Sunjeev Bery
Advocacy Director, Middle East and North Africa
Amnesty International

David Kramer
Senior Director for Human Rights and Democracy
The McCain Institute for International Leadership

Pedro Abramovay
Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and Director of the Latin America Program
Open Society Foundations
 
Welcoming remarks by:
Virginia Bennett
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
US Department of State

 John Herbst
Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center
Atlantic Council   

International sporting events — once the symbols of peace, cooperation, and unity — now too often prompt human rights abuses, censorship, discrimination, and doping scandals. As the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro near, audiences from around the world will be lured by Olympic glory and forget the people living in the shadows: those who are denied the spotlight in favor of their governments’ public relations campaigns. In the lead up to the games, the Atlantic Council will bring together top human rights experts on Brazil, Qatar, and Russia to shed light on the violations surrounding mega-sporting events and to offer recommendations on what the international community must do to end this cycle of abuse.