Geneva, Feb.21 (DPnet).– The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy held this week at the Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG) spotlighted human rights abuses in Iran, Tibet, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Cuba, Indonesia, Russia, China, and other countries where human rights are violated as part of the state policies. This is only a summary of some of the proceedings:
IRAN: The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on Tuesday featured two sessions on Iran highlighting the repression of protesters and the struggle for democracy, including a speech by Iran's exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi titled The Struggle for Freedom in Iran. Another panel highlighted the Islamic Republic’s repression of protesters during the nationwide Woman Life Freedom protests sparked by the death in morality police custody of Mahsa Amini.
TIBET: The opening address was delivered by Garry Kasparov, Vice President of the World Liberty Congress, pro-democracy leader, author, and former world chess champion. Former Tibetan political prisoner Namkyi shared her harrowing experiences of persecution by Chinese authorities. Before delivering her speech, a short video clip of her 2015 protest was shown, providing a compelling visual account of her activism and the severe consequences she faced.
HONG KONG: As pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai spoke in his defense at a Hong Kong court on the Geneva Summit opening day, his son Sebastien Lai was in Geneva urging global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to take urgent action, as his father faces his fourth year of solitary confinement, to help secure this father's release. He defended an opinion piece published in 2019 in the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper that he founded, in which he suggested that pro-democracy protesters establish a leadership structure to weed out those who wished to engage in violence during protests that year.
AFGHANISTAN: At the Geneva Summit, the 2025 International Women’s Rights Award was presented to Massouda Jalal and Husna Jalal, two Afghan political activists. Massouda Jalal emphasized that leaving Afghanistan does not mean surrendering. She added that she remains committed to advocating for women’s rights despite being in exile and will continue their fight to defend women and girls.
CUBA: On February 19, Osiris José Puerto Terry accused the Cuban regime of shooting him three times in the back during a peaceful demonstration. "I was bleeding a lot from my back, with a pain as if I was burning." When a neighbor tried to rescue him and take him to the hospital, the police repeatedly beat him, worsening his condition. "I am not a politician, I am not an activist, I am just an ice cream vendor and sportsman from Havana, and yet every aspect of my life has been poisoned by Cuban politics and its corrupt regime. Cuban politics ruined my life. They destroyed my family, drove my mother to suicide, and ended my career as a professional sportsman," he added.
Many other speakers also testified about the systematic abuses and violations committed in their respective countries.