List of speakers

Monday, 18 November

09.00 - 13.45: The Sakharov Prize Network (SPN) introductory sessions

Giovanni Grevi

Director, FRIDE

Dr. Grevi has been the Director of FRIDE (Foundation for International

Relations and Foreign Dialogue) since 2010. FRIDE is a Madrid-based

think tank which provides research and analysis on international

relations.

Natalia Shapolapova

Associate Fellow, FRIDE

Ms. Shapovalova is an expert on the EU's Eastern neighbourhood

policies, including its relations with Russia, Ukraine and the South

Caucasus. Her specific research interests include EU policy on

enlargement and democracy promotion.

Hauwa Ibrahim

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2005

Hauwa Ibrahim is a human rights lawyer from Abuja, Nigeria who fightstirelessly against religious fundamentalism. Since 1999, she has workedas a defence counsel in over 150 cases, many of which have involvedwomen accused of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning.

14.00 - 17.15 The European Union's engagement in human rights

Stavros Lambrinidis

EU Special Representative for Human Rights

Mr. Lambrinidis has served as EU Special Representative for Human

Rights since 2012. He has also held posts as Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Greece and Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Roland Schäfer

Director for the Americas, European External Action Service

Mr. Schäfer took up his current post in 2012. Previously, he wasGermany's Deputy Ambassador to Israel and Argentina, and a PoliticalCounsellor in the German Permanent Representation to the EU.

Morten Kjaerum

Director, European Agency for Fundamental Rights

Mr. Kjaerum has held his current post since 2008. Prior to this he was

director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights and Chairman of the

International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights

Associations. He was also a member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of

Racial Discrimination.

Jean Louis Ville

European Commission Directorate-General for Development andCooperation (DG DEVCO)

Mr. Ville is the Head of Unit of DG DEVCO's Governance,Democracy and Human Rights unit.

17.15 - 19.30 The European Parliament's engagement in human rights

Barbara Lochbihler MEP

Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights

Ms. Lochbihler has chaired the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human

Rights since 2011, having previously served as Chair of the Delegation

for Relations with Iran. She was the General Secretary of the German

Section of Amnesty International from 1999 to 2009.

Elmar Brok MEP

Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs

Mr. Brok has chaired the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs

since 2012, having previously held the post from 2004 to 2007. His other

parliamentary work has included the chairmanship of the Committee on

Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy,

which he held from 1999-2004.

Eduard Kukan MEP

Rapporteur of the EP's Annual report on human rights and democracy inthe world 2012

Mr. Kukan chairs the Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. He is also amember of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on

Human Rights.

Tuesday, 19 November

10.15 - 11.10 The role of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe'sCommissioner for Human Rights

Michael O'Boyle

Deputy Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights

Before taking up his current post in 2006, Mr. O'Boyle, served as

Registrar of the First and Fourth Sections of the Court. He is also the

author of numerous articles in the fields of public law and human rights.

Isil Gachet

Director of the Office of the Council of Europe's Commissioner for HumanRights

Ms. Gachet joined the Council in 1984, and since then has been aninternational civil servant. Since 2009 she has served as Director of the

Office of Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights.

11.30 - 14.15 Visit to the European Court of Human Rights

Judge Dean Spielmann

President of the European Court of Human Rights

Judge Spielmann has been a Judge of the European Court of HumanRights since 2004. He has also held academic posts at the universities ofLuxembourg, Nancy and Louvain.

Judge Angelika Nussberger

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in Respect of Germany

Judge Nussberger joined the Court in 2010. She has also served as alegal adviser to the European Council and worked for the InternationalLabour Organisation.

Judge André Potocki

Judge of the European Court of Human Rights in Respect of France

Judge Potocki has served as a judge in numerous French courtsincluding the Court of Cassation, and as Vice-Chair of the Council ofEurope's Commission for Efficiency of Justice.

14.45 - 19.30 The European Parliament Sakharov Prize and the role of the Sakharov PrizeNetwork

Philippe Cori

UNICEF

Mr. Cori is the Director of UNICEF's EU Office in Brussels.

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP

Vice-President of the European Parliament

Vice-President McMillan-Scott has responsibility for Human Rights and

Democracy. He set up the European Instrument for Democracy and

Human Rights, and since 2012 he has been responsible for the Sakharov

Prize Network. In 2013 he received the European Inter-University Centre

for Human Rights and Democratisation Medal of Honour for the promotion of democracy and

implementation of human rights worldwide.

Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP

Former President of the European Parliament

Mr. Pöttering was President of the European Parliament from 2007 to

2009, and has served as an MEP since the first elections to the

Parliament in 1979. He is a member of the Parliament’s Committee on

Foreign Affairs and the Delegation for Relations with the Arab Peninsula.

Jerzy Buzek MEP

Former President of the European Parliament

Mr. Buzek was President of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2012,

and Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001. His current

parliamentary work includes membership of the Parliament’s Committee

on Foreign Affairs. Mr. Buzek was an active member of Solidarność, the pro-democratic

movement which campaigned against repression in Poland.

Olivier Basille

Reporters Without Borders, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2005

Mr. Basille is Reporters Without Borders' Chief Representative to the EU.Reporters Without Borders campaigns for press freedom around theworld, and defends and supports journalists and other media workerssubjected to persecution and censorship.

Salima Ghezali

Sakharov Prize Laureate 1997

Having entered activism through the Algerian women’s rights movement,Salima Ghezali became a committed campaigner for human rights anddemocracy in her country. From 1994, as publisher of the weeklymagazine La Nation, she increasingly focused on issues of censorship.

Her articles relentlessly called for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis in Algeria.As a result, she became a target for both the Algerian authorities and Islamic extremists.

Zeng Jinyang

Sakharov Prize nominee 2007

Zeng Jinyang is the wife of 2008 Sakharov Prize Laureate Hu Jia. Shehas campaigned relentlessly for human rights in China, and spoken outagainst repression by the Chinese government. Zeng Jinyang and her

husband defied the government by documenting their harassment by the authorities on aninternet blog.

Lotte Leicht

Human Rights and Democracy Network

The Human Rights and Democracy Network is an informal grouping of 43

NGOs operating in the areas of human rights, democracy and

peacebuilding. Ms. Leicht is Human Rights Watch's European Union Advocacy Director and

Director of the organisation's Brussels Office.

Vincent Forest

Frontline Defenders

Vincent Forest is head of the EU Office of Frontline Defenders. Frontline

Defenders works to protect human rights defenders at risk throughout the

world.

Martin Schulz MEP

President of the European Parliament and Co-President of the SakharovPrize Network

Before assuming the Presidency in 2012, President Schulz had served

as an MP since 1994. During that time, he was a member of the

Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Civil

Liberties and Home Affairs. An apprentice bookseller (1975-1977) and bookshop proprietor

(1982-1994), President Schulz has been Vice-President of the Socialist International since

2004.

Wednesday, 20 November

10.00 - 11.00 Sakharov Prize seminar for journalists

Barbara Lochbihler MEP

Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights

Ms. Lochbihler has chaired the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human

Rights since 2011, having previously served as Chair of the Delegation

for Relations with Iran. She was the General Secretary of the German

Section of Amnesty International from 1999 to 2009.

Taslima Nasreen

Sakharov Prize Laureate 1994

When the Bangladeshi doctor and writer Taslima Nasreen won the 1994Sakharov Prize, she had already sought refuge in Europe. Her works,which criticise religious fundamentalism and particularly the oppressionof women, are banned in her country. Islamic fundamentalists have

issued threats against her life.

Wei Jingsheng

Sakharov Prize Laureate 1996

For over three decades, Wei Jingsheng has campaigned for humanrights and democracy in China. He has done so despite repression,harassment and a total of more than 15 years of imprisonment by theChinese authorities.

Christophe Deloire

Reporters Without Borders, 2005 Sakharov Prize Laureate

Mr. Deloire is Director-General of Reporters Without Borders. ReportersWithout Borders campaigns for press freedom around the world, anddefends and supports journalists and other media workers subjected topersecution and censorship.

10.00 - 11.00 Sakharov Prize seminar for students

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP

Vice-President of the European Parliament

Vice-President McMillan-Scott has responsibility for Human Rights and

Democracy. He set up the European Instrument for Democracy and

Human Rights, and since 2012 he has been responsible for the Sakharov

Prize Network. In 2013 he received the European Inter-University Centre

for Human Rights and Democratisation Medal of Honour for the promotion of democracy and

implementation of human rights worldwide.

Guillermo Fariñas

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2010

A doctor of psychology, independent journalist and political dissident inCuba, Guillermo Fariñas has over the years conducted over 20 hungerstrikes to protest against the Cuban regime, with the aim of achievingpeaceful political change, freedom of speech and freedom of expressionin his country.

Shirin Ebadi

Representing Nasrin Sotoudeh, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2012

Shirin Ebadi is lawyer and former judge who founded the Defenders ofHuman Rights Center, and in 2003 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rosa María Payá Acevedo

Representing Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas, Sakharov Prize Laureate2002

Rosa María Payá has followed her father, Oswaldo, into the campaign fora democratic Cuba. She is a member of the Christian LiberationMovement, and is campaigning for a referendum that would allowCubans to decide their own future. She has denounced her father's death

and called for an international inquiry before the UN Human Rights Council and otherinternational organisations.

Othmar Karas MEP

Vice-President of the European Parliament

Mr. Karas has been Vice-President of the European Parliamentsince 2012. He is a member of the Committee on Economic andMonetary Affairs and the Subcommittee on Security and Defence.

Doris Pack MEP

Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Culture andEducation

In addition to chairing the Committee on Culture and Education,Ms. Pack is a member of the Delegation for Relations with Albania,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Zita Gurmai MEP

Vice-Chair of the European Parliament Committee onConstitutional Affairs

In addition to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Ms. Gurmaiis a member of the Committee on Women's Rights and GenderEquality.

12.00 - 12.40 Award ceremony

Martin Schulz MEP

President of the European Parliament and Co-President of the SakharovPrize Network

Before assuming the Presidency in 2012, President Schulz had served

as an MP since 1994. During that time, he was a member of the

Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Civil

Liberties and Home Affairs. An apprentice bookseller (1975-1977) and bookshop proprietor

(1982-1994), President Schulz has been Vice-President of the Socialist International since

2004.

18.00 - 19.30 Public debate with the Laureates

Barbara Lochbihler MEP

Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights

Ms. Lochbihler has chaired the Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human

Rights since 2011, having previously served as Chair of the Delegation

for Relations with Iran. She was the General Secretary of the German

Section of Amnesty International from 1999 to 2009.

Vildana Selimbegovic

Oslobodjenje, Sakharov Prize Laureate 1993

Ms. Selimbegovic is the Editor-in-Chief of Sarajevo-based newspaperOslobodjenje. During the Bosnian War and the Siege of Sarajevo,despite deaths and injuries among their colleagues and the destruction ofthe newspaper's offices by Serbian artillery, some 70 journalists –

Muslims, Serbs and Croats – continued to work in a nuclear shelter in the cellar of theirbuilding in Sarajevo, risking their lives so that Oslobodjenje could continue to appear.

Leyla Zana

Sakharov Prize Laureate 1995

The awarding of the Sakharov Prize to Leyla Zana recognised hercourageous defence of human rights and commitment to forging apeaceful, democratic resolution to conflict between the Turkishgovernment and its Kurdish population. She is currently a member of the

Turkish Parliament.

José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão

Prime Minister of East Timor, Sakharov Prize Laureate 1999

Mr. Gusmão campaigned relentlessly for a peaceful resolution to EastTimor's struggle for independence from Indonesia. After his release fromhouse arrest, Mr. Gusmão became the first President of the newlyindependent East Timor.

Fernando Savater

¡Basta Ya!, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2000

Fernando Savater is a philosopher, author and long-time anti-terrorismcampaigner. The pressure group ¡Basta Ya! (Enough is Enough) consistsof people who work for human rights, democracy and tolerance in theBasque country. They aim to raise awareness through actions designedto display solidarity with all those who oppose terrorism and support

democratic values.

Nurit Peled-Elhanan

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2001

Nurit Peled-Elhanan represents all Israelis who are committed to anegotiated solution to the conflict and who clearly acknowledge the rightof two peoples and two states to exist side by side on an equal footing. In1997 her 13-year-old daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide attack

carried out by a Palestinian in West Jerusalem. However, she has continued to focus on theresponsibility borne by those who implement a short-sighted policy that refuses toacknowledge the rights of others and fuels hatred and conflict

Dom Zacarias Kamwenho

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2001

Dom Zacarias Kamwenho campaigned tirelessly to bring lasting peace toAngola. The ceasefire which came about in 2002 after the killing ofUNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, the peace talks and the general climate ofsupport for democratisation can largely be attributed to the campaign

conducted by Dom Zacarias Kamwenho and other religious and civil leaders.

Salih Mahmoud Mohamed Osman

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2007

Salih Osman is a lawyer who has worked to provide free legalrepresentation to people who have been arbitrarily detained and torturedby the Sudanese government. Salih Osman served as a Member of the

Sudanese Parliament for the opposition between 2005 and 2010. He works on legal reformand focuses on promoting the rule of law.

Ahmed El Zuber El Senussi

Sakharov Prize Laureate 2011

Ahmed El Senussi is Libya's longest-serving "prisoner of conscience". Hewas accused of conspiracy in an attempted coup against the Gaddafiregime in 1970 and spent 31 years in prison. He was released in August2010, alongside dozens of other political prisoners. As a member of theNational Transitional Council set up in 2011 as the Libyan revolution

toppled the Gaddafi regime, he was in charge of political prisoners.

Karim Lahidji

Representing Jafar Panahi, Sakharov Prize Laureate 2012

Mr Lahidji is President of the International Federation for Human Rights(FIDH), a coalition of more than 116 human organizations around theworld.

William Irigoyen

Arte

William Irigoyen is a television journalist with Arte, a Franco-Germancultural channel, where he presents an international news programme.He has been the presenter of Arte Reportage since 2012. Before that hewas the presenter of Arte Journal, every evening from 7.45 pm. On hisblog Le poing et la plume, which he kept until January 2013 and then

merged to Arte's website, he writes about literature and music.

20.00 - 22.30 High-level segment

Martin Schulz MEP

President of the European Parliament and Co-President of the SakharovPrize Network

Before assuming the Presidency in 2012, President Schulz had served

as an MP since 1994. During that time, he was a member of the

Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Committee on Civil

Liberties and Home Affairs. An apprentice bookseller (1975-1977) and bookshop proprietor

(1982-1994), President Schulz has been Vice-President of the Socialist International since

2004.

Senator Roland Ries

Mayor of Strasbourg

Mr. Ries has been the Mayor of Strasbourg since 2008. He also

represents the Bas-Rhin department in the French Senate, where he

serves as Vice-President of the Commission for European Affairs.

Kristalina Georgieva

European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid

and Crisis Response

Ms. Georgieva joined the Commission in 2010. Prior to this, she held

various positions at the World Bank, and has over 100 publications on

environmental and economic policy.

Stavros Lambrinidis

European Union Special Representative for Human Rights

Mr. Lambrinidis has served as EU Special Representative for Human

Rights since 2012. He has also held posts as Minister for Foreign Affairs

of Greece and Vice-President of the European Parliament.

Yoka Brandt

Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF

Ms. Brandt has over 20 years of experience in international assistanceand humanitarian emergency response, with a particular focus on Africa.Her previous posts have included Director-General for InternationalCooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, andAmbassador for the Netherlands to Uganda and Eritrea.

Jan Egeland

Secretary-General, Norwegian Refugee Council

Mr. Egeland has been UN Under-Secretary-General for HumanitarianAffairs, Europe Director for Human Rights Watch, Secretary-General forthe Norwegian Red Cross, and Norwegian Deputy Minister for ForeignAffairs. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent,

humanitarian, non-profit, non-governmental organisation which provides assistance,protection and durable solutions to refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide.