Archive for the 'awards' Category
December 13, 2016
Human Rights Day was the occasion for the Indonesian Government – together with the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) – to honor six women with posthumous Women Human Rights Defenders Awards for their fight against inequality and for the human rights of women. On 10 December 2016 officials from the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the National Development Planning Board handed the awards to the activists’ families, as part of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign:
- Siti Latifah Herawati Diah
- Lily Zakiyah Munir
- Zohra Andi Baso,
- Mientje DE Roembiak,
- Darmiyanti Muchtar
- Theresia Yuliawati Sitanggang.Komnas Perempuan chairman Azriana said the awards were presented to remind the nation that these women fought to promote gender equality. “They never once asked to be awarded, but they dedicated their lives to help Indonesian women”.
Source: Six women get posthumous awards for fight against inequality – Sat, December 10 2016 – The Jakarta Post
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Based Violence, equality, human rights awards, Human Rights Day, human rights of women, in memoriam, Indonesia, international human rights day, Komnas Perempuan, national award, women human rights defenders
December 12, 2016
Willie Kimani, the Kenyan human rights lawyer who was murdered this year [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/07/03/body-of-disappeared-human-rights-lawyer-kimani-client-found-kenya-impunity/], was honoured with an award for his bravery in defending the poor and oppressed in Kenya. While receiving the award, Kimani’s widow Hannah Kimani said she had never imagined that his standing up for justice would eventually amount to his death. “No amount of words can explain who Willy was. He was one of a kind… with this award, it shows that his work was not in vain,” she said.
Executive Director Samwel Mohochi of the Kenyan chapter of the International Commission of Jurists said “We give it to him as recognition for the ultimate price he paid in performing his work as human rights defender and as a reminder to the risks that face all other human rights defenders”…“This will renew our commitment to all human rights defenders. It is an appreciation of the work he did”.
Source: Slain lawyer Willie Kimani honoured with yearly title
https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2016/12/murdered-lawyer-willie-kimani-named-jurist-of-the-year/
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-willie-kimani
Posted in awards, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ICJ | 1 Comment »
Tags: human rights award, Human rights defender, human rights lawyer, in memoriam, International Commission of Jurists, Jurist of the Year (Kenya), Kenya, killed, Samwel Mohochi, social economic and cultural rights, Willie Kimani
December 9, 2016
International Human Rights Day commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1950, the Assembly passed resolution 423 (V), inviting all States and interested organisations to observe 10 December as Human Rights Day. The theme this year is: Stand up for someone’s rights today, in other words: be a human rights defender. .
There is a lot going on during this period, so I just give a small sample (10!) from different parts of the world: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: 10 December 2016, Adilur Rahman Khan, Baroness Anelay, events, Human Rights Day, Human Rights Defenders, international human rights day, Jamaica, Mauritius, Myanmar, Philippines, Renato Reyes, Zimbabwe
December 6, 2016
The Government of Argentina has awarded the Nigerian #BringBackOurGirls movement the International Human Rights Prize ‘Emilio F. Mignone’ for work in advocacy towards respect for human rights worldwide. A statement on Monday 5 December in Abuja by the BBOG spokesman, Sesugh Akume, said the award ceremony would take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Buenos Aires. It added that the coalition would be represented at the event by two members of the Movement, Aisha Yesufu, who is the Chairperson of the Strategic Team, and Dr. Chinwe Madubuike.
The group stated “While in Argentina, they will as part of the award ceremonies, meet with the human rights group– Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo … …It is made up of grandmothers, mothers and other citizens who have since 1977 been advocating for the return of an estimated 500 children abducted or born in detention during the military era and illegally adopted, with their identities hidden.”
The statement noted that like the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, which has advocated weekly in the last 39 years, the Chinwe Madubuike has been on a daily campaign since April 30, 2014 for the rescue of now 196 out of the 219 ChibokGirls abducted from their school on 14 April 2014 by Boko Haram.
Source: BBOG wins Argentine rights award – Punch Newspapers
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: #BringBackOurGirls, abduction, Aisha Yesufu, argentina, BBOG, Boko Haram, Chinwe Madubuike, disappearances, Emilio Mignone, Emilio Mignone Award, human rights of women, Nigeria, The Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo
December 5, 2016
This blog follows with special attention developments in the area of human rights awards. The announcement of a new award on 1 December 2016, the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, came as a surprise. Some aspects remain unclear (is there a monetary component?; what will be the frequency?) but judging from the text of the press release as well as the choice of recipients of the inaugural prize, it is mostly an award for human rights defenders. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, Europe, Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, human rights award, Human Rights Defenders, Jacqueline Moudeina, Li Heping, Mary Lawlor, Thun Saray, Valentina Cherevatenko, Wang Qiaoling
December 2, 2016
Justice and Peace NL with support from the City of the Hague and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing “The Hague Defenders Days” from 5 to 10 December 2016. A wide range of activities (debates, films and even a ball) are planned culminating in the ceremony of the Tulip Award on Human Rights Day 10 December. Most activities are open to the public (but not the Tulip ceremony):
Let’s celebrate the International Human Rights – and Human Rights Defenders Days in the city of peace and justice! Take the opportunity to learn from their experiences and share your own. Meet human rights defenders, debate about your rights, think out of the box and dance at the Human Rights Ball. Discover the defender or rebel in you! Download the flyer.
PROGRAMME
Portraits of Dutch and international human rights defenders by photographers Anette Brolenius and Daniella van Bergen.
5-10 December / Het Nutshuis
11.00 – 16.00 – Admission: free
Click here for more information
Watch this documentary and be part of a global one year campaign for respect and equality.
6 December / Het Nutshuis
20.00 – Admission: free
Click here for more information
With: Nighat Dad, the Pakistani winner of the Dutch Human Rights Tulip Award 2016.
7 December / The Hague University
19.30 – Admission: free
Click here for more information
What makes a human rights defender? With: Nighat Dad, Hans Jaap Melissen, Saskia Stolz en Hassnae Bouazza.
9 December / B-Unlimited (Library Spui)
20.30 – Tickets €10 / €7: www.b-unlimited.nl
Come and celebrate universal rights with 20 worldwide human rights defenders! With: Dj Socrates, Meet & Greet, Photobooth, live music…
10 December / Nutshuis
20.30 – Tickets €10 / €6: www.justiceandpeace.nl/humanrightsball
Source: The Hague Defenders Days
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: campaign, event, Human Rights Defenders, human rights film, Justice and Peace Netherlands, music, Netherlands, Out & About (film), profiles, the Hague, The Hague Defenders Days, Tulip award
December 1, 2016
Posted in awards, Human Rights Defenders, RSF | 2 Comments »
Tags: 64 Tianwang, 64 Tianwang citizen news site, China, citizen journalists, detention, freedom of expression, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), Huang Qi, Press Freedom, Press Freedom Prize (RSF), Reporters without Borders, website
December 1, 2016
On 23 September 2016 I reported on the arrest of human rights defender Khurram Parvez [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/khurram-parvezs-re-arrest-in-kashmir-illustrates-draconian-use-of-public-safety-act/#more-8476] in Jammu and Kashmir. A great many interventions by human rights NGOs focused on this case which highlights the draconian use of India’s Public Safety Act (PSA).
On 30 November 2016, Khurram Parvez was released from jail but even this was not done without wrangling by the police as reported by Front Line on 30 November: On 25 November 2016, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir in Srinagar quashed the order of detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and ordered the immediate release of Khuram Parvez. Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar in his order said Khuram Parvez’s detention was “illegal”. However, in the judge’s order there was a small clerical error, so the police at Jammu’s Kot Balwal jail decided to keep Khurram Parvez in detention until a corrigendum could be issued. On 29 November 2016 at 3 pm the Jammu’s Kot Balwal jail received the corrigendum, but did not release Khurram Parvez. Instead, at around 5 pm of the same day, he was taken to the joint interrogation centre at Meeran Sahib, Jammu. No reasons were provided for his continued detention to the human rights defender or his legal counsel. Khurram Parvez was released on the morning of 30 November.
[Khurram Parvez is the Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), a collective of 13 non-governmental organizations from ten Asian countries, that campaign on the issue of enforced disappearances. He is also the Programme Coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), which is a coalition of various campaign, research and advocacy organisations based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, which monitor and investigate human right abuses. See: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/khurram-parvez]
Note that Khurram’s Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) won the 2016 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/anti-disappearances-ngo-wins-asian-human-rights-award/]
Posted in awards, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, Front Line (NGO), illegal detention, India, Jammu and Kashmir, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Khurram Parvez, Kurram Parvez, Public Safety Act (PSA), release
November 14, 2016
Animation in Myanmar goes back to about 1920, earlier than in any other Southeast Asian country. The art form did not prosper under the military regime, but it’s on its way back. One of its most popular exponents has been the well-known cartoonist Aw Pi Kyal. Now his son, Naing Kaung Nyan, 22 – known in the trade as Nyan Kyal Say – has produced a prize-winning work of his own. “My Life I Don’t Want” has won 15 international awards from Myanmar, the United Kingdom, Romania, Barcelona, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States. Based on actual events, it’s about a young Myanmar woman, and promotes awareness of the rights of women and children.
“I describe the difficulties she faces, in terms of poverty, poor education, insecurity, sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancy and human trafficking that afflict so many young women,” said Nyal Kyal Say, who works in medicine as a house surgeon when he’s not creating animations. “I hope to draw attention to women’s rights, get support from foreign organisations and penetrate the Myanmar animation market.”
The 12-minute short, produced in May, took eight months to make, including story development, production, financial support, and sound. It was first screened at the 2016 Human Rights Film Festival and went on to compete internationally. At the prestigious Amsterdam Animation Festival 2016 “My Life I Don’t Want” won Best Animated Short in the Emerging Animation Nation category last month, its 12th international award.
“Two of my animations are about human rights, but the environment is also important. If we don’t maintain the environment, there will be no humans to claim their rights. Then there’s health. I graduated from the University of Medicine and I want to create health edutainment animations that deal entertainingly with questions of health. Most residents of rural areas lack health knowledge and can’t find out because of the language barrier,” he said. “To help them overcome all these problems, I want to produce animations that are easy for everyone to understand.”
For my other posts on animation https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/animation/
Source: Award-winning animator joins the fight for women’s rights
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Amsterdam Animation Festival, animation, Birma, cartoon, Environmental issue, human rights education, human rights of women, human trafficking, My Life I Don’t Want (animation), Myanmar, Naing Kaung Nyan, Nyan Kyal Say
November 11, 2016
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) has won the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award 2016 for its efforts to resolve the problem of forced disappearances in Asia.
“AFAD has made indelible contributions in pushing states to address the rights of families of the disappeared and in seeking justice for the victims,” said Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, chairman of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. He said that AFAD was a major force behind the UN’s adoption in 2006 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, and has in recent years been active in lobbying Asian governments to sign and ratify the convention.
[Su said that many instances of politically motivated disappearances also occurred in Taiwan when the nation was under authoritarian rule. As someone who took part in rescue missions for missing people at that time, Su said he could deeply empathize with the fear experienced by the victims’ families and the hardships faced by human rights organizations in authoritarian nations.]
Founded in 1998 in Manila, AFAD facilitates searches for people who are abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization, and works to ensure the attainment of truth, justice, redress and the reconstruction of the collective memory of the missing. Recipients of the award include Reporters Without Borders, Rescue Foundation of India, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes International, as well as Kim Seong-min, founder and director of Free North Korea Radio. The award comes with a prize of US$100,000.
Source: AFAD wins human rights award – Taipei Times
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Asia, Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), asian region, disappearances, human rights award, Philippines, Taiwan
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 