How is a human life counted?

In times of war, rebellion and political oppression, people's fates are often presented through numbers and statistics. The number of dead. The number of imprisoned. The number of executed. The numbers help us understand the scale of a tragedy, but they can also create distance from the people they represent.

Behind every statistic is a person. A life. A story. A family.

Who collects the numbers? Who controls them? Who gets to define the truth? Which lives are recorded, and which ones disappear from the statistics?

In the fifth and final edition of Lectures & Open Dialogue on Iran this season, we turn our attention to the relationship between statistics, power and human rights. How is violence documented under authoritarian regimes? What responsibility comes with the work of collecting and disseminating information about abuses? And what happens when human experiences are reduced to numbers in reports, news headlines and history books?

Tonight's guest is Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, a human rights activist, physician, and professor at the University of Oslo. As founder and director of Iran Human Rights, he has worked for decades to document executions and human rights violations in Iran. His work has helped to shed light on abuses that might otherwise have disappeared into obscurity, silence, and political narratives.

After the talk, we open the space for open dialogue with the audience. The series was established because we believe in the value of physical meeting places where people can listen to each other, ask questions, and explore complex topics together, even when perspectives differ.

During the evening, there will also be music curated by Kiana, who this time brings along singer and oud player Hayan Elywe.

We serve light Iranian finger food.

June 13
Doors open and food is served at 4:30 PM.
Program starts at 5:00 PM.

About the speaker

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam is Professor of Medicine at the University of Oslo and Head of the Laboratory for Molecular Neuroscience. He came to Norway as a political refugee from Iran in 1985, trained as a doctor at the University of Oslo and in 2004 received His Majesty the King's Gold Medal for the best medical doctorate at the university.

He is the founder and director of Iran Human Rights, an organization working to abolish the death penalty and strengthen human rights in Iran. He is also a member of the University of Oslo's committee for Scholars at Risk.

About the musicians

Kiana

Kiana is an Iranian folk singer with a love for folk music from around the world. Through songs in multiple languages, she shares stories of struggle, love, grief, alienation, and hope, with a desire to convey the dream of a better future.

Hayan Elywe

Hayan Elywe is a singer and Oud player, educated at the Academy of Music in Damascus, Syria. He has lived in Norway for two years and has already participated in a number of concerts, events and art evenings.

Come and bring your questions, reflections and perspectives.