The nomination process for this special year will open in the first quarter of 2024 and will remain live for two months, as done in the past.
A nomination form will be available in several languages. Any individual or organization can be nominated for the Award, keeping in mind these rules and criteria:
Candidates must be currently active in the promotion and protection of human rights (the Award does not consider defenders who are deceased);
The candidate should not employ or advocate violence;
Candidates who are no longer in need of protection (e.g., because they are now in a safe environment) will normally not be considered;
Self-nominations are not accepted.
Once the nominations have been vetted by the Foundation and considered by our Jury of ten human rights organizations, the name(s) of the Laureate(s) will be released in the second quarter of 2024.
Preparations are underway for a 30th-anniversary reunion of former winners of the Award in Geneva as well as a Ceremony, which would take place in the third quarter of 2024.
The Human Rights Foundation announced as recipients of the 2023 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent: Nicaraguan political cartoonist Pedro X. Molina; Ugandan novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija; and the third prize to be shared by four Ukrainian artists: the late conductor Yuriy Kerpatenko; the “Art Residency in Occupation” project; the illustrator Mariia Loniuk; and the “Stand Up for Ukraine” performance project.
“In the face of oppression and stifling silence, this year’s laureates have chosen to speak the unspoken, echoing Václav Havel’s creativity and courageous spirit,” said HRF Chief Executive Officer Thor Halvorssen.
This year’s laureates will be recognized during a ceremony on Wednesday, June 14, at the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) in Oslo, Norway. The Havel Prize ceremony will also be broadcast live at oslofreedomforum.com.
Pedro X Molina is a Nicaraguan political cartoonist who was forced into exile on Christmas Day 2018 after Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega’s political police killed a journalist, jailed two others, and ransacked the offices of El Confidencial — the digital newspaper that featured Molina’s biting caricatures of Ortega and his tyranny. Molina published his first two cartoons in Barricada in 1995, later becoming a cartoonist for the digital outlet El Confidencial. In 2019, he received the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, awarded by Columbia University. The same year he was recognized by Americas Quarterly as one of its Top 5 Latin American political humorists.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija is a prominent Ugandan novelist recognized by English PEN in 2021 as a Writer of Courage and a fierce critic of the dictatorship of Yoweri Museveni. He has shown exceptional courage and defiance despite being imprisoned and tortured three times since 2020 for his irreverent writing and books, including “The Greedy Barbarian,” a satirical political fiction novel about corruption and dictatorship in a fictitious African country, and “Banana Republic: Where Writing is Treasonous,” an account of the torture he was subjected to while in detention in 2020 for the publication of his first book. In late December 2021, Rukirabashaija was kidnapped from his home and taken to an army base, where he was illegally detained for one month because of his tweets criticizing Museveni and his son. Rukirabashaija was so severely tortured that he was released only on medical grounds. He was charged with “offensive communication” under Uganda’s repressive Computer Misuse Act. In February 2022, Rukirabashaija managed to flee to Germany for medical treatment, and he vowed to return to Uganda to face trial after his medical treatment.
Kerpatenko was a renowned Ukrainian musician and principal conductor of the Kherson Regional Philharmonic. In October 2022, Russian troops assassinated Kerpatenko in his home at point-blank range after he refused to conduct a concert under the rule of Russian invading forces in Kherson, Ukraine. The concert was meant to portray an “improvement of peaceful life” in the occupied city, but Kerpatenko “categorically refused to cooperate with the occupants,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy later confirmed. Kerpatenko led his hometown’s orchestra for more than 20 years before he was murdered. The Havel Prize will be presented posthumously to Kerpatenko for his courageous stance against the Russian forces’ repeated attempts at “artwashing” their illegal occupation of Ukraine.
Art Residency in Occupation is an underground art society created by curator Yuliia Manukian. During the occupation of Kherson, Ukraine, six resident artists secretly met in a basement studio at the initiative of Manukian to produce works that showcase the death and destruction in the southern city of Kherson, offering viewers an opportunity to understand the scope of the war. Through this residency, Manukian sought to provide shelter for artists and gave them the opportunity to tell stories of war through the language of art. While written journalism can distance an outsider from the reality of current life in Ukraine, Manukian believes that the group’s collection of drawings, paintings, photographs, diary entries, and videos convey the raw truth.
The Havel Prize will be presented to Manukian on behalf of the collective of artists who bravely united in wartime to create dozens of works that creatively document the horrors endured by millions of Ukrainians living under the Russian invasion.
Manukian is a curator, art critic, and journalist based in Odessa, Ukraine. She was shortlisted in the British Journalism Awards’ foreign affairs category for her vital, courageous, and deeply moving Kherson diaries for The Observer.
Mariia Loniuk is a Ukrainian freelance artist specializing in digital art. Since Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Loniuk has created vivid and touching illustrations about the war, conveying the feelings and images Ukrainians face. Her drawings capture the devastation of cities, homes, and human lives, the ubiquity of death and suffering, and the war’s destruction. Despite this, her illustrations also highlight the tremendous bravery and determination of the Ukrainian army and the courage and solidarity of the Ukrainian people as they defend their freedom.
Stand Up for Ukraine is a project that brings people together through the universal language of music, reminding us that art has the ability to transcend boundaries, challenge oppressive ideologies, and ignite a collective spirit of solidarity. The performance project, curated by Neringa Rekašiūtė, Eglė Plytnikaitė, and Elvina Nevardauskaitė, seeks to spark hope and empowerment and encourage people to stand united against a totalitarian regime that undermines human dignity. It consists of a live performance where the 22-year-old Ukrainian singer, Elizaveta Izmalkova, is joined by passersby singing along to the folk song, “Chervona Kalyna” — a symbol of Ukrainian resilience and freedom. Stand Up For Ukraine took the internet by storm, capturing the attention of more than five million viewers worldwide. The project serves as a call to action, urging people to set aside differences and come together in support of Ukraine.
Izmalkova is a 22-year-old Ukrainian singer based in Vilnius, Lithuania. She was born in the city of Pervomaisk in the Luhansk region. In her lifetime, Izmalkova’s family home in Ukraine was destroyed twice by Russian forces, first when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and once again in early 2023.
Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its 2023 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin on 26 May 2023. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including:
“This year’s laureates are a courageous and inspiring group of people who reflect the determination, dynamism and diversity of human rights defenders (HRDs) who are on the front lines of fighting for a more just world,” said Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders. “Their vital work in defence of human rights in DRC, Ecuador, Jordan, Philippines and Ukraine impacts countless people in their communities and beyond. By shining an international spotlight on their struggles and empowering them to continue their work, we at Front Line Defenders hope this Award will touch the lives of many more people on whose behalf they act.”
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a leader among environmental and land defenders in DRC and one of the most trusted advocates on behalf of communities impacted by land grabs, trafficking, and illegal resource extraction activities. He is also the only advocate who organises judicial training and capacity-building sessions for DRC citizens on topics related to environment and community rights in Goma, eastern DRC.
AMERICAS
Segundo Ordóñez (Ecuador), an Afro-descendant human rights defender, is one of the most visible faces and the community representative in the two legal proceedings brought against the Japanese-owned company Furukawa Plantaciones C. A. and the State of Ecuador. The cases have focused on how workers on abacá (Manila hemp) plantations suffer labour exploitation as they farm the raw materials in slavery-like conditions.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Jeany ‘Rose’ Hayahay (Philippines) is a woman human rights defender based in Mindanao, the Philippines. Since 2019, she has been the spokesperson of the Save Our Schools Network (SOS Network), a coalition of child-focused NGOs, church-based groups and other stakeholders advocating for children’s right to education in Mindanao.
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
Digital Security Lab Ukraine (Ukraine) is a team of specialists in the field of digital security and internet freedom. They help Ukrainian journalists, human rights defenders and public activists solve problems with digital security, as well as promote the realisation of human rights on the internet by influencing government policy in the field of digital rights.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Hala Ahed (Jordan) is a Jordanian human rights lawyer who has worked with a number of human rights and feminist organisations to defend women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly in Jordan.
14 NGOs call on Bahrain to ensure that human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is allowed adequate medical treatment, as well as the right to access and respond to allegations made by the Government of Bahrain in a response to a UN communication.
In a joint communication made public on 4 May 2023, six UN experts – including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mumba Malila – expressed their utmost concern at the continued arbitrary detention of human rights defender Mr. Al-Khawaja. He is a widely recognised HRD, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/4d45e316-c636-4d02-852d-7bfc2b08b78d
The UN communication addresses troubling allegations of torture, ill treatment and poor prison conditions of Mr. Al-Khawaja, including intimidation, restriction of communication with family, deprivation of basic rights, including his inability to give power of attorney to his lawyer in court, as required, shackling of hands, despite doctors’ orders to the contrary, as well as fabrication of cases against him and other political prisoners in Bahrain.
The UN communication was sent to the Government of Bahrain on 17 February 2023 and remained confidential for 60 days, as is UN protocol. The Government of Bahrain replied to the six UN experts on 17 April 2023, which was recently translated and made publicly available.
The Government of Bahrain’s response denies that Mr. Al-Khawaja has been subject to torture. This is contradicted by findings from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which was established by the King of Bahrain and medically documented that Al-Khawaja was subjected to torture and sexually assaulted by security forces in 2011. Furthermore, the Government of Bahrain’s response fails to adequately recognize Mr. Al-Khawaja as a human rights defender or acknowledge the arbitrary nature of his detention.
On more than one occasion, Mr. Al-Khawaja attempted to receive information over the phone about the nature of the UN communication, including the Government of Bahrain’s response, but the calls were systematically cut by the authorities. Therefore, Mr. Al-Khawaja officially requested through his lawyer that he be allowed a hard copy of the mentioned documents. The signatories call on Bahrain to ensure that the request is honored.
In addition, Mr. Al-Khawaja has continued to be repeatedly denied access to a cardiologist, as well as other appointments with relevant doctors, despite being at risk of a heart attack or stroke at any time. As recently as the past two weeks, Mr. Al-Khawaja was denied two medical appointments, the most recent being on Thursday 11 May 2023.
Since 9 May 2023, Mr. Al-Khawaja has protested in the yard of Jaw Prison on a daily basis holding up two signs in front of the CCTV cameras stating “Treatment prevention is slow systematic killing” and “You commit torture and prevent treatment” in order for him and his fellow prisoners of conscience to be allowed his necessary medical appointments. He informed his family on 14 May 2023 that he has suspended his protest temporarily due to promises made by the prison administration to improve conditions and allow access to adequate treatment.
The signatories call on the Government of Bahrain to:
Immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, as well as all other prisoners of conscience.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is taken to the necessary medical appointments for diagnostics and treatment.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja obtains the requested documents related to the UN communication and that he is allowed a written response.
Signatories:
The #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
Image caption, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi have been detained in Iran for more than 200 days
BBC Persian Service on 5 May 2023 drew attention to the fate of the two journalists who reported first on Mahsa Amini, whose name made headlines around the world when she died in custody last September, sparking waves of protests in Iran. But not many people have heard of Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi.
The two female journalists helped break the story of Ms Amini’s death and have been detained in two of Iran’s most notorious prisons ever since. On Tuesday, they and the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi were awarded the 2023 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize by the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO.”They paid a hefty price for their commitment to report on and convey the truth. And for that, we are committed to honouring them and ensuring their voices will continue to echo worldwide until they are safe and free,” said Zainab Salbi, the jury chair. For more on Narges, see; https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/07C20809-99E2-BDC0-FDC3-E217FF91C126
On 22 September, just six days after she tweeted a photograph of Mahsa’s grieving family, Niloufar Hamedi was arrested. Security forces also raided Elaheh Mohammadi’s home at the same time, seizing her electronic devices. On 29 September, she too was arrested.
Both Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi were already known for hard-hitting news reports and coverage of human rights issues.
“Journalists in Iran are risking their lives on a daily basis to report on the conditions and oppressions there,” the Harvard fellows noted.
Image caption, Mahsa Amini’s death led to a wave of protests in Iran and rallies in solidarity around the world
Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi have meanwhile been kept in harsh conditions at Evin prison in Tehran and Qarchak Women’s Prison, south of the city. Reports from inside Qarchak suggest that the facilities are inhumane, with a lack of medicine, food and even safe drinking water or clean air. Ms Mohammadi lost 10kg (22lbs) in the first three months of her detention, her husband wrote on his Instagram page.
Both women have also struggled to access legal support. The first lawyer appointed to represent the pair said in October that he was unable to communicate with them or access the legal documents surrounding their arrests. Less than a month later, he was himself arrested. The journalists’ families have struggled with the pain of not knowing what is going to happen to them.
“I’m asked, ‘What do the authorities tell you?’ I’m not even sure which institution or person to contact,” Ms Hamedi’s husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, said in an interview with Sharq.
He too has found it difficult to get information about what his wife is accused of and what is likely to happen to her.
At the end of October, Iran’s ministry of intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Revolutionary Guards issued a statement accusing Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi of being trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency to foment unrest in Iran.
Their newspapers denied the allegations and insisted they had just been doing their jobs.
Last week, after they had both spent more than 200 days in custody, the Iranian judiciary announced that Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi had been indicted and their cases referred to a court.
Guatemalan lawyer Claudia González Orellana will receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2023. The Award will be presented at a ceremony co-hosted by Lawyers for Lawyers and the Amsterdam Bar in the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam on 11 May. Watch online, via the following link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIF9Im9wXVo from 5:30 PM until 6:00 PM CEST.
Jury: “By awarding Claudia González Orellana the Lawyers for Lawyers Award, the jury wants to highlight the important work of a lawyer who has bravely represented human rights defenders at high cost to her own personal life and safety. Despite the risk of arrest or physical harm to Claudia and her family, the submission to online harassment, threats, intimidation and the risk of persecution, Claudia bravely continues her work in order to protect human rights and the rule of law”.
After 36 years of internal warfare, Guatemala struggled for democracy and installed an International Commission against Impunity (CICIG). From 2011 to 2019, a period known globally for unprecedented accountability for corruption in Guatemala, Claudia González Orellana was a prosecutor with the CICIG. CICIG successfully prosecuted high level government officials, Supreme Court and Congress members, and other members of organized crime. This work threatened the interests of a corrupt network, the so-called ‘Pacto de corruptos’ a group of economic, military and political elites. In September 2019 CICIG closed down and the former team of lawyers faced several attacks.
As a prosecutor with CICIG Claudia González Orellana pursued accountability for corruption and human rights abuses. She and her family now face extremely high risks of arrest or physical harm for the work she did as a CICIG prosecutor and now as a superb, persistent and public-facing defense attorney for those being targeted. She is now subject to online harassment and threatening rhetoric, verbal threats indicating she may be criminally prosecuted herself, and physical acts of intimidation outside her home. Despite these pressures, Ms González has remained in Guatemala and continues to handle dozens of defense cases, representing individuals who are being prosecuted for their involvement in cases relating to the fight against corruption. For example, she is the lead defense attorney for Virginia Laparra, who has been arbitrarily imprisoned in retaliation for her work as a prosecutor and who has been designated as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
As a result of defending the lawyers and prosecutors who previously defended the right to a life free of corruption and impunity, Claudia González is now facing violent treatment during hearings and through social media, and she is also being subjected to harassment and intimidation. She has faced multiple instances of judicial harassment, the last one of which was a fake case in which they falsely accused her of forging the signature of the nation’s lead anti-corruption prosecutor. Despite this situation, Claudia is currently using her more than 20 years of experience to defend nine lawyers, all of whom worked on high profile anti-corruption cases for several years: six are former Prosecutors of the General Prosecutor’s Office and three are former CICIG lawyers.
Twenty-seven human rights lawyers from across the world were nominated for the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2023. The independent expert jury which consisted of Mr Egbert Myjer (chair), Mr Cees Flinterman, Ms Jenny Goldschmidt, and Ms Channa Samkalden selected Claudia González Orellana as laureate. The independent expert jury selected lawyer Manuchehr Kholiknazarov from Tajikistan and lawyer’s collective Bufete Jurídico de los Pueblos from Honduras as shortlisted candidates.
In an initiative spearheaded by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors Cate Blanchett and Yusra Mardini, those wearing the ribbon at the ceremony included members of the cast and crew of “All Quiet on the Western Front”, which won four awards including Best International Feature. The film’s director, Edward Berger, said: “Today there are many people who suffer from the trauma of war, robbing them of their hope and their dreams. They have had to experience terrible things through war and then displacement. These people deserve our solidarity and support. Everywhere and all the time.
The blue ribbons worn by the stars were made by refugees at Knotty Tie, a US company that helps refugees resettled in the Denver, Colorado, area achieve self-sufficiency through employment, training and education.
There was a moving moment during the award presentations when Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan referenced his own refugee background in his acceptance speech.
“My journey started on a boat. I spent a year in a refugee camp, and somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage,” he said. “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me.”
The Oscars were the culmination of an awards season in which more than 40 nominees, presenters and other attendees sent a message of solidarity and unity to viewers across the world by wearing the ribbon at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the BAFTAs and related events including the TIME Women of the Year awards and the Green Carpet Fashion Awards.
Beyond the awards themselves, many of the films nominated tackled human themes of displacement, separation and loss, including ‘The Swimmers’ (based on the story of Yusra Mardini and her sister Sara Mardini) – see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/09/15/the-swimmers-netflix-film-about-syrian-refugee-swimmers/, ‘Bad Axe’, ‘Avatar’, ‘Argentina 1985’, ‘Wakanda Forever’ and ‘Marcel the Shell’. Through effective storytelling, these films help to combat discrimination and misunderstanding, build compassion and offer new perspectives.
Full list of those wearing #WithRefugees ribbons across events during awards season 2023 and 2022, with thanks from UNHCR:
Aimee Lou Wood Alberto Iglesia Albrecht Schuh Angela Bassett Bill Nighy Brendan Gleeson Cate Blanchett Charlotte Wells Christian Goldbeck Colin Farrell Daniel Bruhl Daniela D’Antonio Daryl McCormack Diane Warren Dolly De Leon Edward Berger Emma Thompson Ernestine Hippe Felix Kammerer Filippo Scotti, Florence Pugh Frank Kruse Gina Prince Bythewood Gugu Mbatha-Raw Guillermo del Toro James Krishna Floyd Jamie Lee Curtis Javier Bardem Jean Todt Kat Graham Lars Ginzel Laura Bailey Luisa Ranieri Markus Stemler Mary Maker Michael Ward Michelle Yeoh Nicholas Britell Nicole Lecky Paolo Sorrentino Paul Mescal Pedro Almodovar Penelope Cruz. Sally El Hosaini Samuel L Jackson Sheila Atim Sophie Turner Theo James Viktor Prasil Volker Bertelmannr Yuh-Jung Youn Yusra Mardini
You can now relive the MEA ceremony which was held on 16 February 2023 and get inspired by the 2023 Laureates, three outstanding human rights defenders:
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The animation pilot series “True Heroes Are For Real” explores the moment when ordinary people stand up for justice. When does one become a human rights defender? On the 16th of February 2023, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders ceremony is taking place in Geneva and will celebrate three outstanding activists; Khurram Parvez from Kashmir, on of the 2023 Martin Ennals Award laureates is part of this animation pilot series. THE HEROES ANIMATIONS will also cover Ahmed Mansoor – UAE, Estela de Carlotto – Argentina, Asma Jahangir – Pakistan, Ilham Tohti – China, Eren Keskin – Turkey, and Sizani Ngubane – South Africa.
True Heroes Films (THF) collaborates with Human Rights Defenders through audio-visual communication. Besides the animation series, we are currently preparing a library of short messages to highlight the work and courage of these Heroes through different themes. Both projects are in the fundraising phase. Feel free to reach out if you would like to support our work.
Our True Heroes Digest of Awards is an overview of all international human rights awards and laureates. The Digest recognises and applauds those who stand up for their community. Recently it reached the milestone of over 3000 Human Rights Defenders: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedi… . We also have over 100 in-depth portraits and interviews with some of the most outstanding True Heroes of our time. View them on our website http://www.trueheroesfilms.org
Three outstanding activists who pioneered human rights movements in Chad, Venezuela, and Kashmir are to receive the Martin Ennals Award 2023 on February 16th in Geneva. The common denominator between the 2023 Laureates, Delphine Djiraibé (Chad), Feliciano Reyna (Venezuela), and Khurram Parvez (Kashmir) is their courage, passion, and determination to bring the voice of the voiceless to the international arena, despite the ongoing, sometimes life-threatening, challenges they endure. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/01/19/breaking-news-laureates-of-the-mea-for-2023-announced/]The ceremony takes place on February 16th at 6.30 pm. To sign up: https://www.martinennalsaward.org/2023-edition/
Actor Jamie Lee-Curtis wearing a blue ribbon in solidarity with refugees at the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2023. © UNHCR/Andy Hall
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 