NGOs Release Report Urging EU & US to Oppose China, Russia, Cuba & Saudi Arabia in Next Week's Election to UN Human Rights Council.
Today's press briefing by UN Watch and Human Rights Foundation -- under way now and being tweeted live here -- is featuring courageous champions of human rights pleading against the election of their oppressors:
• Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese civil rights activist who escaped house arrest in 2012 after being detained for organizing a lawsuit against Chinese authorities;
• Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi scholar and political analyst who was arrested as a teenager because of his family members’ political activity;
• Masha Gessen, a Russian journalist, author, and LGBT rights activist forced to flee her country with her family after a crackdown on same-sex families;
• Rosa Maria Payá, a human rights advocate from Cuba leading a campaign to launch an investigation into the death of her father, the late civil society activist Oswaldo Payá; and
• Yang Jianli, a Chinese scholar, pro-democracy advocate, and former political prisoner, who presented a petition against China’s bid for a seat on the UNHRC.
• Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese civil rights activist who escaped house arrest in 2012 after being detained for organizing a lawsuit against Chinese authorities;
• Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi scholar and political analyst who was arrested as a teenager because of his family members’ political activity;
• Masha Gessen, a Russian journalist, author, and LGBT rights activist forced to flee her country with her family after a crackdown on same-sex families;
• Rosa Maria Payá, a human rights advocate from Cuba leading a campaign to launch an investigation into the death of her father, the late civil society activist Oswaldo Payá; and
• Yang Jianli, a Chinese scholar, pro-democracy advocate, and former political prisoner, who presented a petition against China’s bid for a seat on the UNHRC.
