Freedom of expression was one of the first victories of the Arab Spring. In Tunisia, the media are now enjoying a new sense of freedom. After years of harsh censorship, Tunisian journalists can now speak freely and do their job in far better conditions.
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Das Berliner Menschenwürdeforum ist eine jährliche Veranstaltung in Berlin, die seit 2011 Entscheider, Experten und interessierte Personen aus der ganzen Welt zum Thema Menschenwürde zusammenbringt und so eine Plattform für den Austausch über aktuelle und relevante Aspekte der Menschenwürde schafft. Das Berliner Menschenwürdeforum wurde auf Initiative der Roland Berger Stiftung ins Leben gerufen und soll künftig jedes Jahr am 22. November in Berlin stattfinden.
Established in 2011, the Berlin Forum for Human Dignity is an annual event. It brings together decision makers, experts and interested parties from around the world to discuss current and relevant aspects of human dignity. The Berlin Forum for Human Dignity was set up at the behest of the Roland Berger Foundation and will take place in Berlin every year on November 22.
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37-year-old Mazen Darwish was one of the first human rights activists in Syria. He has been fighting for freedom of expression for more than 10 years, facing prison, harassment and the prohibition to travel outside Syria.
He helped establish the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Freedom and Human Rights (CDF). Later he founded the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), with the objective of defending journalists and human rights. Darwish is married and has two children.
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47-year-old lawyer Gamal Eid is one of the most important human rights activists in Egypt and the Arab world. He has legally defended most of Egypt's human rights activists and is one of the most prominent publishers and speakers on human rights and freedom of expression.
He is the founder and Executive Director of the Arabic Network of Human Rights Information (ANHRI), a key player in the Egyptian and Arab human rights movement.
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58-year-old Radhia Nasraoui is one of the most prominent lawyers in Tunisia. She has been fighting for human rights, and against torture in particular, for more than 30 years.
In her roles as lawyer, human rights activist and co-founder and Director of the Association for the Fight against Torture in Tunisia (ALTT), she has been a key figure in the campaign for women's rights, an independent judiciary and against torture. Nasraoui is married to Hamma Hammami, general secretary of the Tunisian Workers' Party, and has three children.
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34-year-old Razan Zeitouneh is a lawyer and human rights activist. She is the founder of the website “Syrian Human Rights Information Link” documenting human rights abuses in Syria. When the uprisings began in March Zeitouneh started to write on the arrests, torture, and killings of peaceful protestors committed by the security forces. Her accounts have been one of the key sources of the events taking place in Syria for the outside world. Under the threat of being arrested and killed she now lives in hiding.
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63-year-old Bahey el din Hassan is the co-founder and Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS). He is one of Egypt's leading human rights activists and helped found the Egyptian human rights movement in the 1980s.
Hassan fought against the human rights abuses by the Mubarak regime for more than 20 years. He also lectures and writes on human rights and democratic transformation in the Arab region.
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59-year-old Amal Basha is a strong advocate for women's rights. Known as the dean of Yemeni NGOs, she is also a lobbyist for human rights and greater political freedom.
She is the Chairperson of the Sisters' Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF), Advisor for the International Coalition on the Criminal Court and for the Ministry of Human Rights in Yemen.
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A strong promoter of human rights and freedom of the press since 2005 in a country dominated by an oppressive and corrupt regime, Tawakkol Karman participated in organizing the protests in the early months of 2011 and became a leading voice during the uprisings. Karman is a liberal Islamist who has faced harassment and death threats, and made the sacrifice to separate from her family, including her three children, in order to fight for women's rights and press freedom. Karman was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Price.
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61-year-old Sihem Bensedrine is a journalist known as a tireless and courageous activist for freedom of the press and human rights in Tunisia. She is the co-founder and spokesperson of the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia (CNLT) and co-founder of the online magazine Kalima and Radio Kalima, reporting on human rights abuses in Tunisia.
In her 20-plus years fighting for human rights, she has faced harassment and torture, and had to leave the country several times to live in exile. But all the danger she has put herself and her family into has not stopped her from speaking out against the former regimes and fighting for the idea that every Tunisian should live in dignity.
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