On March 17, 2026, Russian opposition leader and former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza addressed the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Less than two years after his release from a maximum-security Siberian prison in a historic 2024 exchange, Kara-Murza delivers a powerful plea to the international community to prioritize human lives over political expediency.
Full Transcript of Speech:
UNHRC President: I now give the floor to the representative of Ingénieurs du Monde.
I am here today because in August 2024, five democratic countries - the United States, Germany, Poland, Norway, and Slovenia - organised an international prisoner exchange that freed 16 people from Russia’s modern-day Gulag.
Our exchange showed that democracies, when they stand on values and work together, are stronger than any despot can ever hope to be.
In recent weeks, this very city, Geneva, has hosted talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost as a result of this unprovoked, illegal aggression. No one can bring them back.
But countries in this room still can save thousands of captives of this war. Ukrainian civilian hostages held in Russian custody. Ukrainian children abducted into Russia. Russian political prisoners jailed because of their opposition to the war.
Their release must be an essential part of any ceasefire agreement.
We often hear about discussions over territories, sanctions, frozen assets, rare earth minerals.
When the talks resume, isn’t it time to put people first?
I thank you very much and I yield back.
