AF:The New Democracy Fund & Henning Okholm
PHOTO: ROYAL PRESS ZHONG MIN PENG©
International Human Rights Conference – live from the Danish Parliament
The New Democracy Fund and The Andrei Sakharov Center for Democratic Development share the honor of hosting the 11th Sakharov Conference – Copenhagen on the December 10, 2021.
The conference is an international event that marks the UN International Day of Human Rights and the centenary of Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989), human rights champion and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The conference has two focus areas – “The psychological consequences of state repression” and “Censorship and freedom of speech”. These two important issues will be presented and discussed through speeches and panel discussions with selected key-note speakers, including Joachim Gauck, Former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Jeppe Kofod, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and a number of international representatives from expert NGOs and CSOs within the field of Human Rights.
The purpose of the conference is to strengthen awareness of the importance of human rights with a special focus on current challenges in Europe, Russia, and the Eastern Neighbourhood Countries (ENC) Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, and Belarus. Current trends and developments in these regions prove in multiple ways that a global dialogue and effort to promote and protect human rights are as important as ever.
The conference will commemorate Andrei Sakharov and his unique contribution to the universal cause of human rights. To this day, he is remembered as a scientist, humanist, public figure, human rights champion, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Sakharov openly criticized the Soviet totalitarian system, the threat it presented to international stability, and its systematic gross violations of human rights. Sakharov paid a high price for his stand. He also offered ways to solve the problems the world faces today. The Sakharov Doctrine of the indivisibility of international security, world peace, and human rights, is as relevant as ever.
Practical
The conference takes place in The Danish Parliament on December 10, 2021, at 9:30 – 16:30 (CET) and is hosted by Danish parliamentarians Mogens Jensen of the Social Democratic Party, and by Bertel Haarder of the Liberal Party of Denmark, emphasizing that true democratic dialogue transcends party lines and divisions.
You can attend the event online.
The conference will be livestreamed on Vimeo and Facebook – free for everyone.
Key note speakers
Joachim Gauck is a German politician and civil rights activist. He became known as a pro-democracy civil rights activist in East Germany. Gauck was the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records after the fall of the Berlin Wall and served as president of Germany from 2012-2017. Gauck has received numerous honours, including the 1997 Hannah Arendt Prize.
Tatiana Yankelevich is an independent researcher affiliated with the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. She is the stepdaughter of human rights champion Andrei Sakharov and daughter of human rights activist Yelena Bonner. In 1977 she immigrated to USA from Russia because of pressure on her stepfather to stop their human rights work.
Speakers (in alphabetical order)
Alexey Kozliuk is a Belarusian human rights activist, researcher, and lawyer. He is co-founder of the human rights organisation “Human Constanta” in Belarus. Among other things the organisation helps citizens protect their rights. His research focuses on digital privacy, access to public sector information, data protection, and internet censorship.
Arzu Geybulla is an Azerbaijani columnist and writer with a special focus on digital authoritarianism and its implications on human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan. In 2019, she launched Azerbaijan Internet Watch, a platform that documents, and monitors information controls in Azerbaijan.
Dr. Jana Javakhishvili, PhD, is a Georgian professor of psychology at Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, and a senior consultant at the Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry-Tbilisi. She is specialized in working with individuals, families, groups, and communities, who are traumatized because of political oppressions, military conflicts and displacement, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks.
Dr. Jens Modvig is a trained medical doctor and holds a doctorate in public health. He has used his medical background in the fight against torture for more than 25 years at Dignity – Danish Institute Against Torture. In 2013 and 2017, he was a member of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, and in April 2016 and 2018, he was elected chair of the committee.
Maia Mazurkiewicz is a Polish expert on fighting disinformation and behavioral changes. She is a co-founder and Head of Intelligence & Campaigns of Alliance4Europe, coordinator of the
