Third Geneva Forum 2020 to go virtual from 9 – 13 November 2020

Geneva: The third edition of the Geneva Forum will be held virtually in view of the rising number of Covid-19 infections and for the safety of the speakers as well as participants. The Forum will be held from 9 to 13 November 2020 as Virtual Geneva Forum Week and will be broadcasted live on Tibet TV networks.
The forum will be inaugurated by the President of the Central Tibetan Administration Dr. Lobsang Sangay and few other honourable guests.
The forum will bring together a select group of human rights experts, practitioners, academicians, activists, diplomats, advocates, parliamentarians, and leaders to discuss the central theme of the Third Geneva Forum 2020 “China’s Policy on Freedom of Religion: Global Impact.” The forum will report and deliberate on the declining freedom of religion in regions under China leading to persecution including Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners. It will also touch upon the constant interferences by the Chinese government in the religious practices of believers including the selection of their religious leaders, a case in point being the continuous Chinese intrusions in the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist practice of recognition of reincarnated lamas.
The first Geneva Forum was held on 2 November 2018 in the backdrop of China’s third Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council and discussed on the theme “human rights situation in regions under the People’s Republic of China.” Following its huge success and based on the overwhelming feedback, it was decided to hold the Geneva Forum as an annual event. The second edition of the Geneva Forum was scaled up to a 2-day long forum. It was held on 14-15 November 2019 on the theme “China’s high-tech repression and freedom of religion.” The highlight of the forum was a declaration titled, “Geneva Forum Declaration 2019” by all the speakers, experts, defenders, witnesses, and participants calling upon China, the UN, governments, and the international community to take note and stop China from violating human rights.
The Geneva Forum on Human Rights has evolved to be a unique platform for human rights experts, practitioners, academicians, activists, governments, diplomats, think tanks, civil society groups, and the affected groups to monitor and evaluate the human rights situation in regions under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) including Tibet, East Turkestan (CHN: Xinjiang), Southern Mongolia (CHN: Inner Mongolia) and Hong Kong. By bringing together a diverse group of individuals, organizations, and institutions, the Forum aims to examine a coordinated multilateral approach to challenge and hold China accountable for worsening human rights record.
Virtual Geneva Forum Week Schedule:
Timings: 2:30 to 4:00 pm (Geneva time); 7 to 8:30 pm (India time), and 8:30 to 10: 00 am (New York time)
9 Nov. 2020: Inaugural Panel
10 Nov. 2020: Panel 1: China’s Policy on Freedom of Religion under the Global Framework
11 Nov. 2020: Panel 2: Religious Persecution: Crackdown on People of Faith in China
12 Nov. 2020: Panel 3: Tibetan Buddhist System of Reincarnation and Why China wants to control it?
13 Nov. 2020: Panel 4: Countering China’s Persecution of Believers: Way Forward
Followed by the Geneva Forum 2020 Declaration and Closing Note
Organized by Tibet Bureau Geneva.
Media Partners: TibetTV & Tibet.Net
For more information please reach out to Tibet Bureau- Geneva.






