The Keeper: A Human Rights Podcast

Episode Notes

Episode 32: “Women Leading the Way on FoRB” Season – A Conversation with Michal Cotler Wunsh”

The fourth episode of this podcast season features a conversation with Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism. She has had an impressive career as a member of the Israeli Knesset, a researcher, policy advisor, advocate and more. Her appointment as Special Envoy came at an unbelievably critical moment – when the brutal attacks of October 7 sparked an unprecedented surge of global antisemitism. This stark reality has made Michal’s powerful, eloquent, brave voice on this topic more important than ever. In this episode, she talks about the shocking antisemitism witnessed in the aftermath of October 7; what companies, universities and governments can do to better combat rising antisemitism; how the legacy of her father Professor Irwin Cotler motivates and inspires here; and what gives her hope, even in these dark times.

Note: The conversation took place in late 2024, so there are developments in the Middle East and elsewhere that have happened in the intervening months but are not covered in this episode.

Bio: Michal Cotler-Wunsh

Michal Cotler-Wunsh on X

Producers: Brittany Smith, Chelsea Hedquist & Celie Hudson

Audio editors: Brittany Smith & Celie Hudon

Music: • Always Hopeful – Silent Partner (No C...

Episode Notes

Episode 31: “Women Leading the Way on FoRB” Season – A Conversation with Rushan Abbas

This third episode of our “Women Leading the Way on Freedom of Religion or Belief” season brings you a conversation with Rushan Abbas, one of the most prominent and respected activists for the rights of the Uyghur people. She is founder and executive director of the Campaign for Uyghurs. For decades, she has advocated fearlessly on behalf of Uyghur Muslims – a religious and ethnic minority in China, which has faced brutal repression at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Numerous western governments have classified it as genocide, with more than 1 million Uyghurs being held in so-called “reeducation camps.” In reality, these are modern-day concentration camps.

Rushan has been pivotal to raising awareness about the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity being perpetrated against the Uyghurs. Moreover, she has been critical to many of the most effective efforts to push back against China’s brutal repression. She and her staff at the Campaign for Uyghurs were recognized for their vital work when they were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

However, the recognition for Rushan’s tremendous contribution to the field of human rights and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) has come with a heavy price. In this episode, Rushan discusses the childhood that shaped her, the American values of freedom and democracy that she embraced when she came to America, and the unjust imprisonment of her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas.

Rushan Abbas Bio

Campaign for Uyghurs

Rushan Abbas: Profiles in Freedom (Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation)

Chinese Persecution of the Uyghurs (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Gulshan Abbas (Defending Freedoms Project)

Producers: Brittany Smith, Chelsea Hedquist & Celie Hudson

Audio editors: Brittany Smith & Celie Hudon

Music: Always Hopeful - Silent Partner • Always Hopeful – Silent Partner (No C...

This will be the fifth and final episode of our Sports & Rights season. Over the course of this series, we've taken an in-depth look at what happens when the worlds of sports and human rights collide. We've brought you conversations with Olympians, activists, journalists, academics, and fans. We've tried to unpack some of the stickiest questions around the intersection of sports and human rights.

This podcast season started just as the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar, and perhaps appropriately it ended just as FIFA announced that Saudia Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. If this tells us anything, it is that the questions we've been grappling with about sports and human rights aren't going away anytime soon.

But, to end the season on a more hopeful and uplifting note, we're bringing you a wonderful conversation "from the vault" – a Q&A with Enes Kanter Freedom, NBA player turned human rights activist. This conversation took place before a live audience at the 2022 Lantos Human Rights Prize ceremony in Washington, DC, when Kanter Freedom was awarded the Prize. He was interviewed by Lantos Foundation President Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett.
We hope you enjoy this conversation with an athlete who gave up everything to stand up for human rights.
Highlights from the 2022 Lantos Human Rights Prize ceremony

Producers: Chelsea Hedquist, Brittany Smith

Audio editor: Brittany Smith

Music: Riorr by Audiorezout

Episode Notes

Episode 30: “Women Leading the Way on FoRB” Season – A Conversation with Anila Ali

In this episode, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett speaks with Anila Ali, founder and president of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC). She is a fearless voice countering and condemning extremism, encouraging religious plurality, taking on taboo subjects, and working to build interfaith alliances around the world. This conversation covers the roots of her advocacy, which trace back to her childhood, and the events that set her on a path of advocating for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all.

About Anila

AMMWEC

Standing Firm Against Hate: A Muslim Perspective on Israel and Hamas (Newsweek)

Voices for Humanity: Muslim Women Unite Against Extremism (Combat Antisemitism Movement)

Q&A With Anila Ali: Empowering the Next Generation of Muslim Peace Builders (Religion Unplugged)

Producers: Brittany Smith, Chelsea Hedquist & Celie Hudson

Audio editors: Brittany Smith & Celie Hudon

Music: Always Hopeful - Silent Partner • Always Hopeful – Silent Partner (No C...

For the fifth episode of our Rule of Law Season, we speak with journalist and author Anjan Sundaram to help us understand what is happening with the rule of law in Rwanda. The country is often held up as a democratic success story in Africa, as it has achieved stability and prosperity over the last 25 years since the horrific genocide of 1994. But Anjan explains that the real story is very different, and he speaks from very personal experience. He moved to Kigali, Rwanda in 2009 and began teaching journalism to Rwandan reporters – and then, one by one, his students began to run into a series of misfortunes that couldn’t have been mere coincidence. Anjan came to realize that he was witnessing the fall of free speech and the rise of President Paul Kagame’s dictatorship in Rwanda. Anjan speaks about the impact of Kagame’s authoritarian regime on the everyday lives of Rwandans, the brazen ways in which he stifles any dissent, and how western countries have actually emboldened Kagame to consolidate his power. He also discusses the Rwandan government’s kidnapping of human rights hero Paul Rusesabagina and the show trial he faces in Kigali, and he explains what it will mean for any critics of President Kagame going forward.

Anjan Sundaram Official Website

“Rwanda’s Rendition of a Hollywood Hero Confirms the Country’s Descent into Dictatorship”, by Anjan Sundaram in Foreign Policy

“I Think I May Die Tonight”, excerpt from Bad News by Anjan Sundaram in Foreign Policy

Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship by Anjan Sundaram

YouTube: Rwanda paid for the flight that led to Paul Rusesabagina arrest – UpFront

The Daily: A Battle for the Soul of Rwanda

A Tribute to Paul Rusesabagina by Congressman Tom Lantos (July 25, 2005)

Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation - #FreeRusesabagina
This season of The Keeper was made possible with the generous support of Ambassador April H. Foley, who served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 2006 -2009.
This episode is also supported by four distinguished professors from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law:

Professor John Greabe, Director of the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership & Public Service.

Professor Albert “Buzz” Scherr, Chair of the International Criminal Law and Justice Program and former Director of the State Department Rule of Law Project in Northern Russia.

Professor Robert E. McDaniel, a former U.S. Federal Prosecutor in Washington, DC, former Head of Legal Affairs for the OSCE in the Republic of Kosovo and now a faculty member in the International Criminal Law and Justice Program.

Judge Arthur Gajarsa, who joined the faculty as Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence after retiring from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.