The College Freedom Forum connects university students with world-renowned activists working to promote democracy and human rights in authoritarian regimes. During this event, students were exposed to some of today’s most pressing human rights issues, resources to enhance their academic endeavors, and connections for professional growth.
The program focused on human rights, democratic movements, and activism in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes in the Asia-Pacific region. Speakers shed light on some of the region’s most pressing human rights issues, from the Chinese Communist Party’s repression of the Uyghur people to Kim Jong-un’s totalitarian regime in North Korea to crackdowns on free speech in Vietnam, among others. Activists shared their personal stories and highlighted what the international community can do to stand in solidarity with their causes.
The program included a panel discussion with Stanford faculty on authoritarian repression in the Asia-Pacific region and the responses of civil society and pro-democracy movements.
This event was hosted by the Human Rights Foundation, and co-sponsored with Stanford's Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Center for Human Rights and International Justice.
Guest Speakers:
Jewher Ilham, Uyghur advocate and daughter of imprisoned scholar Ilham Tohti
Mai Khoi, Vietnamese pop star and political activist
Eunhee Park, North Korean defector
Lobsang Sangay, Former Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration’s government-in-exile
Also Featuring:
Larry Diamond, Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Professor, by courtesy, of Political Science and Sociology.
Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy, and a professor, by courtesy, of Political Science.
Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Professor of Sociology, Henri H. and Tomoye Takahashi Professor and Senior Fellow in Japanese Studies at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center,
Director of the Japan Program and Deputy Director, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
