Oslo Freedom Forum
Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a conference about human rights first held in May 2009 in Oslo, Norway. Founded by the Human Rights Foundation's Thor Halvorssen,[1] it is "part of the Human Rights Foundation's ongoing campaign to defend and promote human freedom around the world."[2]
The forum aims to bring together world leaders including former heads of state, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize and prisoners of conscience as well as a selection of authors, together with business, political and cultural leaders from both Norway and internationally. According to the Forum website, the first Oslo Freedom Forum was "made possible thanks to a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation";[2]. It also received support from the government of Norway. [3][2]
The second OFF is scheduled to take place in April 2010 in Oslo. It is supported by Norway's Fritt Ord, Amnesty International, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. [3]
Forum
The Oslo Freedom Forum is organised by the Human Rights Foundation and Thor Halvorssen, it's founder . The conference was funded with a grant from the Templeton Foundation,[4] and also received support from the city pof Oslo.[5] Partners for the 2009 are listed as Civita, Human Rights Action Center, International Society for Human Rights, Laogai Research Foundation, and Reporters Without Borders. In 2010 the Forum's partner's include Norway's Freedom of Expression, Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Amnesty, Civita, The Norwegian Helsinki Committee and Human Rights House Foundation.[4]
The Forum's mission is to celebrate "remarkable individuals and what they did for humanity, inspire leaders from all walks of life with their narratives, and add valuable insight to the human rights movement."[6]
2009 Forum
Thor Halvorssen the conference’s 33-year-old founder explained to the Wall Street Journal in 2009: “We all should want freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom from torture, freedom to travel, due process and freedom to keep what belongs to you.” Unfortunately, he explains, “the human-rights establishment at the United Nations is limited to pretty words because so many member countries kill or imprison or torture their opponents.”[1] John Fund writing in the Wall Street Journal about "Human Rights Beyond Ideology" said it "was unlike any human-rights conference I've ever attended. As at other such gatherings, racism and gender discrimination were on the minds of plenty of participants. But there was no desire to blame such problems on the U.S. or other Western nations. The emphasis was on promoting basic rights in all nations at all times." The article by Fund mentions that "Even Oslo's leftist newspaper Klassekampen (Class Struggle) overcame its initial skepticism, declaring the forum "an impressive assembly of people."[1]
2010 Forum
Participants in the 2010 Forum include former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt, Solidarity leader and Nobel Prize winnerLech Walesa, Spanish judge responsible for the arrest of Pinochet Baltasar Garzon, and Uyhgur leader Rebiya Kadeer.[5]
Participants
Among those present at the 2009 conference were
- Kjell Magne Bondevik (former Norwegian Prime Minister)
- Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York)
- Vytautas Landsbergis (former Latvian President)
- Kristin Clemet (former education minister)
- Mutabar Tadjibayeva (former Uzbeki political prisoner)
- Aliaksandr Bialiatski (Belarussian democracy activist)
- Palden Gyatso (former Buddhist prisoner of conscience)
- Arne L. Lynngård (president of the Rafto Foundation)
- Park Sang Hak (North Korean democracy activist)
- Magne Ove Varsi (indigenous rights leader)
- Vo Van Ai (Vietnamese human rights activist)
- Sarah Bronfman (Heiress to the Seagram's fortune)
- Jacqueline Moudeina (head of the Chadian Human Rights Commission)
- Peder Lunde (Norwegian Olympic medallist)
- Vladimir Bukovsky (former Soviet dissident)
- Harry Wu (Chinese dissident)
- Leyla Zana (former Turkish political prisoner)
- Victor Hugo Cardenas (former vice-president of Bolivia)
- Emil Constantinescu (former president of Rumania)
- Jung Chang (author, Wild Swans)
- Jack Healey (former Executive Director, Amnesty International)
- L. Craig Johnstone (Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations)
After the conference, each contribution was published on the internet. Due to illness, Vaclav Havel and Elie Wiesel each participated through a video segment recorded for the Oslo Freedom Forum. Additionally, Ramon Velásquez, 94-year old former president of Venezuela, participated by video.
References
- ^ a b c http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124417342925888153.html
- ^ a b Oslo Freedom Forum, Partners
- ^ http://ocha.unog.ch/fts/pageloader.aspx?page=search-reporting_display&CQ=cq010210033453SN0YMBSeJJ&orderby=DestinationCountryName&showDetails=1
- ^ http://www.templeton.org/funding_areas/show_profiles.asp?p=12671&b=1%7C70
- ^ [1]
- ^ Oslo Freedom Forum, About