An Indian researcher, Ravi Kuchimanchi has also been awarded the prize “for his continued research in physics while simultaneously advocating for global policies that reflect science; for leading sustainable development, human rights, and social justice efforts; and for creating a vibrant international volunteer movement that learns from, works with, and empowers communities in India.”
In 2011 Mohammadi won the 2011 Per Anger Prize for defending human rights in Iran. In September 2016, the Tehran Appeals Court upheld a 16-year prison sentence for “membership in the [now banned] Defenders of Human Rights Center,” “assembly and collusion against national security,” and one year for “propaganda against the state.”
Prominent human rights organizations have repeatedly called for Mohammadi’s immediate release.
The National Assembly in Venezuela was nominated for the award by the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) parliamentary grouping along with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE group). MEP Jose Ignacio Salafranca said “they are brave people who, despite being beaten or imprisoned, are not afraid and do not give up, but fight for their freedom and for their dignity.” Fellow MEP Guy Verhofstadt said the award supported “the fight of democratic forces in favor of a democratic Venezuela and against the Maduro regime.”
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.
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 theKennedy Caucus Room | Russell Senate Office Building| Washington, D.C. Questions can be directed to bethany@taylormadeexperience.com or 412-335-9434.
Alfredo Romerowas 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.
he 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.
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”.
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.
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/]
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/]
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.
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
