Festival of Democracy 2020

New World Emerging?

Discussion/CZ
18:00-19:30, online
Vodňany žijou

The Coronavirus pandemic took the whole world by surprise. Regulations that were taken affected the everyday life of all of us. How to stand responsibly towards challenges and risks that pandemic brings? What can be the role of state, local self-governments and civil society, and how can the crisis shatter trust in political institutions and politics in general? Can be the new wave of solidarity caused by pandemic a chance for recovery of civil society and for democratic renewal? Is the new world emerging and if so, how it will be?

Speakers:
Josef Prokeš, Priest, Římskokatolická farnost Vodňany
Eva Hejzlarová, Researcher, ISS FSV UK
Petr Jánský, Economist, IES FSV UK
Saša Uhlová, Journalist, A2larm

The role of human rights in foreign policy

Discussion/ENG
13:15-14:45, online
Political Science Club FSS CUNI

Debate on the role of human rights in foreign policy. How has the issue of human rights in foreign policy developed in the Czechia over 30 years, how does this issue figure in economic diplomacy, what is the relationship between human rights and the arms trade in diplomacy.

Speakers:
Tomáš Petříček, Minister of foreign affairs of Czech republic
Veronika Mítková, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in non-profit organization People in Need
Petra Procházková, Journalist, Denník N

Moderator:
Filip Pluhař, Politologický klub FSV UK

Should the Statutes Stand: Should we remember our pasts and honor the legacies of controversial heroes?

Roundtable/ENG
17:00-19:00, online
Anglo-American University

We invite you to join an interdisciplinary talk on the role and relevance of historical memory after periods of civil and human rights abuses. In recent months, fuelled by movements and activists demanding true racial equality, the world has heard heightening rally calls for the removal of memorials, such as statues, works of art, and names of places and institutions, that depict controversial historical figures, as well as witnessing their defacement. As the world is growing more aware of the importance of recognizing the rights of all people, societies must also often face dark pasts. As the philosopher, George Santayana, famously said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This discussion will bring together a round table discussion, in which the audience will be encouraged to participate, about the role of memory in society and law, and try to determine how our world might find a way forward by healing and growing, but not forgetting.

Speakers:
Rowland Brucken
Milada Polisenska
Petr Bergmann

Human rights in 21. century 

Discussion/CZ
16:00-17:30, online
Institute for Politics and Society

When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted in 1948, the world was a very different place. Years of war had left the better part of continents in disarray, and the world was waking up to the unconscionable horrors of the holocaust. In 2018 world celebrated the 70th anniversary of the UDHR and 65 anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. Both documents are now being challenged by changing political landscape and rise of illiberal political systems as well as new complex issues including rights to privacy and freedom of expression in the Internet age, digitalisation and artificial intelligence, genetic engineering and the threat climate change poses to the right to life, food, water and housing. There is a much needed debate to question our freedoms in the context of these central issues that our global system must resolve. 

Speakers:
Václav Bělohradský, philosopher and sociologist, Czech Republic
Miroslav Bárta, egyptologist, Czech Institute of Egyptology, Czech Republic
Alžbeta Krausová, scientist, Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Scienes
Michal Pěchouček, director, Artificial Intelligence Center FEL ČVUT; technical director, Avast, Czech Republic

Mongol Identity in Danger? Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Mongolia and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Discussion/ENG
14:00-16:00, online
Czech Academy of Sciences, Orientální ústav akademie Věd České Republiky, Czech Academy of Sciences , Information Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in China

The change of language policies in Inner Mongolia has lately sparked the interest of the international press. Scholars, NGOs and the general public in Inner Mongolia and abroad have expressed their concern for another case in the world of erasure of language rights and cultural and linguistic diversity. This discussion will focus on different sociolinguistic realities in Inner Mongolia and Mongolia. It will also focus on the power relationships between national and minoritized languages, dynamics of endangerment and assimilation, and the role of language in communities' self-perception.

Speakers:
Merle Schatz, Georg-August Universität, Göttingen
Elisabetta Ragagnin, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice
Veronika Zikmundová, Charles University, Prague
Veronika Kapišovská, Charles University, Prague

Merciful Summer of Confiscation – New Chance Even for Democracy

Discussion/CZ
18:00-19:30, online
Institute for Christian Democratic Politics

Merciful Summer – debts remission – tool of mercifulness across civilisations which provided people in despair a second chance. What would it mean for Czechia where there are approx. 800,000 people whose possession is currently impounded? Why is a high number of people whose possession is subject to distraint a danger to democracy? How should such a debt remission be set? And what use would it be to the whole society? Let’s together give it some thought.

Speakers:
Radek Hábl
Danielem Prokop
Marek Výborný

Moderator:
Šárka Kabátová

Welcome to Chechnya (discussion)

Discussion/ENG
17:30-19:45, online

Chechnya, an area of state impunity and human rights abuses, condemned by many international organizations. What is the situation there now? What can the international community do to mitigate the abuses in the region? The latest update on the situation in Chechnya is presented by the well-known experts.

Speakers:
Nick Sturdee, BBC journalist and filmmaker
Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, Director at Conflict analysis and prevention centre
Tatyana Lokshina, Associate Director, Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch
Igor Kochetkov, human rights activist, director of the Russian LGBT Network

Welcome to Chechnya (online screening)

Online Screening/RUS/ENG
20:00-22:00, online
One World

In the last couple of years Chcenyan armed forces applied blood and violent policy against homosexuals. Arrests and physical punishment are daily routine.  State disrupts families and destroys lives and the only solution for many homosexuals is emigration. This document, created by David France, follows the journey of victims of repressions and these, who tried to help them. 

Messenger on a White Horse

Online Screening/ENG/ESP
20:00-22:00, online
Democratic Solidarity and CADAL

The 2017 documentary about English journalist Robert Cox, ex editor in chief of the Buenos Aires Herald during Argentina's 1976-83 military dictatorship.Argentina’s 1976-83 dictatorship was one of Latin America’s most gruesome. Under the guise of a war on communism, the ruling Armed Forces tortured and “disappeared” thousands of young left-wing students, activists and militants, leaving a trail of devastation that would haunt the country for decades. But a soft-spoken journalist named ROBERT COX had the courage to speak out. Over 4 years, the London-born editor published hundreds of articles about the military’s crimes in “The Buenos Aires Herald”, a small English-language daily newspaper with a history of defiance against censorship. Thanks to Cox, the world learned about the “disappeared ones” and their brave mothers, the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. But his work would come at a cost. The military murdered dozens of journalists in Argentina during its 8-year reign. Years of threats and intimidation against Cox culminated in a sinister threat sent to his 10-year-old son in December 1979. Cox was forced to abandon the country with his young family. His exile would be permanent. And the fate of many of the people he tried to save would remain a mystery to him for decades.

Production:
Jayson McNamara, Director & producer
Santiago Carrica & Agustina G. Bonorino, Cinematography
Ernesto Doldán, Editor
Paco Cabral & Matias Tozzola, Music
Santiago Capriglione & Gabriel Santamaria, Sound design
Eduardo Sierra, Color
Leandro de Loredo, Sound Mix

Speciální debata Café Evropa: Budoucnost EU po koronaviru – jak si Evropa poradí se současnými výzvami?

Online diskuse /CZ
18:00-19:30, online
Café Evropa

Jak si Evropská unie a její členské státy poradí s aktuálními geopolitickými výzvami, kterým musí i v době pandemie koronaviru čelit? Jaký je postoj Evropské unie k aktuální situaci v Bělorusku a co by mělo být podniknuto k řešení komplikované situace? Jak může vývoj v Bělorusku ovlivnit vztahy s Ruskem a dalšími státy? Měly by členské státy EU v návaznosti na otravu Alexeje Navalného přehodnotit vztahy s Ruskem a podporu projektů jako je Nord Stream 2? Jak by se měla Evropská unie postavit k aktivitám Turecka ve východním Středomoří a dalším postojům tohoto člena NATO? Měla by Evropská unie aktivněji reagovat na konflikt mezi Arménií a Ázerbájdžánem o Náhorní Karabach? A jak mohou nadcházející volby v USA ovlivnit transatlantické vztahy a naši bezpečnost a ekonomiku?

Speakers:
Ondřej Ditrych, ředitel, Institute of International Relations Prague / Ústav mezinárodních vztahů
Markéta Gregorová, poslankyně Evropského parlamentu, Česká pirátská strana, Zelení/ESA (Greens/EFA in the European Parliament)
Aleš Chmelař, náměstek pro řízení sekce evropské, Ministerstvo zahraničních věcí České republiky

Moderator:
Kateřina Etrychová

Comunnity Projects and their impact to the Environment in the City 

Discussion/CZE
15:00-16:30, online
Ekodomov

The panel discussion focused on uncovering the issue of the functioning of community projects aimed at improving the environment in the city. What are the benefits and where are their limits? Where do ideas come from and where are motivations born? Do the community's joint efforts have an anticipated impact? The initiators of meaningful organizations will share with us their personal experiences in connecting people, experts will talk about the importance of community projects to mitigate climate change in the city.

Speakers:
Barbora Kinkalová, Producer and Director
Milan Smrž, Chemist
Zuzana Vránová, Founder, Sousedský klub
Michal Křivohlávek, Director, Bieno
Jan Valeška, promoter of local ecological agriculture

The Present and the Future of Islamism 

Discussion/ENG
17:00-18:30, online
Cevro Institute

The session will cover the state of Islamism in the region in the light of recent developments in the Middle East in the post-Arab Spring and the post-ISIS period and possible future developments and their implications for Europe. The event will also assess the impact of the varying Islamism discourses in Francophone and English-language debates on the Czech discussions.

Speakers:
prof. Gilles Kepel
Dr. Matěj Čejka

Why do we need public media service? 

Discussion/CZE
12:30-13:30, online
Korzo národní

Why do we need public media service? What future do they have in the Czech Republic? Are they easy to understand atractive and modern? What is their role in society? Why there are voices doubting their importance and meaning?

Speakers:
Marek Wollner
Linda Bartošová
Václav Moravec

REMEMBERING NOVEMBER 1989: WILL ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES SHAKE THE SYSTEM AGAIN?  

Discussion/ENG
16:00-17:00, online
The British Embassy in the Czech Republic

We fondly remember November 17 as the day that brought back freedom and democracy to Czechoslovakia. We sometimes forget, however, that the frustration with an omnipresent ecological devastation was among the key motivations that led Czechoslovak society to finally rise and face its communist opressors. Today, environmental challenges are again making people, especially young people, cry for change and swift action. Is this a risk for democracy? Based on the covid pandemic experience, may the anti-pandemic policies, based on top-down restrictions on mobility, public life, private consumtion etc introduced by governments, serve to some as a role model for climate policy? How to save a healthy climate and keep liberal democracy at the same time? Is there a risk of ecological emergency government, sacrificing individual liberty and plurality of lifestyles in the name of the survival of mankind?

Speakers:
Bedřich Moldan
Ralf Fucks
Barbora Kvasničková