Keynote Address: Ingrid Betancourt: In a world that is pregnant with threat- Where is the Hope? Who has the Courage?

In a world that is pregnant with threat- Where is the Hope? Who has the Courage?

Former Senator of Columbia, Ingrid Betancourt who was released from FARC Guerillas in July 2007 gave the closing keynote address. Some of the key points from her presentation follow.

• In this world which I found after my liberation – I was captured just after 9/11, a see a new world of fear emerging. Fear of the other; Fear of Governments; Fear of Heads of State; If there is one fear which we must all work at is, the fear dwelling within each of us – fear of what others might think.
• Fighting for Human Rights is a good and noble thing but when we fight for one person it becomes much more complex. When we defend human rights in the name of a face, then it is uncomfortable.
• We must never lose the courage to speak out!
• No one is too small to speak out
• All of us have the right to speak.

Your voice and your actions freed me. Now be alert and speak up and for others. In just the last few weeks 132 Iranian Minors were hanged for taking place in a public protest. Those of us who live in democracies must encourage the media to be open and investigate in a way that always honours TRUTH.