Dissidents and Dictators

In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, we hear from Pastor Seungeun Kim, a prominent Korean human rights activist and leader of a modern-day underground railroad. He passionately serves North Korean defectors and works tirelessly on their behalf, rescuing and helping them become self-sufficient. Note: This episode is recorded in Korean.

Hanna Liubakova is a Belarusian journalist, analyst, and non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council. After protesting Alexander Lukashenko’s regime, Liubakova was forced into exile, yet she fearlessly continues to report on the developments in her home country. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, she reveals the Lukashenko regime’s abuses of political prisoners and its corrupt assistance to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and she offers a beacon of hope in the fight against tyranny.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has increased its efforts to stifle dissent beyond its borders, discreetly intimidating individuals from various religious, political, and dissenting groups. The Uyghur diaspora's experience of such repression has worsened since the 2016 crackdown, leaving Uyghurs across the globe facing the pressure of state violence and harassment even in their supposed places of refuge. In this episode, we hear from Yalkun Uluyol, David Tobin, and Rushan Abbas as they shed further light on the extent of the CCP’s efforts to project its authoritarian rule beyond its border. Featured Guests: Yalkun Uluyol, research assistant at Koc University David Tobin, lecturer in East Asian studies at the University of Sheffield Rushan Abbas, founder and executive director at the Campaign for Uyghurs

In 2009, Swazi human rights lawyer Mzwandile Masuku launched, with the late renowned human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko, the only law firm in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) fully dedicated to public interest litigation against the kingdom’s repression law and pro-bono legal representation of ordinary Swazis. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, Masuku advocates for the protection of human rights lawyers, the rights of detained individuals to a fair trial, and nonviolent democratic reform.

Nazanin Boniadi is an award-winning actress and Iranian human rights activist who focuses on the unjust conviction and treatment of Iranian youth, women, and prisoners of conscience. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, Boniadi speaks on the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran and unearths the rich history of her home country that the oppressive regime has diluted.

Note: This episode is recorded in Spanish. Abraham Jiménez Enoa is an exiled Cuban journalist and author of “La isla oculta,” a collection of stories of ordinary Cubans living under the dictatorship. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Olso Freedom Forum, Jiménez Enoa shares his experience calling for action against the tyranny that oppresses ordinary Cubans.

Aug. 9 marks the third anniversary of the Belarus presidential elections, followed by nationwide protests and violence. Alexander Lukashenko has increasingly turned to Russia, which provided him with resources and diplomatic support to help him stay in power. This episode looks at Lukashenko’s role in the conflict in Ukraine and the strategies the international democratic community can pursue to contain the threat Lukashenko poses. Featured Guests: • Hanna Liubakova • Pavel Latushka • David Kramer

Kristen Ulmer is a high-performance facilitator and thought leader on fear and anxiety, drawing from her experience as the world’s most “fearless” female extreme skier for 12 years and studying Zen for 15 years. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, Ulmer provides strategies to conquer our fear and anxious feelings.

Note: This episode is recorded in Spanish. Víctor Navarro is a Venezuelan human rights activist who was arbitrarily detained in 2018 and held in El Helicoide, Venezuela’s largest and most notorious prison. In this episode, recorded at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, Navarro shares how he struggled to find his voice and identity under the regime's oppression and how he is using technology to fight tyranny.

Malcolm Bidali is a former Qatari migrant worker and the co-founder of Migrant Defenders, a Kenya-based civil society organization defending the rights of migrant workers in the Gulf. While in Qatar, he became an anonymous whistleblower about brutal conditions for migrant laborers before Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup. In May 2021, the Qatari regime unmasked his identity and subjected him to solitary confinement for nearly a month for "disseminating false news and receiving payments from foreign agents to spread disinformation." In this episode, filmed at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum, Bidali shares his story and experience with the atrocious human rights violations perpetrated against migrant workers in the Gulf. Learn more about Malcolm and his work at https://linktr.ee/noaharticulates