UN WATCH: 25 Years After Durban: Antisemitism Repackaged as “Human Rights” & Bringing Human Rights Heroes to World Stage
Twenty-five years after the infamous 2001 Durban Conference, the UN Human Rights Council held a session commemorating the event. Hillel Neuer took the floor to remind delegates of Durban’s true legacy. What was billed as a World Conference Against Racism became a global platform for antisemitism. In the streets, demonstrators praised Hitler and threatened Jewish students. Antisemitic caricatures were distributed. Copies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were openly sold.
Israel alone was singled out in the official outcome document. Holocaust survivor and U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos called it “the most sickening display of hate for Jews” he had witnessed since the Nazi era. Durban was a turning point. Antisemitism was repackaged in the language of human rights — “apartheid,” “racism,” “genocide.” Once embedded in UN discourse, that rhetoric spread to civil society, media, and campuses. Today, we see the consequences. Watch Hillel Neuer’s full address at the UN Human Rights Council and judge for yourself whether the lesson of Durban has truly been learned.
Bringing Human Rights Heroes to World Stage
UN Watch Brings Human Rights Heroes to World Stage, Exposes The Real Violators: Iran, Syria, China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea
Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad tears a photo of Ayatollah Khamenei upon accepting the 2026 Courage Award on behalf of the “Heroes of Iran.”
For once, the dictators were on the defensive. UN Watch led a coalition of 30 human rights organizations to hold the 18th annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, gathering the most courageous dissidents and former political prisoners from Iran, China, Russia, Cuba, Belarus, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Sudan, Vietnam and elsewhere.
The opening event was held at the United Nations European headquarters. The main summit then took place in Geneva’s international conference center, attended by hundreds of dissidents, diplomats, journalists, activists, and students. People came from around the world to participate in person, and over 400,000 followed online.
The Summit presented its 2026 Courage Award to “The Heroes of Iran” — those who rose up in the face of tyranny to demand their basic human rights and dignity, with tens of thousands gunned down, maimed, and slaughtered.
If you missed the Summit, you can catch up on all the action here.
Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of United Nations Watch, on behalf of 30 co-sponsoring NGOs, delivered the welcoming address at the 18th Annual Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 18th, 2026. Read Hillel Neuer’s full bio here: https://genevasummit.org/speaker/hill…
#GenevaSummit2026 Highlights
“I do not accept this award as a personal honor. I accept it as a platform to indict the Islamic Republic for its massacre. The real courage belongs to the Iranian women and men who carry bullets in their bodies and still demand freedom.”
Leading Iranian women’s rights activist and repeated target of assassination plots by the Islamic regime, Masih Alinejad, accepted the 2026 Courage Award on behalf of the “Heroes of Iran.”
“Let me be absolutely clear. We do not want to live with the Taliban. We want a free Afghanistan. An Afghanistan with democracy. With pluralism. With a state where religion does not control women’s bodies or people’s minds.”
Afghan-Iranian Taekwondo athlete Marzieh Hamidi received the 2026 International Women’s Rights Award for her tireless advocacy for Afghan women’s rights.
“I decided that if my husband was imprisoned for speaking, then I would speak louder. I registered as a presidential candidate in his place. Not because I was brave. But because I was angry.”
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, President-elect of Belarus, delivered a keynote address advocating for freedom, democracy, and human rights for the Belarusian people.
“I am in hiding now. But I won’t be in hiding forever. I’m going to be free. Or I’ll die trying to be free. With your help, we can liberate Uganda soon—before it’s too late.”
Ugandan opposition leader and 2026 presidential candidate Bobi Wine testified on dictator Yoweri Museveni’s oppression, urging the international community to act.
“Young adults are forced to devote ten years of their youth serving the military, and after being discharged they must work like slaves in coal mines, farms, and construction sites. This is the tragic fate of young North Koreans.”
Kim Yumi, a North Korean defector who escaped in 2023, shared her story and exposed the ongoing atrocities in the country.
“Maduro is gone—but Venezuela is not liberated yet. There are still nearly 800 political prisoners in jail and 30 million Venezuelans inside and outside the country getting ready for the day of final liberation.”
Venezuelan opposition advisor Pedro Urruchurtu Noselli took the floor after taking refuge for over 400 days inside Argentine embassy in Caracas. Still wanted for arrest on politically motivated charges, he spoke on the dire situation in Venezuela.
“I have not seen my beloved father in person in seven years; he was not there at my wedding to walk me down the aisle or dance the father-daughter dance. I now stand before you in my most vulnerable state, 5 months pregnant and traveling across the world to plead for my father’s release.”
Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of Pastor Ezra Jin, a political prisoner in China, called for sustained international pressure to bring her father home.
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