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A veteran Russian human rights activist has a sardonic take on the news that the European Union will receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
“First they give [it] to Obama, then to the European Union. Who is next? Maybe the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” said former Soviet dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the head of the Helsinki Human Rights Group.
The SCO has been described as “the most dangerous organization that the American people have never heard of,” an authoritarian international for Eurasia’s illiberal regimes, and “one of those international bodies whose proclaimed ideals conceal an often sordid reality.” Other observers have noted that Beijing is using the SCO to ensure that it gets “the thickest piece of cake given to the modern Chinese by the heavens,” granting $10 billion in loans to Central Asian states last year.
Freedom House and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cordially invite you to the roundtable Anti-Extremism Laws in Russia, Pakistan, and China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Thursday, November 8th 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM 1301 Connecticut Ave. NW 4th Floor Washington, DC This event is on the record. Opening Statement: David J. Kramer, President, Freedom House Introduction: Knox Thames, Director of Policy and Research, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Participants: Tariq Ahmad, Foreign Law Specialist, Law Library of Congress; Virab Khachatryan, Foreign Law Specialist at the Global Legal Research Center; Peter Roudik, Director of Legal Research, Global Legal Research Center; Aleksandr Verhovsky, Director, SOVA Center; Laney Zhang, Senior Foreign Law Specialist, Global Legal Research Center.
To RSVP for this event by November 7th at noon, click here. Freedom House is pleased to host a roundtable on the anti-extremism legal frameworks in China, Pakistan, and Russia. Moderated by Freedom House President David Kramer, the on-the-record roundtable will provide an opportunity for participants to engage experts and authors of The Law Library of Congress’s report Legal Provisions on Fighting Extremism. The participants will compare and contrast the differing approaches to anti-extremism laws in China, Pakistan, and Russia. The round table comes at an important time as repressive regimes are developing anti-extremism laws and implementing them in broad terms to suppress criticism.
RSVP for this event here: Anti-Extremism Laws in Russia, Pakistan, and China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
SOVA Center and the Helsinki Human Rights Group receive support from the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based democracy assistance group.
