On June 14th 2024, representatives from embassies, delegations, and ethnic and human rights organizations will gather together with leaders of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation for the 17th annual Roll Call of Nations Wreath Laying Ceremony & Dissident Human Rights Award presentation at the Victims of Communism Memorial on Capitol Hill.
This year, VOC is proud to present our Dissident Human Rights Award to Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett. Dr. Lantos Swett serves as President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, established in 2008 to continue the legacy of her father, the late Congressman Tom Lantos, who served as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the US Congress.
Under her leadership, the Lantos Foundation has become a distinguished and respected voice on key human rights concerns ranging from advancing rule of law and freedom of religion and belief globally, to fighting for Internet freedom in closed societies, to combating the persistent and growing threat of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
Dr. Lantos Swett is the former Chair and Vice Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and teaches Human Rights and American Foreign Policy at Tufts University. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) and the Budapest based Tom Lantos Institute. Dr. Lantos Swett also serves on the Advisory Board of UN Watch, the annual Anne Frank Award and Lecture, and the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy. She serves as Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Summit, which held its inaugural gathering in 2021.
Dr. Lantos Swett has dedicated her career to advocating for human rights, religious freedom, and democracy worldwide, particularly for those oppressed under communist and totalitarian regimes. It is with great pleasure that we bestow upon Dr. Lantos Swett the prestigious Dissident Human Rights Award in recognition of her exceptional courage and advocacy.
SPONSOR THE ROLL CALL OF NATIONS WREATH LAYING CEREMONY
Support our annual wreath-laying ceremony—held each June on the anniversary of the dedication of our Memorial statue near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC—to honor the memory of the more than 100 million victims killed by communism and the more than 1.5 billion still held captive under communist regimes, and to celebrate liberty where it has triumphed. By contributing to VOC, you allow our educational work to continue.