Internet Freedom Advocates Join Forces to Formally Launch Voices of Internet Freedom Coalition

September 28, 2020 – Today marked the official launch of the Voices of Internet Freedom coalition, a collection of more than a dozen organizations and individuals that have come together to advocate for greater internet freedom around the world. Although members of the coalition have collaborated regularly on internet freedom issues for more than a decade, this launch represents the first time that the group has formalized its efforts. The launch coincides with International Day for Universal Access to Information, which recognizes the universal right to seek, receive and impart information – regardless of where you live – and is a central tenet of the belief that internet freedom is the next frontier of human rights.

“Internet freedom has the potential to bring profound change to closed societies around the world, where repressive regimes keep their people locked in a de facto digital information prison,” said Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice, one of the VIF founders. “As a group, VIF is dedicated to opening the internet to everyone, giving them the same freedom to learn, organize and thrive that we enjoy in open societies. By forming this coalition, we hope to have the ability to speak with an even more powerful voice on behalf of internet freedom worldwide.”

Members of VIF come from a variety of backgrounds, including human rights organizations, religious freedom advocates, legal professionals, technology experts and others. Despite the diversity of this group, VIF members are bound by a common belief that internet freedom should be a key priority for the United States Government and its allies. A major component of the group’s advocacy work will focus on encouraging the U.S. Government and private sector to provide funding for a variety of tools and technologies that will give people locked behind censorship firewalls the ability to break through and communicate with each other and with the global community.

“VIF members have a long track record of speaking out forcefully and powerfully on key issues related to internet freedom,” said Randel Everett, President of 21Wilberforce, which co-founded VIF. “Speaking now as a formal coalition with a coordinated voice, this group can have an even greater impact – from highlighting effective circumvention technologies and other innovative tools, to calling out tech companies that fail to adequately support internet freedom, to urging the U.S. Government to generously fund internet freedom efforts.”

To learn more about the Voices of Internet Freedom coalition, please visit www.VoicesofInternetFreedom.org. Organizations or individuals interested in joining the coalition should contact info@voicesofinternetfreedom.org.

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Open letter to Walt Disney Company CEO : Disney's dishonor

Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett has written the following open letter to Robert Chapek, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, in response to Disney’s shameful decision to publicly thank Xinjiang Province officials in the credits of the film Mulan :

Dear Mr. Chapek,

The story of Mulan, as you well know, inspires us with its message that one person, no matter how insignificant or unlikely a hero, can be a powerful force for good. For a small human rights organization with limited resources, that message certainly resonates. However, the Walt Disney Company’s decision to publicly thank Xinjiang Province officials in China also sends a powerful message – that human rights are of little consequence or concern to your company.

One could easily question Disney’s decision to film Mulan in a region that is well-documented as being the site of genocidal crimes and the largest incarceration of an innocent population since the dark days of World War II. That choice, alone, indicates a willingness to turn a blind eye to the plight of the Uyghur community in Xinjiang. However, it is even more galling that Disney would go so far as to specifically extend a special thanks in the credits of the film to the very individuals and organizations that have perpetrated the rampant human rights abuses in Xinjiang. A few short lines in the credits of a feature film may not seem of great consequence at first glance. But these lines provide a false cloak of legitimacy to organizations that deserve reproach and sanction, much more than they deserve any form of gratitude or praise.

The legendary character of Mulan stood up to her foes, despite her lack of power or influence. The Walt Disney Company has both, in spades. But instead of using your power and vast resources to be a force for good, your decisions have – unwittingly or not – legitimized some of the greatest human rights abusers of our time. No amount of happy endings on the big screen can compensate for this moral failure.

We call on you to immediately edit the credits in Mulan to remove all references to human rights abusers in Xinjiang province. However, at a time when many corporations are stepping up and openly recognizing their failure to adequately take a stand for social justice and human rights, a leading corporation like Disney must do more than simply correct a terrible error in judgment. You must go a step further. We urge you in the strongest terms to donate a significant portion of the profits from Mulan to any of the numerous groups advocating on behalf of and working to improve the conditions of the oppressed Uyghurs of Xinjiang. This would represent at least a small step to repairing the damage done by your apparent disregard for upholding and respecting human rights.

The next and most important step will be to look inward and carefully consider whether Disney is willing to put aside human rights in the pursuit of profits. The stories you tell may delight and inspire, but they are, after all, only stories. The choices you make and the example you set as a corporate leader will be your lasting legacy, more so than the tales you spin on the silver screen.

Sincerely,

Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett

President

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Joint statement on the extraordinary rendition and detention of Paul Rusesabagina

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice and the University of Michigan Wallenberg Executive Committee have come together in response to the alarming news that Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero and inspiration behind the movie Hotel Rwanda, has been taken to Rwanda against his will – and in defiance of international human rights norms and standards – and is now being held in Kigali on trumped up charges. We share a deep regard for this decent and modest man and for his bravery in the face of genocide, his dedication to saving his fellow people from slaughter, and his continued commitment to ensuring Rwanda is a just and democratic country.

In recent years, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his allies have shown themselves to be intent on discrediting and punishing Mr. Rusesabagina for his criticism of the government’s violation of human rights and its efforts to eliminate its opponents, by any means necessary, both at home and abroad. He is not alone in this criticism; the U.S. Department of State’s 2019 Human Rights Report on Rwanda cited “significant human rights issues”, including “unlawful or arbitrary killings by state security forces; forced disappearance by state security forces…political prisoners…the worst forms of restrictions on free expression, press, and the internet, including threats of violence against journalists” and many more.

It is unconscionable that President Kagame has now escalated his attacks by having Mr. Rusesabagina forcibly transported to Kigali under highly irregular circumstances, where he was immediately arrested and awaits what is certain to be a sham trial. We fear for the health and safety of Mr. Rusesabagina, and we call on the international community to speak out against this grave injustice and demand his immediate release. An urgent appeal has been filed with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, requesting that the Special Rapporteur act urgently to assist Mr. Rusesabagina.

In 2005, Mr. Rusesabagina received the Wallenberg Medal from the University of Michigan, a prestigious human rights award named for the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg whose bravery saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. Despite his heroism, Wallenberg disappeared into a Soviet gulag following World War II and was never heard from again. His own country, and others that supported his mission to save the Jews of Hungary, remained silent and failed to pressure the Soviet government to free him.  Wallenberg’s fate serves as a stark reminder of the consequences when governments fail to act vigorously against such violations of human rights and international law. Mr. Rusesabagina was taken nearly two weeks ago – the time to act is now.

We must not fail Mr. Rusesabagina. We strongly urge the governments of Belgium and the United States – where he is a citizen and legal resident, respectively – to take immediate action to ensure his well-being and freedom. We stand with Mr. Rusesabagina, and we appeal to the governments of these nations to do the same. Not only is Mr. Rusesabagina’s safety and liberty at stake. Advocates for human rights everywhere are at risk when repressive regimes are able to kidnap, disappear, and murder their opponents and the world remains silent.

Paul Rusesabagina, Lantos Prize recipient, arrested in Rwanda

Paul Rusesabagina, an international humanitarian and the hero of Hotel Rwanda, was arrested by the Rwandan government this weekend on trumped up charges. His real crime? Daring to speak out against President Kagame’s authoritarian government.

“It is a travesty that a human rights champion like Paul Rusesabagina should be captured, detained and held in the way he is being held…This should raise a lot of deep concern and skepticism on behalf of a lot of people.” - Katrina Lantos Swett, Lantos Foundation President

Joint statement on the extraordinary rendition and detention of Paul Rusesabagina

Paul Rusesabagina at the 2011 Lantos Human Rights Prize Ceremony in Washington, DC

‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero arrested on terror charges, say police - AP

UN urged to intervene in case of detained Hotel Rwanda dissident - The Guardian

Episode 14: Solidarity Sabbath Season – A Humanitarian with a Bucket and Scraper

Source: tagesspiegel.de

The final episode of this special Solidarity Sabbath season on anti-Semitism is being released on World Humanitarian Day. The United Nations calls this day a global celebration of people helping people. There are numerous examples of humanitarians throughout history who have given so much of themselves to fight anti-Semitism or to protect the Jewish people. But not every humanitarian’s contribution to the world is grand or dramatic. Sometimes, humanitarians accomplish great and lasting service to humanity through small and simple acts. This episode offers the story of one such humanitarian – a German woman, Irmela Mensah-Schramm, who has quietly taken it upon herself to remove, erase or cover up every pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic sticker, poster or graffiti that she comes across. There is no organization backing her, no funding from any government agency – just a decent, good humored, brave woman with a bucket, a scraper and an inner moral compass that we should all seek to emulate. Irmela, who is a grantee of the Lantos Foundation’s Front Line Fund, exemplifies the words of Stephen Grellet, a Quaker missionary from the late 1700s, who wrote, “I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”

Front Line Fund: https://www.lantosfoundation.org/frontlinefundgrants

Meet the 71-year-old “Graffiti Grandma” Scrubbing Away Hate (Great Big Story): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSdqtEWEshc&feature=emb_title

Anti-Nazi ‘Graffiti Grandma’ Fined After Painting Over Nazi Tag (DW): https://www.dw.com/en/anti-nazi-graffiti-grandma-fined-after-painting-over-nazi-tag/a-50803853

World Humanitarian Day (United Nations): https://www.un.org/en/observances/humanitarian-day

Irmela holds up an image from her archives to the camera during the Skype interview.

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Highways of Hate

Mr. Yigal Carmon, MEMRI

This episode, the fourth in the special Solidarity Sabbath season, takes a deeper look at an area where anti-Semitism, and hate of all forms, is spreading in alarming ways – the internet. Katrina Lantos Swett speaks with Yigal Carmon, President and co-founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). For more than two decades, MEMRI has done ground-breaking work, researching the most disturbing examples of extreme anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the Arabic-, Farsi- and Urdu-speaking world. While much of MEMRI’s work in the past focused on analysis of media outlets, textbooks, religious sermons and similar kinds of communication, MEMRI is increasingly seeing the internet as the major vector of hate speech against Jews and many other minority groups. This raises vexing questions about who should be held responsible for allowing such hate to spread online unchecked.

Links and Reference

Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

The Hater Next Door: Online Incitement Against Minorities in America

Department of Justice’s Review of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Hard Questions:  Who Should Decide What is Hate Speech in an Online Global Community? (Facebook)

Trump and Biden both want to revoke Section 230, but for different reasons (Business Insider)

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Dr. Lantos Swett Joins Letter in Support of North Korean Human Rights Movement

This week, Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett joined a list of distinguished signatories in calling upon the administration of President Moon of the Republic of Korea to stop practices that undermine the North Korea human rights movement and instead adopt policies to support it. See the letter below.

August 12, 2020

His Excellency Moon Jae-in

President of the Republic of Korea

The Blue House

Seoul, Republic of Korea

RE: Oppression of the North Korea Human Rights Movement by your administration

We the undersigned are writing you today as individuals who greatly value the friendship and the strong alliance between the people of South Korea and the United States of America, but we are deeply troubled by the actions of your administration aimed at undermining the North Korea human rights movement by targeting all the major organizations that work to help rescue, educate, protect and/or improve the lives of North Koreans.   We represent individuals who have worked in the administrations of both Democratic and Republican Presidencies including former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and represent nongovernmental organizations that span the political spectrum in the USA, but we are all united with this concern: it is the responsibility of the international community, especially the Republic of Korea, to uphold the human rights of the people of North Korea.  As stated by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the People’s Republic of Korea (February 2014): “The international community must accept its responsibility to protect the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea from crimes against humanity, because the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has manifestly failed to do so.”

In particular the UN COI recommended that China and all states: “Respect the principle of non-refoulement and, accordingly, abstain from forcibly repatriating any persons to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” and “that States, foundations and engaged business enterprises provide more support for the work of civil society organizations to improve the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, including efforts to document human rights violations and to broadcast accessible information into each country.

Unlike prior administrations in South Korea, your administration took the unusual step to forcibly repatriate two North Koreans to conditions of danger and has not only ended all support but discouraged support for the civil society organizations that work to improve human rights in the DPRK and advocate for defectors in South Korea.  The announcement in July by the Ministry of Unification that it would conduct office inspections of 25 North Korean human rights and resettlement civil society organizations and demand an additional 64 accredited non-governmental organizations submit documentation is a chilling form of intimidation as they were all clearly targeted simply for their North Korea human rights work.

We respectfully request, as Americans who have a great respect for the people of Korea, that you reconsider your policies and do not again forcibly repatriate North Koreans to conditions of danger and that you review your policy of intimidating and harassing North Korean human rights organizations and instead help support their efforts to promote human rights for North Koreans.

Respectfully,

Richard V. Allen, National Security Advisor for President Ronald Reagan and Deputy National Security Advisor for President Richard Nixon (helped rescue future ROK president Kim Dae Jung)

Roberta Cohen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights in the Department of State’s first human rights bureau for President Jimmy Carter

Ambassador Robert G. Joseph, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security for George W. Bush

Ambassador Robert R. King, Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights for President Barack Obama

Ambassador Winston Lord, Director of Policy Planning Staff at the State Department for President Gerald Ford and Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor for President Richard Nixon and Ambassador to China for President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W.Bush and Assistant Secretary of State for President William Clinton

Barton W. Marcois, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Policy and International Affairs for George W. Bush Administration

Honorable Tidal W. McCoy, Acting Secretary and Senior Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for President Ronald Reagan

Thomas C. Montgomery, Senior Vice President of Congressional Affairs at the Export-Import Bank of the United States for President George W. Bush

Andrew Natsios, Administrator, US Agency for International Development for President George W. Bush

Daniel Pipes, Policy Planning Staff for President Ronald Reagan

Gare Smith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor for President William Clinton

Katrina Lantos Swett, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom during President Barack Obama’s Administration

Christian Whiton, Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications for State Department for President Donald Trump and Deputy Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights for President George W. Bush

Nongovernmental organizations and private citizens joining in solidarity with the above signatories from the USA and Around the World:

Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation

Tara O, President, East Asia Research Center

Dr. Jianli Yang, Founder and President, Citizen Power Initiatives for China

Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair at the American Enterprise Institute

(title for identification purpose only)

Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)

Benedict Rogers, East Asia Team Leader, CSW-UK

Ann Buwalda, Executive Director, Jubilee Campaign USA Inc

Deanna List of Virginia, North Korean Freedom Coalition (NKFC) Member

Wendy Wright, President, Christian Freedom International

Patrick Cheh of California, President, Waking Up Media

Producer of Crossing 

Atabongwoung Gallous of South Africa. Chairperson, NPO: Tibet Rescue Initiative in Africa; NKFC member

Don W. Joe of Florida, NKFC member

Teresa Ost of Florida, NKFC Secretary

Professor Ok Cha Soh, Chair, Korea-U.S. National Prayer Breakfast

Washington, D.C.

Sarah Farver of Texas, NKFC member

Gloria Chaves of New York

Lisa Reeder of Hawaii, NKFC Member

Roxann Moss, Director of Administration, Christians In Crisis

Dr. Sung Wook Chung, Professor of Christian Theology, Denver Seminary, Littleton, Colorado

Pavel Klein of Maryland, NKFC Member

Haruhisa Ogawa of Japan, Chair, NO FENCE

Sharon Whiteleather of Maryland

Casey Lartigue, Co-founder, Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR)

Nikki Perry, NKFC Member from North Carolina

Insop Han of Virginia, Former Director of Korean Service, Voice of America

Clare Kwon of California

Maria Cartwright of California, NKFC member

Faith J. H. McDonnell, Director, International Religious Liberty Program

Institute on Religion and Democracy

Sally Jo Messersmith of Michigan, NKFC member and author of Hana- One Free Korea

Barbara Montgomery of Virginia, NKFC member

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center

Helen Yeon of Virginia, Member of Open Doors Presbyterian Church, NKFC Member

Nancy Purcell of Florida,  NKFC member 

Kim, Suk-woo, President, National Development Institute (Korea)

Professor Park Sun-young, Chairperson, Moolmangcho group

(Dream Makers for North Korea)

Tea Hyun Kim, President, North Korean Human Rights Advancement Association in Australia (NKHRAAA)

Hyo Jin Choi, General Secretary, North Korean Human Rights Advancement Association in Australia (NKHRAAA)

Jeffrey and Rebecca Huizenga of Michigan, NKFC members

Machiko Sato of Japan, NKFC member 

Aaron Peterson of Oregon, NKFC member

Nguyen Dinh Thang, PhD, CEO & President of Boat People SOS

2011 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award Laureate

Human Rights Foundation (New York, New York)

Peter Kang, Chairman, Korea Freedom Alliance

Connie Chang of Illinois, NKFC Member

Johnny Park, Intern, Defense Forum Foundation

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Survivors

Holocaust survivor, Kati Preston.

The Holocaust, or Shoah in Hebrew, refers to the World War II genocide of 6 million European Jews. This was unequivocally the most extreme and horrific example of anti-Semitism the world has ever seen. Yet, somehow Jewish survivors of this atrocity, including the Lantos Foundation’s namesake Tom Lantos, were able to emerge from this dark time with their spirits unbroken and with a deep sense of their responsibility to ensure that such horrors never happen again. In this episode, podcast host and Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett speaks with two Holocaust survivors about their experiences during WWII and how they shaped the rest of their lives.

Links and reference:

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center

USC Shoah Foundation

New Hampshire Governor Sununu signs genocide education bill

Maloney’s Never Again Education Act Signed into Law

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Lantos Foundation and 21 Wilberforce Statement: No Place for Religious Discrimination in the Fight for Internet Freedom

July 20 marks 21 years since the Chinese government began its campaign of persecution against Falun Gong. On this day, the Lantos Foundation and 21 Wilberforce released the following statement:

In a recent New York Times article covering events at the U.S. Global Agency for Media (USAGM), we were shocked and dismayed by what can only be described as an open display of religious bigotry. We would never have imagined such a lapse in journalistic ethics from America’s self-proclaimed “newspaper of record”, but the printed words do not lie.

In describing tools used to circumvent the internet firewall in closed countries, the reporters made no fewer than 9 references to the personal beliefs and religious practices of two developers.  Though several other technology companies, NGOs and other individuals were written about, none of their religious affiliations were mentioned. The developers who were identified by their religion happen to be followers of Falun Gong, which the article’s sub-headline terms “the secretive, anti-Beijing spiritual movement with pro-Trump elements”. This description sounds eerily like something that could have been written by the Chinese Communist Party, which has spent decades persecuting, oppressing and torturing followers of the Falun Gong movement. Furthermore, the article implies that the personal religious beliefs and practices of the developers have direct bearing on the legitimacy of the tools that they have developed and whether they deserve to be among those that receive funds from the U.S. Government.

Let us be perfectly clear: we welcome and encourage open discussion and debate about the merits or drawbacks of any given technology that aims to open the internet in closed societies. Likewise, rigorous monitoring and analysis can and should determine which tools are most effective in the fight for Internet Freedom, and therefore most deserving of U.S. Government funding. But it remains entirely unacceptable, and frankly un-American, to dismiss or disqualify or even describe an individual or product largely on the basis of religious affiliation or belief.

Imagine if the New York Times article had mentioned numerous times that the developers in question were practicing Catholics and implied, with disparaging undertones, that their technology was backed by the Vatican; or had referred to “software developed by Muslims” or “the Jewish developers”. There would have been an outcry, and rightly so. Yet the Times’ denigrating coverage of Falun Gong is no different and should be condemned in equal terms.  Choosing a small, persecuted religion to single out does not make the bigotry any more palatable.

Sadly, this one article is not an isolated incident of religious bigotry against the Falun Gong. In recent interviews with several reporters regarding the future of the Open Technology Fund, the same inappropriate questions about the developers’ religious beliefs have been raised time and again – though occasionally strong pushback against such bigotry has encouraged journalists not to include this angle in their reporting. This has clearly become part of the narrative being pushed, and bought in to, across the journalistic world. But journalists are not the only ones that have fallen into this trap.  Even more alarming, over the last ten years of our work advocating for greater Internet Freedom, we have personally witnessed disparaging remarks about certain developers’ religious affiliation during several different U.S. Government meetings by the very people who control funding for Internet Freedom – a sign that religious discrimination may well have had an impact in determining which tools to fund.

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice and 21 Wilberforce, as leaders of the Voices for Internet Freedom coalition, denounce in the strongest terms any discrimination on the basis of religion and urge especially those in positions of power – from editors in newsrooms to decision-makers in the halls of government – to take an unwavering stand against this form of intolerance. To allow such prejudice to persist against a small and persecuted spiritual movement will erode this nation’s longstanding commitment to ensuring that a person’s religious beliefs cannot be used as a justification to delegitimize them or deny them opportunities. We must not allow efforts to open the internet across the globe to be marred by religious discrimination at home.

The Keeper Podcast : Solidarity Sabbath Season – Special Envoy Elan Carr

Episode 11:
Solidarity Sabbath Season
– Special Envoy Elan Carr

Episode 11 of The Keeper, and the second episode of our Solidarity Sabbath season, will bring you into the 21st century of anti-Semitism with a conversation with the United States’ top diplomat tasked with combating anti-Semitism. Elan Carr, the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, joins Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett to speak about his work in the fight against anti-Semitism – what keeps him up at night, and what encourages him and gives him hope for the future.

Links and reference:

Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

Defining Anti-Semitism

Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism

The Hater Next Door report

“Commit to Fighting the Hater Next Door”, The Hill Op-ed by Yigal Carmon and Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett

German Parliament Deems B.D.S. Movement Anti-Semitic

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