Issue 527
20 NGOs Led by UN Watch to Bestow 2015 Courage Award Upon Saudi Blogger at Tuesday’s Geneva Rights Summit
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GENEVA, February 18 – A coalition of 20 human rights groups announced today that Saudi blogger and rights activist Raif Badawi — sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for “insulting Islam” by creating a website for Saudi liberals — has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Geneva Summit Courage Award. Last year’s prize went to blind Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng.
“I am very happy to hear this,” said Ensaf Haidar, Badawi’s wife, now living in Canada, who will be accepting the award by video when it is presented next week in a ceremony before UN delegates, human rights activists and journalists, on Tuesday, February 24th, 2015, at the 7thannual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.
The NGO coalition is honoring Badawi “for inspiring the world with his extraordinary courage in the defense of liberty and universal human rights.”
“As co-hosts of the Geneva Summit, Liberal International is pleased to join forces with UN Watch and 18 other NGOs, to continue to fight for Raif Badawi’s liberation,” said Markus Loening, chair of Liberal International’s Human Rights Committee, and former human rights commissioner of the German government. Read More
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On eve of UN rights session, dissidents to spotlight urgent human rights situations and call for action
GENEVA, Feb. 18 – World-famous human rights dissidents, activists, and victims will gather for the 7th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy next week on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. To register now, or watch live webcast, visit unwatch.org.
The event is organized by UN Watch as part of a global coalition of 20 human rights NGOs, and will take place days before the UN Human Rights Council opens its annual session.
The Geneva Summit aims to shine a spotlight on urgent human rights situations that require the Council’s attention.
Featured speakers include:
· Alex Chow & Lester Shum, Student leaders of the Hong Kong protest movement
· Saa, Nigerian schoolgirl who escaped from Boko Haram
· 
Pierre Torres, French Journalist held hostage by ISIS for 10 months
· Yavuz Baydar, Turkish journalist
· Maria Baronova, Russian human rights activist
· Tamara Suju, Venezuelan human rights lawyer
· Yeon-Mi Park, 21-year-old North Korean defector
· Ashiq Masih, Husband of Asia Bibi, Christian mother of five on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy
· Masih Alinejad, Freelance journalist who empowers women in Iran with her “My Stealthy Freedom” Facebook page
· Dicki Chhoyang, a senior figure in the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan government-in-exile
· Il Lim, North Korean defector and former slave laborer
· Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader
· Juan Francisco Sigler Amaya and Manuel Cuesta Morua, Dissidents in Havana
· Yang Jianli, Former Chinese political prisoner, survivor of Tiananmen Square massacre, president of Initiatives for China
· Ladan Boroumand, Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, member of Steering Committee of World Movement for Democracy
Now in its seventh year, the Geneva Summit enjoys widespread coverage by major news agencies.
Videos of past speaker testimonies are available here. Admission to this year’s February 24, 2015 summit is free to the public and media, but registration is mandatory. For registration, program and schedule information, visit www.genevasummit.org.
