Series of global conferences
Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a series of global conferences run by the New York–based non-profit Human Rights Foundation under the slogan "Challenging Power".[1] OFF was founded in 2009 as a one-time event and has taken place annually ever since. The forum aims to bring together notable people, including former heads of state, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, prisoners of conscience, as well as of other public figures in order to network and exchange ideas about human rights and exposing dictatorships.
The main OFF conference is held annually in central Oslo, Norway, while satellite events have been held in San Francisco, New York, Taiwan, and on college campuses in the United States. OFF talks are live-streamed and consist of lectures and panel discussions taking place in front of a live audience.[2]
OFF was founded by human rights activist Thor Halvorssen.
Events
2009-2012
The inaugural 2009 Oslo Freedom Forum, titled "The Nobility of the Human Spirit and the Power of Freedom", had over 30 speakers with an emphasis on the importance of literature in advancing the cause of freedom. Participants included Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel; Czech playwright and politician Václav Havel; Kurdish rights advocate Leyla Zana; and Tibetan former political prisoner Palden Gyatso.[1] The Wall Street Journal described OFF as "unlike any other human-rights conference... the emphasis was on promoting basic rights in all nations at all times."[3]
The 2010 Forum, organized around the theme "From Tragedy to Triumph", with participants from more than 40 countries and six continents. The event focused on the progress made in the realms of civil liberties and freedoms over the past century, while highlighting the innovation of modern-day advocates—activists, policy makers, world leaders, and media entrepreneurs. The Economist described is as "on its way to becoming a human right equivalent of the Davos economic forum."[4]
In 2011 the Forum theme was "Spark of Change", focused on the world's most prominent dictatorships, and the impact that a single individual can have on the world.[5] Peter Thiel praised the Forum engaging "the intellectual debate as well as the moral cause."
The 2012 theme was "Out of Darkness, Into Light", focusing on forms of modern-day slavery; PR agency support for dictatorships; the drug war's impact on human rights; Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin; and the state of the Arab uprisings. Supporters included the City of Oslo, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amnesty International, the Thiel Foundation, Fritt Ord, the Nobel Peace Center, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.[6]
2013–2015
In 2013, the theme was "Challenging Power" and focused on the art of dissent, asymmetric activism, and new tools for rights advocates. Speakers included Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng; recently escaped Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam; Peruvian Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa; Zimbabwean artist Owen Maseko; Tibetan prime minister Lobsang Sangay; creator of the Magnitsky Act Bill Browder; Palestinian journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul; Malaysian lawyer and democracy advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan; and Serbian nonviolent resistance leader Srđa Popović.[7]
The conference received more international press coverage this year, chronicled in VICE, BuzzFeed, El País, El Mundo, Aftenposten, and Verdens Gang. Speakers were profiled in The Atlantic, CNN, The Economist, The New York Times, CNET, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Dagens Næringsliv, and Finansavisen. BuzzFeed described the conference as "an internationalist networking party where dissidents trade tips on overthrowing authoritarian regimes," while Al Jazeera wrote it "gives the people who challenge repressive regimes a platform to speak."
In 2014, speakers included Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef; Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker; Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez; American actor Jeffrey Wright; Ukrainian pro-democracy activist Yulia Marushevska; Turkish protester Erdem Gündüz, as well as Marcela Turati Muñoz, Yeonmi Park, Hyeonseo Lee, Iyad El-Baghdadi, Ti-Anna Wang, Suleiman Bakhit, Jamila Raqib, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Aljokhina and Mikhail Khodorkovskij.[8][9]
In 2015, speakers included Charlie Hebdo columnist Zineb El Rhazoui, North Korean Ji Seong-ho, Afghan entrepreneur Saad Mohseni, and Twitter vice president Colin Crowell.[10] The Financial Times called the forum "Davos for dissidents."[11]
2016–2018
In 2016, speakers included Afghan entrepreneur Roya Mahboob and Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.[12]
In 2017, speakers included Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg, the Maldives' first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, Peter Thiel, and American Nobel Laureate and director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams.
An additional one-day event took place on 19 September 2017 in New York City, parallel to the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.[13] The event took place at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, and was considered a "one-day" version of the event typically held in Oslo, later replicated in other cities. Speakers included among others former World Chess Champion and chairman of the Human Rights Foundation Garry Kasparov, Iranian dissident Marina Nemat, Russian democracy activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, Serbian political activist Srđa Popović and Venezuelan democracy activist Wuilly Arteaga.[14][15][16]
In 2018, speakers included Clare Rewcastle Brown, Lebo Mashile, Asma Khalifa, Galia Benartzi, Mu Sochua, Leyla Yunus, Tiff Stevenson, Antonio Ledezma, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, Fang Zheng, Wael Ghonim, Jason Silva, Rick Doblin, Maziar Bahari and Emmanuel Jal.[17]
2019–2021
Starting in 2019, the forum was not held in Oslo for three years. In 2019, the Forum held a one-day Forum in Taipei. Speakers included Denise Ho, Thae Young-ho, and Thai education reformer and activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal.[18][19]
In 2020, the forum was held online due to the pandemic.[20] Speakers included Park Eun-hee.[21]
In 2021, the forum was held in Miami's New World Center.
Since 2022
In 2022, the forum returned to Oslo. Speakers included Ukrainian human-rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, Syrian refugee Omar Alshogre, and comedian Sakdiyah Ma’ruf.
In 2023, speakers included Francis Fukuyama, Hanna Liubakova, Nur Sajat Kamaruzzaman, Sanaa Seif, and Toribia Lero Quispe.
One-day forums
One-day events have been held in San Francisco, New York, and Taipei.
In 2012, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi headlined the San Francisco Freedom Forum, which featured talks exploring various paths to freedom. Other speakers included: Saudi women's rights pioneer Manal al-Sharif; conflict psychologist Justine Hardy; Iranian author and former prisoner of conscience Marina Nemat; Slate editor and author William J. Dobson; drug policy reformer Ethan Nadelmann; Chinese scholar and former political prisoner Yang Jianli; Ghanaian economist George Ayittey; Moroccan journalist Ahmed Benchemsi; and Kazakhstani theater director Bolat Atabayev.[22]
In 2013, the first College Freedom Forum took place at Tufts University on 5 November. Speakers included Iranian author and former prisoner of conscience Marina Nemat; Moroccan journalist and media entrepreneur Ahmed Benchemsi; Equatoguinean human rights lawyer Tutu Alicante; president and CEO of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Hannah Song; and Egyptian journalist Abeer Allam.[23]
In 2014, the College Freedom Forum took place at the University of Colorado Boulder on 11 March 2014. Speakers included Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng; Ugandan LGBT rights advocate Kasha Jacqueline; Bahraini human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja; and North Korean defector and democracy advocate Park Sang Hak.[24]
In 2015, the College Freedom Forum was held at Yale University on 26 March 2015. Speakers included North Korean defector Yeonmi Park; American journalist William Dobson; and Serbian expert on nonviolent resistance Srđa Popović. Talks were followed by a question and answer session with the audience.[25]
In 2016, the San Francisco Freedom Forum took place at the Regency Center and included Rosa Maria Paya; Zineb El Rhazoui, Danilo Maldonado Machado, Lee Hyeon-seo, Roya Mahboob, Yulia Marushevska, Abdalaziz Alhamza, and Kimberley Motley.[26]
Participants and award recipients
Regular participants include HRF board member and chess champion Garry Kasparov and activist Bill Browder.
Václav Havel Prize
The Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent was set up in 2012 to honor artists who creatively fight back against authoritarian regimes through art. The inaugural 2012 recipients included Aung San Suu Kyi.[27]
2013 recipients were Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, North Korean democracy activist Park Sang Hak, and Cuban civil society group Ladies in White—represented by their leader Berta Soler.
2023 recipients were Nicaraguan political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina; Ugandan novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija; and a third prize shared by conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko and illustrator Mariia Loniuk.
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