: DOES MADURO BELONG ON THE UNHRC?
- María-Alejandra Aristeguieta Álvarez, Ambassador-designate in Switzerland of Venezuela interim President Juan Guaido.
- Rosa Orozco, Mother of victim Geraldin Moreno who was killed by the dictatorship. Director of Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness.
- Diego Arria, Advocate for Venezuelan human rights, former Ambassador to UN & President of Security Council.
16:15 THE ABOLITIONIST THAT WON’T BE SILENCED
Presented by: Brandon Silver, Directory of Policy and Projects, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
- Biram Dah Abeid, Leader of the fight against slavery in Mauritania.
16:30 CONCLUDING REMARKS: TAKING ACTION
- Prof. Irwin Cotler, Chair of Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, former Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada.
16:45 END OF SUMMIT
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