awards | Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Archive for the 'awards' Category

Columbia University opens prize nominations for “court rulings” and “legal services” supporting freedom of expression

October 24, 2017

Columbia University has opened 2018 prize nominations for judicial services and legal decisions supporting freedom of expression. What is a bit special about these awards is that they go to ‘court rulings” and “legal services” in the area of freedom of expression.

The Global Freedom of Expression initiative at Columbia University in New York City has opened nominations for its 2018 global prizes, which recognize judicial decisions and legal services strengthening freedom of expression through the promotion of international standards.

The initiative “seeks to advance understanding of the international and national norms and institutions that best protect the free flow of information and expression in an inter-connected global community with major common challenges to address.” It awards the Global Freedom of Expression Prizes, which began in 2014, every two years. “We believe that at a time when freedom of expression is threatened at a global level, there is a particular need to celebrate the victories in defense of this fundamental right”. Individuals and organizations, particularly jurists, academics and non-governmental organizations dedicated to freedom of expression, are invited to nominate court decisions or legal services from anywhere around the globe that “have had a recognizable impact on freedom of expression.” There will be separate prizes for “Court decision” and “Legal Service.” In the Legal Service Category, the awards will consider legal briefs, amicus briefs, academic or other publications.

Nominations will close Jan. 31, 2018 and winners will be announced March 13. Forms are available in both English and Spanish.

Members of the Awards Committee are: Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University; Catalina Botero, former Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States; Nicolas Bratza, former President of the European Court of Human Rights; Lydia Cacho, journalist, human rights defender and author; Agnes Callamard, Director of the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression initiative; Sarah Cleveland, Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights and member of the UN Human Rights Committee; and Irene Khan, Director-General of the International Development Law Organization.

The winners of the 2016 prize for Excellence in Legal Services were Professor Yaman Akdeniz, Assistant Professor Kerem Altiparmak and Attorney at Law Serkan Cengiz for fighting a court order blocking access to YouTube in Turkey. That same year, the prize for a Significant Legal Ruling was awarded for Supreme Court of Norway, Rolfsen and Association of Norwegian Editors v. the Norwegian Prosecution Authority. The court backed broad protection against journalists being forced to expose their sources.

Source: Columbia University opens 2018 prize nominations for judicial services and legal decisions supporting freedom of expression | Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas

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Tags: awards, call for nominations, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Prizes, Columbia University, court, digest of human rights awards, freedom of expression, legal ruling

Ceremony for Alfredo Romero, recipient of the 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, on 16 November

October 24, 2017

Alfredo Romero from Venezuela is the winner of the 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/alfredo-romero/]. The ceremony will take place on THURSDAY, 16 NOVEMBER 2017 in the Kennedy Caucus Room | Russell Senate Office Building| Washington, D.C. Questions can be directed to bethany@taylormadeexperience.com or 412-335-9434.

Alfredo Romero was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and is the Executive Director of human rights organization Foro Penal Venezolano (FPV). FPV was founded in 2005 by Alfredo Romero and three other lawyers to provide pro bono legal assistance to victims of arbitrary detention, due process violations or other human rights violations, including torture or cruel and inhuman treatment. Under Alfredo’s leadership, over 200 lawyers and 1,700 volunteers across the country are providing assistance to victims of human rights violations and their families. To date, FPV has provided assistance to more than 4,000 people.

In addition to his role as Executive Director of FPV, Alfredo was until recently a Fellow with the Carr Center For Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is also currently a partner at Himiob, Romero & Asociados law firm and has been a professor at the Central University of Venezuela and the Andrés Bello Catholic University. Alfredo obtained his Law Degree from the Andrés Bello Catholic University in 1991, and has an M.A in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University (1994) and an LL.M. from the London School of Economics (1997). He is married and is the father of two kids. A marathon runner and an accomplished musician, Alfredo has composed several songs dedicated to the Venezuelan people and to the political prisoners in his country.

For more info on the award: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Alfredo Romero, ceremony, digest of human rights awards, Foro Penal Venezolano (FPV), human rights awards, RFK Human Rights, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, USA, Venezuela

World Health Organization reconsidering Mugabe as “goodwill ambassador”

October 22, 2017

On Saturday 21 October 2017 the Guardian reported that “the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is rethinking his decision to name Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, as a goodwill ambassador. The move provoked global outrage. WHO member states and activists alike noted that Zimbabwe’s health care system, like many of its public services, has collapsed under Mugabe’s regime. “I’m listening. I hear your concerns. Rethinking the approach in light of WHO values. I will issue a statement as soon as possible,” Tedros, a former Ethiopian health minister, tweeted on Saturday night.

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, came closest when he said he thought Mugabe’s appointment “was a bad April Fool’s joke”. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2015/10/23/mugabe-wins-chinese-peace-prize-this-time-for-real/]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was an embarrassment to give the ambassador role to Mr Mugabe, because his “utter mismanagement of the economy has devastated health services”. The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC, described the appointment as “laughable”…“Mugabe trashed our health delivery system. He and his family go outside of the country for treatment in Singapore after he allowed our public hospitals to collapse.”

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) also condemned the decision by the World Health Organization (WHO): “The irony of the World Health Organization’s decision to praise Robert Mugabe is staggering. This a strongman infamous for seeking medical attention for himself abroad. His recent visits to Singapore for medical treatment have cost Zimbabwean taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Mugabe can’t get adequate treatment in his own country because his kleptocratic regime has left Zimbabwe’s hospitals and health industry in a state of ruin,” said HRF president Thor Halvorssen. “Dr. Tedros should nullify Mugabe’s appointment immediately and also issue a strong public condemnation of his repressive rule”.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/un-lambasted-after-naming-mugabe-goodwill-ambassador

HRF condemns World Health Organization for appointing Robert Mugabe as “goodwill ambassador”

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Tags: goodwill ambassador, Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Justin Trudeau, right to health, Robert Mugabe, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO, world health organization, Zimbabwe

Reward offered for the capture of Albert Cattouse’s killer in Belize

October 20, 2017

This blog tries to follow as much as possible what happens in the world of human rights awards which honor human rights defenders. Here is a story from Belize where an award (as in reward) is used in a different way: A reward is offered for the capture of Albert Cattouse’s killer!

Around seven-thirty on Thursday night, shots rang out in the vicinity of Dolphin Street near the rear of Roger’s Stadium. A well-known taxi driver and activist had been gunned down in cold blood. Seventy-two-year-old Albert Anthony Cattouse was driving his Lincoln Town Car when he was targeted by a gunman. The bullet caught him in the head and he died instantly inside his taxi, which came to a stop inside the drain. The activism community is up in arms because Cattouse, who was very vocal, recently participated in the high gas price protest last week (News Five’s Duane Moody reports).

The community activist group, Belize Leaders for Social Justice (BLSJ), is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murder of Albert Cattouse. The BLSJ issued a statement today, condemning Cattouse’s murder, noting that he was a defender of human rights. “The activism community and human rights defenders are concerned that this murder can be related to Mr. Cattouse’s outspoken condemnation for acts of corruption and the injustices levied on our citizens by the government of Belize,” the group said.

Sources:

Reward offered for the capture of Albert Cattouse’s killer

http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/154225

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Tags: Albert Cattouse, awards, Belize, Belize Leaders for Social Justice (BLSJ), human rights activist, Human rights defender, reward

Martin Ennals Ceremony 2017 was very moving

October 19, 2017

For those who missed it, here the link to the FULL version of the ceremony for the 2017 Martin Ennals ward of Human Rights Defenders.

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Tags: City of Geneva, human rights films, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, MEA ceremony, MEA laureate 2017, You Tube

Turkey angry after PACE Havel prize is awarded to jailed judge

October 18, 2017

Turkish judge Murat Arslan, who was head of the Association for the Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV).

The Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, named after the dissident playwright who later became Czech president, is given by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). On Monday 16 October the prize awarded to the Turkish judge Murat Arslan, who was head of the Association for the Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV). Arslan was arrested in October 2016 on suspicion of links to Gulen who Ankara blames for the failed coup aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The PACE described Arslan as a “staunch supporter of the independence of the judiciary.” But the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement that it “is wrong and unacceptable to award the prize … to a person who is a member of Feto terrorist organisation“. “While the judicial process is underway, presenting a terrorism suspect as a human rights defender is a betrayal of the ideals of democracy and human rights,” it said. For more on the award see: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/vaclav-havel-prize-for-human-rights-pace

In his absence, the prize was received by a representative of the European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedom group (Medel) which had nominated him. In a message from jail, Arslan told the ceremony that Turkey had “learnt nothing” from Europe’s 20th century history but “we will not let ourselves be closed up in a wall of fear”. [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/08/31/finalists-for-pace-vaclav-havel-human-rights-prize-announced/]

Turkey has been a member of the Council of Europe since 1950 but relations have frayed after the PACE in April voted to reopen political monitoring of the country. see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/07/11/council-of-europe-losing-patience-with-turkey-after-arrest-of-human-rights-defenders/

http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/turkish-mp-slams-europe-body-for-rewarding-feto-suspect/939149

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Association for the Union of Judges and Prosecutors (YARSAV), Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, digest of human rights awards, European Magistrates for Democracy and Freedom group (Medel), human rights awards, Human rights defender, independence of the judiciary, judge, Murat Arslan, PACE, Turkey

Korean people win Friedrich Ebert human rights award for candlelight rallies

October 18, 2017

Readers of this blog know my special interest in human rights awards. So you will understand my surprise to learn that the Friedrich Ebert Foundation has granted its 2017 Human Rights Award to all South Korean citizens (a total of 17 million!!) who took to the streets to protest against President Park Geun-hye for months and peacefully removed her from power.

Sven Schwersensky, resident representative at Friedrich Ebert Stiftung’s Korea office, talks about the Human Rights Prize during a press briefing Monday (Yonhap)

As Ock Hyun-ju reported in the Korea Herald of 16 October 2017: “The peaceful exercise of democratic participation and in particular the civic right of peaceful assembly are the essential components of democracy,” said Sven Schwersensky, resident representative in Korea. “In our view, the people’s candlelight demonstrations have given the whole world evidence of this important fact….At the time, authoritarianism was on the rise everywhere in the world, even in the western world,” he said, citing the UN special rapporteur Maina Kiai, who addressed the diminishing rights to public assembly and free speech under the former Park administration during his visit to Korea in 2016. “People of Korea showed resistance to authoritarianism.”

The organizing committee for candlelight demonstrations — an association of over 1,500 civic groups, labor unions and student organizations — took the prize on behalf of all Koreans. The committee received 20,000 euros ($23,590) in prize money. How the money will be spent has not been decided yet, it said. The award ceremony will take place in Berlin on 5 December. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2014/11/12/friedrich-ebert-award-goes-to-fartuun-adan-from-somalia/]

More about the FES Human Rights Prize: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/friedrich-ebert-foundation-human-rights-award

Source: [Newsmaker] Koreans win global prize for candlelight rallies

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: candlelight demonstrations, Civil society, digest of human rights awards, freedom of assembly, Friedrich Ebert Human Rights Award, human rights awards, Maina Kiai, Park Geun-hye, peaceful demonstration, South Korea

Mbonimpa wins also the 2017 Civil Courage Prize

October 17, 2017

On 18 October 2017, Burundi’s most prominent human rights defender, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, will be awarded the Train Foundation’s 2017 Civil Courage Prize. The Civil Courage Prize recognizes individuals who demonstrate “steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk.” Mbonimpa has won the prize for his work with the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH), an organization that records the abuses committed by Burundi’s authoritarian regime, in its effort to crush dissent and advocates for justice for its victims. Mbonimpa, who currently lives in exile, has earned a reputation as the most vocal advocate pushing the regime to end its violent campaign against its political opponents. In August 2015, he survived an assassination attempt that left him severely wounded. During that same year, both his son and son-in-law were found dead shortly after being arrested during anti-government protests.

MEA Laureate Mbonimpa, Burundi

Mbonimpa won earlier the 2007 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, the 2015 African Human Rights Defenders Awards and in 2016 the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism (HRW). For more on all these the award see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 3 Comments »
Tags: Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons (APRODH), Burundi, Civil Courage Prize, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa

breaking news: Egyptian defender Mohammed Zaree laureate of the Martin Ennals Award 2017

October 10, 2017

Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders

The Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, the highest accolade in the international human rights moment, has just announced that Mohamed Zaree, a human rights lawyer from Egypt, has been selected as the 2017 Laureate. The announcement was made on 10 October at 18h30, during the annual ceremony in Geneva. You can still follow it through live streaming at this very moment: via: https://www.facebook.com/villegeneve.ch/.

Mohamed Zaree is a human rights activist and legal scholar whose work focuses on human rights advocacy around freedom of expression and association. He is also known for his role as the Egypt Country Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), which works throughout the Arabic speaking world. He assumed this role after government pressure on CIHRS prompted them to relocate their headquarters to Tunis in 2014.

The Egyptian government has been escalating its pressure on the human rights movement. Human rights NGOs and defenders are confronted with a growing wave of threats, harassment, and intimidation, legal and otherwise. Despite this, Zaree continues to lead CIHRS’ research, human rights education, and national advocacy initiatives in Egypt and is shaping the media debate on human rights issues. During this critical period for civil society, he is also leading the Forum of Independent Egyptian Human Rights NGOs, a network aiming to unify human rights groups in advocacy. Zaree’s initiatives have helped NGOs to develop common approaches to human rights issues in Egypt. Within the context of the renewed crackdown on Egyptian human rights organizations, he has become a leading figure in Egypt’s human rights movement. Zaree is currently facing investigation under the “Foreign Funding Case” and is at high risk of prosecution and life imprisonment. The “Foreign Funding Case” highly restricts NGO activities. Despite this, Zaree continues to engage the authorities in dialogue wherever possible, arguing that respect for human rights will increase stability in Egypt. Zaree has been under a travel ban since May 2016.

Martin Ennals Foundation Chair Dick Oosting stated: “Severe restriction of civil society’s space to express itself is what led Mohamed Zaree to advocate for human rights and fight for the freedom of association. He is still paying the price for his courageous acts, and we urge his government to lift the travel ban.”

The unique composition of the Jury of the MEA [a coöperation by 10 global human rights organizations, see www.martinennalsaward.org for more detail] makes this award the most important prize in the human rights world. It is supported by the City of Geneva.

The two other finalists also received Martin Ennals prizes:

Karla Avelar (El Salvador)

FreeThe5KH (Cambodia)

For more on the award see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/09/18/ceremony-of-the-24th-martin-ennals-award-coming-up-on-10-october. and

http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/martin-ennals-award-for-human-rights-defenders

Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, MEA | 3 Comments »
Tags: announcement, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, City of Geneva, digest of human rights awards, Egypt, foreign funding, human rights award, Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, MEA, MEA laureate 2017, Mohamed Zaree

Urgent: Martin Ennals Award 2017 – live streaming of ceremony on 10 October

October 9, 2017

The 2017 ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders will take place on 10 October in Geneva at 18h15 CET. For the many people who cannot attend in person, there is the possibility of following the event on screen via: https://www.facebook.com/villegeneve.ch/

The ceremony is in English and French and features 3 short documentaries on the finalists as well as the announcement of the Laureate 2017 which the Jury of the MEA decided on this morning.

For more info see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/06/28/save-the-date-10-october-2017-ceremony-martin-ennals-award-for-human-rights-defenders-in-geneva/

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Tags: #FreeThe5KH, Documentary film, facebook Live, Geneve, Human Rights Defenders, internet, Jury MEA, Karla Avelar, MEA 2017, MEA ceremony, MEA laureate 2017, Mohamed Zaree, streaming, Ville de Geneve

Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards