On October 4-5, 2021, our community gathered for the 13th annual Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), which was held for the first time in Miami, Florida. We thank you for supporting this year’s event and hope you enjoy these videos of our theater talks and the speech by our 2020 Václav Havel Prize laureate.
Following the deadly shooting of #EndSARS protesters by Nigerian security forces on October 20, 2020, the Nigerian government responded with a string of cover ups and denial. Nigerian artist and activist DJ Switch told her story of survival on that day, and her continued journey to seek justice for the victims.
How much do you know about the power of modern surveillance technology? Author and surveillance expert Arthur Holland Michel shook the audience with a story that showcased the surveillance capacity currently at the disposal of many authoritarian regimes around the world.
Iraqi political satirist Ahmed Albasheer used his personal story to explain how the current state of authoritarianism in Iraq has unfolded. Most importantly, his talk highlighted the power of humor in challenging corruption, war, repression, and sectarianism, as well as in exposing the truth and overcoming tragedy.
A free Belarus is on the horizon! The democratic leader of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, discussed the next stage of the revolution against Alexander Lukashenko’s brutal regime with the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) Chairman Garry Kasparov.
Uyghur activist Akida Pulat took to the mainstage to share a simple, yet strong message: Please pay attention to what is happening to the Uyghur people.
After her husband, Félix Maradiaga, was imprisoned for speaking out against Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian regime, Berta Valle came to OFF to spread the word about his case and that of all political prisoners currently arbitrarily detained in her home country of Nicaragua.
The Cuban regime spends millions of dollars whitewashing its appalling human rights record to entice tourists from across the globe to venture to the island every year. Tania Bruguera, a Cuban installation and performance artist, brought the truth to light for our audience.
Alexey Navalny, Russian opposition leader and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, remains imprisoned for working to expose the Putin regime’s corruption. At this year’s Forum, his colleague Maria Pevchikh read a letter authored by Navalny from inside Penal Colony No. 2 in Pokrov, Russia. It is one of the most important messages you will hear, from one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners.
Pro-democacy activist Wai Hnin Pwint Thon emphasized the Burmese military’s alarming intensification of violence since the February 2021 coup, and called on the international community to support the country’s struggle for peace, democracy, and freedom.
HRF CEO Thor Halvorssen sat down with Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, for a long-awaited Q&A about her relentless journey to get #JusticeForJamal. Their conversation touched upon Hatice’s activism, her experience with HRF’s documentary, The Dissident, and identified Jamal’s brutal murder as an attack against democracy and freedom worldwide.
Essam Daod has dedicated his life to advocating for mental health support for refugees and people in crises, through the founding of Humanity Crew. Through Essam’s personal story, the audience learned that it is only when we take care of our mental health, that we can take care of others and grow..
Through his talk, “Freedom is the Future,” Steve Jurvetson highlighted the importance of promoting and maintaining a system under which new ideas and technologies can arise. This system can only be an open society that allows for the protection and promotion of its people’s freedoms in all dimensions.
Leopoldo López, leader of the Venezuelan opposition party who escaped prison in his home country, spoke about the abuses he suffered while detained, and the need for unity among pro-democracy activists around the world.
Chinese dissident artist Badiucao shared an anecdote of how just one person can help ignite the truth, after being honored by HRF Chairman Garry Kasparov with the 2020 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.