2nd annual session of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy

The Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America joined a coalition of human rights NGOs from around the world to organize the 2nd annual session of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy.

The Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America joined a coalition of human rights NGOs from around the world to organize the 2nd annual session of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy. This unique meeting of wellknown human rights activists and experts will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on March 8-9, 2010, strategically timed to coincide with the main annual session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.  The summit will have testimonies of victims, it will expose urgent human rights situations and will call for government to guarantee the free access to internet for democracy and human rights activists. After the success of 2009 summit, that had the presence of victims of prosecution in Cuba and Venezuela, CADAL is proud to contribute in this second session. Within the frame of work of International Promotion of Human Rights, CADAL considers that no government should be exempt of evaluation and condemnation for its violatons to universal rights. The way Latin American governments express on this subject, including at places like the UN Human Rights Council, is of particular interest.

The program will feature plenary sessions, workshops and training sessions. A large portion of the program is dedicated to presentations—personal and compelling testimony—from victims of the world’s worst abusers. A detailed program will be published shortly.

1. Conference Themes

Themes of the conference will include:

• Internet Freedom
• Democracy and Authoritarianism
• Women’s Rights
• Freedom in the World
• The Universality of Human Rights and its Opponents
  
• Freedom of Speech
• Reform of the Human Rights Council
• Human Rights Case Studies: Victim Testimony from Darfur, China, and Iran.

2. Plenary Presentations

Invited speakers include:

• Bo Kyi, Burmese dissident, winner of 2008 Human Rights Defender Award of Human Rights Watch
• Dong-hyuk Shin, North Korean dissident who escaped a North Korean concentration camps
• Jan Pronk, former United Nations Secretary-Genral Special Representative in Sudan
• Yoani Sanchez, Cuban blogger
• Yang Jianli, former Chinese prisoner
• Phuntsok Nyidron, Buddhist nun, longest-serving Tibetan political prisoner, jailed for recording songs of freedom
  
• Rebiya Kadeer, Uighur activist, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
• Matteo Mecacci, Italian MP, OSCE Rapporteur on Human Rights and Democracy
• Massouda Jalal, former Afghan Minister of Women Affairs, first female presidential candidate
• and more...

 

3. Skills-building workshops

Experts will be invited to share their knowledge and expertise on a variety of topics: how to build a powerful media campaign; how to use new technology and new media in the struggle for freedom; and how to use the UN Human Rights Council mechanisms for advocacy, including an on-site visit to the Council session guided by insiders.

Register at: http://genevasummit.org/registration/new

NGO Coalition: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma, Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina (CADAL), Darfur Peace and Development Center, Directorio Democratico Cubano, Fondation Genereuse Development, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Genocide Watch, Global Zimbabwe Forum, Human Rights Activists in Iran, Human Rights Without Frontiers Int’l, IBUKA, Ingénieurs du monde, Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children,  International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY), the International Campaign to End Genocide, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Ligue International Contre le Racisme, LiNK,  Respect Institut, Stop Child Executions, Tibetan Women's Association, UN Watch, Zimbabwe Advocacy Office.