Dissidents and Dictators

After nearly two decades of democracy, El Salvador’s democratic institutions find themselves, once again, under siege. President Nayib Bukele has achieved extreme popularity, fueled by populist rhetoric and the adept use of social media. In this episode, El Faro journalist Nelson Rauda discusses how Bukele has abused emergency powers, eroded the independence of the judiciary, and paved the way for his re-election in direct violation of El Salvador’s constitution.

In this episode, recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, Ethiopian investigative journalist Lucy Kassa discusses her extensive reporting on the war in Ethiopia, and the power journalism holds to expose human rights abuses. Despite suffering physical intimidation, death threats, and ongoing online trolling and smear campaigns, Kassa continues to report stories that bring attention to the victims of war.

This episode discusses the deterioration of freedoms in Hong Kong since the implementation of the national security law, and highlights the Chinese government's aggression. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continuously tried to suppress Hong Kong’s civil society, and the national security law — alarming legislation aimed at eradicating the pro-democracy movement — has been the final “nail in the coffin.” The draconian national security law and the resulting erosion of civil liberties must serve as a warning to all democratic countries about the Chinese government’s disregard of human rights. Guests include Hong Kong activists-in-exile, Sunny Cheung and Anna Kwok, from the Hong Kong Democracy Council. Washington Post journalist and columnist Josh Rogin moderates this conversation.

In this episode, Casey Michel and Paul Massaro discuss how corrupt regimes exploit systems of democracies to launder their money, and the ongoing legislative efforts in the United States (U.S.) to address this issue. Casey Michel is an investigative journalist and author of “American Kleptocracy,” which studies how the U.S. has become a haven for stolen wealth, and Paul Massaro is a counter-corruption expert and Senior Policy Advisor for the U.S. Helsinki Commission. The views expressed by Paul are his own and do not represent an official position of the U.S. government.

Recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, in this episode, Evgenia Kara-Murza speaks on behalf of her husband, former OFF speaker and Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was arbitrarily arrested in Moscow. Evgenia Kara-Murza is the project manager of the Free Russia Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international organization supporting civil society and democratic development in Russia.

Recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, Tanzanian lawyer Fatma Karume recounts in this episode her fight against Tanzania's late authoritarian president, John Magufuli. Karume co-founded the Center for Strategic Litigation to challenge the regime’s repressive and unconstitutional laws in court. In response to her activism, Karume’s office was bombed in 2017, and she faced disbarment in 2020. Karume turned to Twitter to educate the public about human rights violations and raise funds for political prisoners. Despite John Magufuli’s death, Karume warns of further repression.

Bektour Iskender is a journalist, educator, and co-founder of Kloop Media, one of Kyrgyzstan’s largest media outlets that doubles as a journalism school to equip youth in the country with the skills to investigate and report on corruption. Recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, in this episode, Iskender tells of his live-blogging of the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution, which culminated in the ousting of Kyrgyzstan’s corrupt administration. Despite death threats from the national security services, Iskender is still using machine learning to uncover corruption, and working to launch Kyrgyzstan’s first satellite into space with a team of all-female engineers.

Recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, in this episode, Syrian public speaker and human rights advocate Omar Alshogre recounts his experience as a political prisoner, braving torture and witnessing the death of his beloved cousin. At the age of 20, Alshogre was smuggled out of prison and fled Syria with the help of his mother. Alshogre currently serves as Director of Detainees Affairs for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, advocating for the liberation of detainees. He is a key witness in numerous national prosecution efforts to hold the Assad regime accountable for war crimes.

Recorded at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum, Oleksandra Matviichuk recounts in this episode the horrors of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, and stresses the need for mass mobilization against Vladimir Putin. Matviichuk is a human rights defender who heads the Center for Civil LIberties, which aims to protect and defend human rights and democracy in Ukraine and the OSCE region.

In the past year, Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua has dramatically ramped up its persecution of civil society, arresting presidential candidates in the run up to the November 2021 elections in an attempt to solidify his one-party rule. Recorded at the 2021 Oslo Freedom Forum, Berta Valle, a Nicaraguan journalist and vocal critic of the regime, tells the story of how her husband, former #OFF speaker and Nicaraguan civil society leader Felix Maradiaga, and many others have paid a high price for standing up for truth and freedom in her country.