Rosa Maria Paya – Daughter of Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, the victim of assassination by Cuban regime
- “Because of the dictatorship, the whole population has been forced into poverty and live without the most basic human rights.”
- “The regime’s intelligence apparatus and the powerful propaganda machine has contributed to the erosion of democracy in the region, especially in countries like Venezuela. “
- “The mission of Cuba at the Human Rights Council is to behave as the heckler, vetoing all the voices of freedom, vetoing all the expressions that are trying to get democratic changes”
Watch: Rosa Maria Paya’s Speech at Ottawa Press Conference
Marcus Kolga – Award-winning documentary filmmaker and activist for human rights in Russia
- “In the year since Vladimir Putin took office, countless political activists, whistleblowers and human rights activists have been detained, murdered or have died under mysterious circumstances. The total today is unknown.”
- “Civil society has been targeted with crypto-Soviet laws that allow the government to shut them down if they are deemed to be ‘foreign agents.’”
- “We must hold the Putin regime accountable by rejecting its participation on the UNHRC “
Watch: Marcus Kolga’s Speech at Ottawa Press Conference
Yang Jianli – Tiananmen Square activist and former Chinese political prisoner
- “By any sensible standard, voting to put China on the Human Rights Council would be like picking the fox to guard the hen house while he is still wiping the feathers off of his mouth from his last meal.”
Watch: Yang Jianli’s Speech at Ottawa Press Conference
