it took a lot of courage when you talk about guantanamo as the gulag of time. it took courage of the time to say it and we got pushed back immediately from the u.s. government and many others. so courage is very important. and the other very important thing i tell my successor would be to not be afraid to shine the light on have been scandals and to recognize and a membership organization the mobilization of people bringing the membership along as a force to change public opinion and put pressure on government is a huge force and that we should not underestimate the power of ordinary people to do traordinar things. >> irene khan, thank you so much. [applause] >> irene khan as an amnesty international secretary-general since 2001. she is the first woman and first muslim to head up the organization. she previously worked u.n. high commissioner for refugees. for more information, visit theunheardtruth.com. >>> this, if you don't know already is the map. it was on display the jefferson building. if you haven't been there to see it i strongly urge you to do it. this

a report from amnesty international in 2005 irene khan wrote about guantanamo bay, calling it the gulag of our times, entrenching the practice of arbitrary and indefinite detention and violation of international law, trials by military commissions have made a mockery of justice and due process. 2005 was a different time than now. that was a big deal. i was in washington at the time as a capitol hill correspondent and i remember the stir it caused in washington. defense secretary donald rumsfeld called the report reprehensible. dick cheney said he was offended. . called it absurd. the washington post editorialized that, quote, lately the organization has tended to save its most vitriolic condemnation not for dictators but for the united states and. it was a clear attempt to try to discredit this organization. i have followed washington politics long enough to know that when top officials attack you instead of ignoring you it is because they are scared of you. the white house's attack on the group's credibility for me at that time was a clear affirmation of amnesty international integrity

complementing the work of the other to a publishing reports on north korea, the most famous being "hidden gulag" looking at the prison camp system in north korea. but all three of these organizations combined roughly have a budget, combined, of not much more than a million dollars. so, again, really small underfunded organizations that are struggling to try and advance human rights. so again, you have a commitment of at least a verbal commitment at the government level, but not much action. and then you have ngos both in south korea and the united states struggling to advance human rights with very limited budgets with very small steps. i think we can see there is common values, a common approach being taken in north korea, but to date there has been a failure to coordinate activities. this raises, then, the question of what is the most effective vehicle for advancing human rights in a coordinated manner between seoul and washington. one logical vehicle is the united nations. after all, the u.n. has been passing resolutions every year in recent years condemning human rights in north korea. the

the most famous being hit in gulags by david hauck, looking at the prison camp system in north korea. but all three of these organizations combined have a budget combined of not much more than $1 million if that in some years. so again, very small underfunded organizations that are struggling to try and advance human rights, so again you have a commitment at least a verbal commitment of the government level but not much action and then you have ngos both and south korea and the united states struggling to advance human rights on very limited budgets with very small staff. so i think again we can see that there is common value, a common approach being taken and north korea but to date there has been a failure to coordinate activities this raises the question what is the most effective vehicle for advancing -- advancing human rights and in a coordinated manner between seoul and washington and one logical vehicle is the united nations. after all the u.n. has been passing resolutions every year in recent years condemning human rights in north korea. the human rights commission just held l