2025 Front Line Defenders Speeches Transcript

The following is an audio transcription made by Hanna Nielson of The Belfast Review of the speeches delivered by the awardees for the Front Line Defenders Awards in Dublin, 22 May, 2025.

Please note that audio transcription sometimes includes errors, such as misheard names or phrases. Every effort has been made to correct any errors, and notation is included where that was not possible.

The speeches were delivered in a variety of languagues, with English translation provided by the Front Line Defenders team. The following transcriptions are for the English translations only.

SPEECHES: (given in order of presentation)

LUC EXPEDIT ZINSOU AGBLAKOU, from Hirondelle Club International

Benin, Africa

‘The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil but because of those who look on and do nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, dear fellow HRDs, dear partners,

[deleted line: I stand before you today not as a hero but as an outraged man.]

Receiving this distinction here in Dublin 22 of May, 2025, is an immense honour but it is also a burden, a reminder of responsibility. I would first like to thank those who believed in me, who supported me, who taught me that defending human rights is not an option – it’s an emergency. I think of the marginalised community silenced, the faces marked by fear, the outstretched hands that too many ignore. This award is for them. It is for all of you, tireless defenders, guardians of human dignity.

I come from far away, not just geographically. I come from a continent where injustice is not a theory but a daily presence. Where we learn from a very young age that the law is not always on the side of the most just. Those who suffer are not always given a voice, and that sometimes silence kills as much as any weapon.

But I also learned that every voice counts, that every refusal to give up is a spark against the darkness. And that we collectively have the power to push back barbarism, step by step, word by word, deed by deed.

Because neutrality is impossible when human rights are violated. There is no middle ground in the face of oppression. To be neutral in the face of torture, exclusion, and family rejection is to choose the executioner’s side. It is to refuse to extend a helping hand and this is precisely where we must be the most resolute, in this moral injunction not to look the other way.

So, I appeal to each of you present here: dignitaries, journalists, activists and representatives, HRDs, let us remain vigilant, to remain upright, let us remain human. Let us never let habit numb us, let us never let fear silence us, and let us never let weariness rob us of our duty to speak up.

Because at its core, our fight is simple – it’s about loving. Loving enough not to remain silent, loving enough not to run away, loving enough to keep going, even when it’s difficult, even when it’s dangerous.

I dream of a world where everyone is born free including sexual and gender minorities, not just in theory but in reality. Where justice doesn’t depend on passport, gender, skin colour, or disability. Where we no longer view the wounds of sexual and gender minorities as a foreign spectacle but as a call to action. This dream is not naïve, it is necessary.

So let us stand up, let us speak out, let us act. And let us never give in to the temptation to look away. Because as long as one of us is deprived of rights, all of humanity suffers.

In the face of injustice, we do not give in. In the face of discrimination, we do not give in. In the face of rights violations, we do not give in.

SHARIFAKHON MADRAKHIMOVA MURDOVNA, Journalist

Ukbekistan

[pre-recorded message]

‘I warmly welcome everyone and express my heartfelt gratitude to Front Line Defenders for recognising my human rights work. I had hoped to join you in Dublin, but unfortunately, I am unable to be there in person. My passport – containing the Irish visa – was damaged while being returned by mail. Someone ad opened the envelope and deliberately tampered with it, clearly intending to prevent me from leaving Uzbekistan. In a way, this too is a form of recognition of the impact of my work.

I am grateful that my dear friend and colleague, Uzbek human rights defender Umida Niyazova, who will speak on my behalf, she will share with you the words I have written from the depths of my heart.’ [end]

UMIDA NIYAZOVA – [reading SHARIFA’s speech on her behalf]

‘Becoming a human rights defender is not a personal choice. It’s not a prestigious position or a paid job. It is an activity that one takes on overtime while working on another profession. Circumstances, events, and different life paths give rise to human rights defenders. By profession, I am a journalist. After graduating from university was when I started working in a local newspaper. Many people would approach me with various issues. Some were unhappy with court rulings, others complained about no water in their villages. Some said that authorities ignored their appeals, others spoke about their land being unlawfully seized.

Listening to such grievances from citizens, I began conducting journalistic investigations trying to understand each issue in depth. I asked tough questions and put officials, authorities, and law enforcement officers in uncomfortable positions. I conducted human rights monitoring on different topics, prepared interviews, videos, photographs, for the video reports. In this way without realising it I gradually became a human rights defender. Of course good people helped me along [the] way. With their trust and guidance, I worked on myself, learned, participated in various conferences, trainings.

Together with several fearless colleagues, I have spent many, many years monitoring child and forced sector in the cotton sector of Uzbekistan. We reported, during the cotton sector, we reported about the human rights violations in various publications. We conducted monitoring and informed policy makers, international organisations in Uzbekistan. Our efforts have finally paid off. The result of years, Uzbekistan achieved the eradication of forced labour and child labour in the cotton fields. The boycott of Uzbekistan’s cotton industry, organised by a coalition of cotton companies, was lifted in 2021 and I’m proud to have been a small part of this global effort in this important case.

As I mentioned earlier becoming a human rights defender and civil activist is not a personal choice. To this day I have sincerely worked to help people and improve their lives, and I haven’t done this work for material gain. Today as I receive this honourable award, I would like to acknowledge the courage of human rights defenders around the world.

Courage is what all people of good will need [in these?] uneasy days. In oppressive countries where everyone is afraid to speak truth to power, human rights defenders speak up and their work and courage should be valued. In my country most people prefer to remain silent because speaking up is dangerous. But fear breeds helplessness and human rights defenders are not helpless.

In our Uzbek culture, we have a saying. ‘Do good and throw it into the river, the fish may know. If not, the creator Allah, surely knows.’ Wherever I have helped, whoever I have made life easier for, I did it with the belief that I was doing good to others. Thank you all for giving the award, trusting me, and for giving me such a tremendous support.’

WENDI OSIRUS, from MONDHA

Haiti & Dominican Republic

‘Ladies and gentlemen, friends, allies, and defenders of human dignity around the world, and especially defenders in Haiti and Dominican Republic.

With big humility and responsibility I receive this recognition in the name and representation for the movement for human rights, peace, and global justice, MONDHA. I don’t receive it as a personal triumph but as a collective homage to the many voices that have been silenced, threatened, displaced, or killed for defending what is essential – life, dignity and justice.

Thank you to Front Line Defenders for your support and unconditional commitment to human rights defenders on the island of Espagnole, Haiti and Dominican Republic, and also human rights defenders around the world.

I would like to acknowledge the people that have accompanied me in this fight: [*several names mentioned, unsure spelling] and other organisations and people in different countries and continents who supported us from years of struggle.

I come from a region marked by deep colonial wounds, structural inequalities, and a constant struggle for sovereignty and humanity. In Haiti [there is] the chronic insecurity, armed groups, the lack of state of law, and multidimensional poverty combined with political violence, which turns our work into a matter of life and death. And on the other side of the island, in Dominican Republic, we face difficult situations, arbitrary deportation, and other challenges that deny fundamental rights to thousands of people. These problems affect poor and Black Dominicans; even more so they affect Haitian migrants who leave to seek opportunities to feed their families.

This award is a symbolic shield but also a loud speaker. With it we want to tell the world that human rights defenders and women human rights defenders are not criminals. We are the conscience of our societies. MONDHA has accompanied displaced communities, denounced state violence, and xenophobia, promoted dialogue as a tool of peace between two Caribbean countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic, and have also the seventeen sustainable development goals in hopes they will have an impact in Haiti.

But this recognition is also compounded by a [guide?]. We need real protection. We need [the] international community to look toward Haiti, not only with compassion but with solidarity and effective policies. We need the DR to recognise and guarantee the rights of everyone no matter their origin. The Haitian people wants to choose its fate without foreign interference. It is also time for reparation and restitution of what was taken from Haiti, by France from 1925 onwards, and the USA from 1914-1915 until the present day. Haiti needs to breathe and it won’t do it if the international community continues with the same colonial and discriminatory practices. The seventeen sustainable development goals must be implemented in Haiti, but with the participation of the Haitian people.

The rebellion of defenders. Rebellion is a cry of intelligence and the will to change something. We no longer say yes to the situation, we do not accept this decay, and we fight to change it.

There are values that should be maintained and passed from generation to generations. Such as the beautiful value of equality. We are all born free and independent. Our blood is red like yours and our hearts are always on the left side like yours. We are all born the same way, rich or poor. Two hundred and twenty years later, we cannot normalise extreme poverty and human rights violations in Haiti.

Solidary among beings: humans rights. Solidarity is the message that can make us all brothers. It consists in affirming that it’s not worth fighting for the colours of a flag but for humanity. I am making this appeal to the people who call themselves friends of Haiti. Especially our neighbours the Dominican Republicans.

Culture. Culture comes from cultivation. From growing and cultivating one’s self, [it] doesn’t mean to know everything but to become more human each day. It’s capturing everything humanity has been producing and that moves us to savour its beauty. Haiti and Dominican Republic need to build a new bridge of cooperation, solidarity and progress for the whole island. For that we need to mobilise. Not masses of people but to mobilise the conscience that we as civilized people have, with this burning desire to change things for the better. 

I thank Front Line Defenders for this space, and above all for believing in the people who resist. May this award serve to strengthen our networks. To protect our lives, and to let us keep dreaming even in a place where dreams often die first.

Haiti exists and it needs from all of you to keep resisting, thank you.’

ARNON NAMPA, Pro-democracy lawyer

Thailand

PATHOMPORN KAEWNOO [his wife reads his speech on his behalf]

‘Ladies and gentleman, on behalf of Anon Nampa, my brave life partner, I will read his speech:

It’s a profound honour, deeply moving to receive this prestigious award. More than that, I feel immensely empowered for the road ahead. A path shrouded in darkness, echoing with the roars of demons, that bear the names of the old order.

My friend and I were born and raised in the old order. Like, born and raised in a cage. Our ancestors were oppressed and deceived by outdated and irrational beliefs. The powers of the old order created propaganda to indoctrinate us and often coerce us into believing that human beings are not unequal, that one group of people is destined to rule, while others are born to be ruled.

Our ancestors tried to rise up and challenge those beliefs. They were to carve out a new path and put forward change. Time and again, sometimes falling, sometimes rising. But they of course never ceded, never faded. The struggle against the old order has been passed down generation by generation until it has reached our time.

Today, efforts to change the old order are taking place across the world. In an era where oppression grows ever more burdensome, expanding its reach to erode human dignity, and suppress freedoms of expression and resistance in all its forms. There is a concert [sic] to drag us back to the old world, to prevent a new one from taking shape. My country, too, freedom of expression is strictly forbidden. Repression is routine. Ranging from killing and enforced disappearance to arbitrary charges, imprisonment, political disenfranchisement and the systematic silencing of those who do not conform to the old order. And yet, we do not submit.

In 2020, we rose up under the name Ratsadornprasong [Law Office] 2020 to carry forward the struggle of our ancestors. Political demonstration and online expression has spread wildly and boldly, driven by the belief that freedom and equality can only be achieved through resistance. That uprising [of] awakened people in my society. It shattered the illusion constructed by the old order. Illusion that’s used to blind and oppress us.

Through this struggle. We have grown stronger. Every wound has hardened our resolve. Every fall has made us steadier on our feet. This award is but a medal to pin on the wing of a bird, but the wind beneath them, [is] the force that lifts us as we soar toward victory – Come, then, come! All our struggle, all the threats and roaring voices – come at us! We will fight and we will end this struggle in our generation, with gratitude, conviction, and faith.

Arnon Nampa remains in prison, May 2025. Thank you.’

MHAHMED HALI, Human rights defender

Occupied Western Sahara

[note from transcriptionist: I found this translator more difficult to understand than others; apologies for any missed words]

Good morning, everyone. I would like to thank Front Line Defenders and its wonderful team for this exceptional opportunity. I would also like to thank all the organisations and individuals who have supported me to reach this moment, which I dedicate to all the victims, especially the Sahrawi political prisoners.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am Mhamed Hali from the Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. I am a human rights defender, have a doctorate in international law and I’m a lawyer banned by the Moroccan authorities from practising law. I am thankful today for the government for East and North Africa region. This award is not just for me but for [other?]   affirmation and moral support for all human rights defenders in the region and the [persisting?]  dangers [transiting?] others’ experience, [the name of which the one?] in occupied Palestine. It’s also a generous gesture to the Sahrawi human rights defenders who suffer in silence.

Ladies and gentleman, the Moroccan authorities banned me from practising law. It’s a dangerous precedent in the history of the legal profession which has been [above board?] for defending human rights. Allow me here to take you back to 2019, after obtaining the certificate of success in the bar exam issued by the Moroccan Ministry of Justice, I submitted an application to practise my profession to the Bar Association in the Moroccan city of Agadir, fulfilling all the legal requirements stipulated by the Moroccan Bar code, number 2808. However, I was later surprised by the issuance of an [edict?] banning me from practising law unfortunately on the preteens that I am human rights defender and that my position does not align with the position of the [?] authorities of Morocco. Especially in regard to advocating for the people of Western Sahara.

Ladies and gentleman, the barriers I have been subjected to and the subsequent  defamation has put my life in danger. While it constitutes an unjustified criminalisation of my activism as a peaceful human rights defender, it also exposes all the discrimination we face as human rights defenders because of our activities. All this is to force us to remain silent and accept the status quo, or to force us to emigrate from our land without return [rights?]. However, this will not prevent us from demanding our rights guaranteed by law. With your support and esteem. In this context I would like to mention the tremendous efforts made by  a group of influential organisations to defend my right to practice law, as well as by the [?] team, represented by a powerful international lawyer Tony Sofano [*unsure spelling], and Sahrawi lawyer [E— M— *unsure name].

Dear guests, what I was subjected to is just a small part of the daily violations that Sahrawi human rights defenders have been put through by the Moroccan authorities. These violations go beyond daily physical assaults, the confiscation of freedom of expression and association, the economic blockade and the confiscation of land. The extent of our serious violations that in some cases have been to murder and [in the defiance of reason or sense?] to order an imprisonment on fabricated charges and torture them, and sometimes even life in prison. This is the case for the [*unsure organisation name] crew made up of my peer activists, journalists and human rights defenders who have been facing unjust punishment since 2010. I call on you to stand in solidarity with them and to join us in efforts to secure their release. 

It’s time to create conditions for human rights defenders to continue performing their duties and to thwart all attempts at that [?] intervention. Thank you all, thank you Front Line Defenders for this historic opportunity. May our struggle continue, all of us, to build peace and stability for all people of the world without exception.’