#OFFinNY: What is the state of global human rights activism?
Civil rights activists Mu Sochua and Farida Nabourema join us to talk about the challenges they’ve faced while trying to bring change to their countries.
The annual Oslo Freedom Forum, which will this year be held in New York City, brings together artists, entrepreneurs, and human rights advocates from around the world. In this episode of The Stream, we meet some of the featured speakers:
Mu Sochua – In exile since October 2017, Mu Sochua is the deputy leader of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). For years, Sochua has been a vocal critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party. The prime minister was re-elected in July, with the CPP claiming a majority of parliamentary seats, but Sochua and other opposition activists in the country disputed the result. Although Hun Sen’s government has cracked down on political opposition, it recently released several dissidents from prison, including CNRP leader Kem Sokha, a move critics say was an attempt to avoid sanctions from the US and EU.
Farida Nabourema – Farida Nabourema is a Togolese blogger and civil rights activist whose opposition to the government of President Faure Gnassingbe has not only endangered the lives of her family, but isolated her from them also. The daughter of an activist who was imprisoned multiple times by the current president’s father, Nabourema drew the government’s ire in 2014 when she published the personal contacts of Togo’s parliament on social media.
“Of course, they retaliated with personal threats, intimidation and smear campaigns to depict me as a prostitute, a porn star, a fraudster” Nabourema told the US news network CNN. “The more they tried to destroy me, the more my followership grew, and the stronger I became.”
Since then, Nabourema has remained an active voice on social media, launching the hashtag #FaureMustGo to demand the release of political prisoners and the removal of President Gnassingbe from office.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Mu Sochua @MuSochua
Human and Women’s Rights Activist
sochua.wordpress.com
Farida Nabourema @Farida_N
Writer and Blogger
faridanabourema.org
What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.