The Defenders Take The Floor

60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The defenders take the floor

Tuesday, 7 October (Room Paul-Henri Spaak 3C050)

09:00-10:00    Registration

10:00-10:30    Opening speeches

• Mr. Jacques Barrot, Vice-President, European Commission
  Ms. Rama Yade, Minister of State, France

10:30-11:00    Presentation of selected films from the project "Stories on Human Rights" by filmmakers, artists and writers on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration (introduced by Mr. Idrissa Ouedraogo, film director)

11:00-12:30    Opening remarks

• Chair: Ms. Hélène Flautre, Chair, Sub-Committee on Human Rights, European Parliament
• Ms. Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President, European Parliament
• Mr. Stéphane F. Hessel, Ambassador
• Ms. Souyer Belhassen, President, International Federation for Human Rights
• Mr. Eric Sottas, Secretary General, World Organisation Against Torture
• Ms. Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders

12:30-13:00    Presentation of excerpts of the Yann Arthus Bertrand initiative “6 Billion others”, for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration

13:00-15:00    Lunch (European Parliament, 5th floor, space G)

15:00-18:30    First Working session. Human Rights Defenders: Activists for democracy, in danger

• Chair: Ms. Hélène Flautre, Chair, Sub-Committee on Human Rights, EP
• Discussant: Mr. Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
• Video Interview with Mr. U Win Tin, Burma/Myanmar
  

15:30-16:00    Testimony:

• Ms. Vasila Inoiatova, Ezgulik, Uzbekistan
• Ms. Evita Goša, Mozaika, LGBT, Latvia

16:00-16:45    Panel:

• Ms. Ulrika Sundberg, Special advisor to the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
  
• Ms. Mary Lawlor, Director, Frontline
• Ms. Claudia Samayoa, UPDDH, Guatemala

16:45-18:30    Discussion

Special guests:

• Ms. Alapini-Gansou, Commissioner and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, African Union
• Ms. Suad Ata Al Qedsi, Women’s Forum for Research and Training, Yemen
• Mr. Eduardo Cojulum, Magistrate, Guatemala
• Ms. Nassera Dutour, President, SOS Disparus, France
• Mr. Ahmed Herzenni, President, Conseil consultatif des droits de l’Homme, Morocco
• Mr. Pierre Legros, Avocats Sans Frontières, Belgium    
• Ms. Frances Lovemore, Director, Counselling Services Unit, Zimbabwe

 
Wednesday 8 October (Room "Hemicycle") 

09:00-11:00     Second Working Session: Journalists: Human Rights Defenders for the right to the freedom of expression

• Chair: Mr. Horacio Verbitsky, journalist, Pagina 12, Argentina
• Discussant: Mr. Jean-Paul Marthoz, journalist, Belgium

09:30- 10:00     Panel:

• Ms. Lydia Cacho Ribeiro, journalist, La Voz del Caribe, Mexico
• Mr. Ali al-Atassi, journalist, An-Nahar, Lebanon

10:00-11:00     Discussion

Special guests:

• Mr. Paco Audije, Deputy Secretary-General, International Federation of Journalists
• Mr. Jean-François Julliard, Secretary-General, Reporters Without Borders, France
• Mr. Jean Plantu, Dessins pour la Paix, France

11:00-12:00    Closing session

Co- Chairs:

• Mr. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Chair, Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament
• Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, Chair, Committee on Development, European Parliament

Concluding remarks

• Ms Véronique Arnault, Director Multilateral Relations and Human Rights, European Commission
  
• Ms. Hélène Flautre, Chair, Sub-Committee on Human Rights, EP

Key-note speech

• Ms. Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Mr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, President, European Parliament
  

12:15-13:00     Press Conference

• Ms. Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Ms. Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President, European Parliament

13:00-14:30 Lunch (Restaurant Autoworld Brussels)

The Conference proceedings will be illustrated by:
Mr. Plantu and Mr. Ali Dilem, cartoonists

The Blue Cape of Human Rights, by the French artist Nicola L.,
an ephemeral and living mobile monument dedicated to each individual in every part of the world, will be also presented on the occasion of the Conference

For information : Event on 7 October 2008, 18.30 (Room 3C50)

On the occasion of the European Day Against Death Penalty, which is celebrated on 10 October, a special event will take place on the world moratorium against death penalty, chaired by Ms. Morgantini, Vice-President of the European Parliament responsible for human rights.

During the conference, the short movie “15 Seconds” will be screened.
Gianluca Petrazzi, director and author, and Raoul Bova, actor and producer, will speak at the conference.