(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
At the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) press conference, a question from the Chamber clearly proves: Whether OFF really "could define the United States as part of the democratic free world?". The man who poses the question to the panel refers to the record-breaking component of the US population in prison; peace prize winner Obama – who stepped up with bombing and drones, a huge surveillance device of his own citizens – and most recently: a new CIA commander linked to the torture of their prisoners.
Thor Halvorssen – OFF's founder and resident in the USA – answers sharply: «Let me be absolutely clear here. The answer is absolutely yes. " Halvorssen then distinguishes between three forms of government: full-scale dictatorship (China), competitive authoritarian states based on unfree elections, and well-functioning democracies. And for a state to be a democracy, he explains, it requires "free, fair elections, a free and independent press, conditional power and the distribution of power, and that executive and legislative authorities actually guard each other." In addition, a vibrant civil society where people are not persecuted or imprisoned because of their opinions. "
Halvorssen further elaborates that OFF does not focus on the likes of the United States, but rather authoritarian states, which he says constitute half of the world's states. Countries where the authorities, unlike Norway, imprison journalists and attack those who comment on things they do not like.
The man in the hall still insists on his focus on the United States, and is almost shunned by OFF Chairman Garri Kasparov: “Shame on you! You are trying to draw attention away from real abuse, from a world where murder and violence are commonplace! He is also making it clear that in Kasparov's Russia there are no free presidential elections, something we know he himself has suffered. He concludes that "many countries have their problems, but in the United States and other states, at least one is protected by law and citizenship." Still, the man in the hall does not surrender, and Halvorssen as governor cuts through and announces that an ordinary Hawaii judge stopped President Trump with the Constitution. "The only thing Trump could do was complain on Twitter," he says before recalling that the press conference, rather than a debate arena, revolves around the invited activists in the panel.
This reminds me of the following: Once in a discussion about problems, a stick was placed on the table with the question of how it could be made smaller – after a little pondering, one went and fetched a big stick and left it next to it.
The activists tell
The press conference presents a bunch of activists from tough regimes: including Farida Nabourema, who left Togo to study in the United States. As an activist, she felt that a Togo minister had called the university and asked them to send her home because she had criticized the country of origin. The answer was no, the university's female principal was proud of her instead.
The next activist in the panel had escaped from North Korea via China and Mongolia: Yeonmi Park tells us that her country of 25 million people also has the world's largest concentration camp.
Former child soldier Emmanuel Jal from South Sudan says poetically: “I am my father's stress, my mother's tears, my grandfather's worries, and my grandmother's grief and joy. I am the voice of my brothers and sisters. I'm here to share my experiences ... »
And Egypt's Wael Ghonim is an activist on social media. Has he, like Venezuelan Antonio Ledezma, also spent over 1000 days in prison for his political struggle against the authorities? And what about Edipcia Dubón, who came from Nicaragua, and emotionally says that what started recently as a peaceful protest ended with 76 killed, 868 injured and 438 in prison? The numbers are important, as she speaks in Spanish while Halvorssen translates. An unknown number of people just disappeared. Nicaragua is now the country being pursued and the press censored.
Almost as a response to the stick on the table, the Norwegian in the panel chooses John Peder Egenæs from Amnesty International – when, as he said, he lives in a peaceful country – instead of focusing on Saudi Arabia. The country's leader Mohammed bin Salman is trying to emerge as a reformer, but this is according to Egenæs a smoking blanket over a dictatorship. Women who fight for the right to drive are actually all arrested – even if the leader appears to be liberating to women.
Statistics and reports do not move
Halvorssen's focus is thus authoritarian states and dictatorships. Ten years ago, when they started OFF, several countries had some degree of democracy – he mentions Nicaragua, the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary and Bolivia. But the fight for human rights is still there, and with three days of events here in Oslo, we see packed halls with dedicated people from around the world.
Some will still wonder if things like the Oslo Freedom Forum really help against the widespread exercise of power that is revealed. And are we Norwegians really as committed as we pretend to believe that others are oppressed outside the West? A Danish woman I meet on the outside – she has long worked with refugees and human rights around the world – is concerned about why young Scandinavians today do not pretend to care much about what authoritarian countries do.
Yes, why? For information there is plenty of. Documentaries too. Does too much information seem, as Marshall McLuhan described it, stunning – are we rather numb to all the misery of today's global village? "The medium is the massage", or "mass age".
The point is, statistics and reports do not move. And the enlightened debate – the precondition of free democracies – really requires more to lead to action. Activists' stories or OFFs "stories" about their struggle are important. But also the use of new technology can help people in need – such as new liberating alternatives to central power with cryptocurrency and blockchain. One can invite to communities other than the state, or let minorities create opportunities partly free from central government's governing control, where one anarchistically creates value-creating environments via new technology. (More on this in a future article.)
But. Do you need to train emotions and teach empathy for others but ourselves, as the child soldier who had grown up told us? Not to end up just as a spectator, but as a participant? At least the international commitment is evident to many of the participants in the OFF: human rights activists, creative entrepreneurs, journalists, politicians, artists and philanthropists.
Can you really see outside yourself or the West? Halvorssen ends with a joke about Norwegians at press conferences, those who first dare to ask a panelist afterwards: "The introverted comes away and asks with his eyes down, aimed at his shoes. It extroverted Norwegians, on the other hand, do not look up, but ask with their eyes down, on the other's shoes ... »
