As the honorary co-chairs of Freedom Now, it is our pleasure to welcome you. Freedom Now is an exceptional organization whose dynamic vision and commitment to freeing prisoners of conscience is changing our world for the better.
Freedom Now’s mission is one that resonates profoundly with both of us. We each lived under repressive regimes that used arbitrary detention to silence opposition. For Mr. Havel, this included years as a prisoner of conscience in Czechoslovakia for daring to support democracy. For Archbishop Tutu, this included witnessing the apartheid South African government imprison a generation of activists. We know firsthand how the existence of an organization such as Freedom Now would have made a tremendous difference in strengthening the resolve of activists in our own countries during times of tyranny.
But Freedom Now’s mission is about so much more than the individual prisoners of conscience the organization helps protect and free. By representing individual prisoners of conscience, Freedom Now reinforces rule of law and improves human rights throughout the world.
We encourage you to support Freedom Now and its vital work.
The Honorable Vaclav Havel Former President of the Czech Republic
The Most Reverend Desmond M. Tutu Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town