Fritt Ord and ZEIT-Stiftung have given their 2016 awards to: Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the 'awards' Category
Fritt Ord and ZEIT awards to Eastern European media: Elena Milashina, Seymour Hazi and Nashi Groshi
May 13, 2016Indonesian LGBT defender to be honored with de Souza award on 16 May 2016
May 12, 2016
Yuli Rustinawati is the founder and chair of Arus Pelangi, one of Indonesia’s leading LGBT organizations. Photo: www.stonewall25.org.uk
Yuli Rustinawati, 40, is a lesbian who is the founder and chair of Arus Pelangi, one of Indonesia‘s leading LGBT organizations. The award comes amidst a rash on anti-gay rhetoric by political leaders in Indonesia in recent months. During the past three months Indonesian politicians have vowed to criminalize homosexuality; ban LGBT people from receiving education, employment, access to health care, and housing; called for the removal of gay characters on popular TV shows; and called upon tech companies to remove same-sex emojis from smart phone apps and social media. Rustinawati is setting up a foundation for sexual orientation and gender variant human rights defenders that will provide an emergency assistance program for its safe house, relocation assistance, a network with other human rights organizations, and an information and referral hotline. The foundation is also launching “You Are Not Alone,” a campaign to educate people about LGBTs and encourage more gay people to be visible.
On 5 May 2016 the Bay Area Reporter Online (Heather Cassel) published the news that Indonesian LGBT human rights defender Yuli Rustinawati will receive the Felipa De Souza Award 2016 at OutRight’s Celebration of Courage Gala on16 May. Bisexual actor Alan Cumming will host the event and the awards will be presented by celebrity stylist Carson Kressley.
For more on the award see: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/felipa-de-souza-award
For earlier posts on LGBT human rights see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/lgbt-human-rights/
For more information: http://www.alturi.org/indonesia_campaign and http://www.outrightinternational.org/events/celebration-courage-2016.
Source: The Bay Area Reporter Online | Indonesian lesbian activist honored with award
Runners up for Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders 2016 announced
May 11, 2016
has announced that the finalists for its 2016 award are human rights defenders from Azerbaijan, Burma/Myanmar, Colombia, Honduras, Palestine, and Tanzania. For more information on the annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/front-line-defenders-award.
The 6 finalists for 2016 are Read the rest of this entry »
AI’s Ambassador of Conscience Award 2016 shared by Angelique Kidjo and African youth groups
May 7, 2016Every year, the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award celebrates individuals and groups who speak out for justice. The 2016, award will be shared between world-renowned musician Angélique Kidjo from Benin and three African youth activist groups: Y’en a marre from Senegal, Le Balai Citoyen from Burkina Faso and LUCHA from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Angélique Kidjo. Credit: Pierre Marie Ziimmerman.
Grammy-winning artist Kidjo fled her homeland Benin in the 1980s after being pressured to perform for the country’s repressive regime. In a 40-year-career spawning 12 albums, she has been a prominent campaigner for freedom of expression and for the education of girls in Africa, as well as against female genital mutilation.
LUCHA, DRC. Credit: Private.
2016 Havel Prize of the Human Rights Foundation goes to Atena Farghadani, Petr Pavlensky, and Umida Akhmedova
May 5, 2016The New-York based Human Rights Foundation announced on 5 May 2016 that the laureates of the 2016 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent are:
- Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani,
- Russian performance artist Petr Pavlensky, and
- Uzbek photojournalist Umida Akhmedova.
Cartoonists Gado (Kenya) and Zunar (Malaysia) get 2016 Cartooning for Peace Prize
May 4, 2016
Today – in order to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day on the 3rd of May – it was announced that the 2016 International Editorial Cartoons Prize is awarded to the Kenyan caricaturist, Gado, and the Malaysian cartoonist, Lunar. Some of their cartoons are shown below:
“Gado and Zunar remind us how fragile this liberty remains in Africa and in Asia as well as in other regions of the world. Through their commitment towards open and transparent societies, Gado and Zunar, who have received threats in their countries of origin and can no longer practice their profession, confront us with our responsibility to preserve freedom of expression and act in order to support the combat of those who cannot express themselves through their art”, declared Mr Kofi Annan, he Honorary President of the Swiss Foundation.
The cartoonist Patrick Chappatte, jury member, added: “For having had the courage to draw the king naked, Gado and Zunar are faced with a power machine that seeks to silence them. What this Prize seeks to do is just the opposite: to amplify their voices, which are those of democracy and justice.”
This prize, awarded every two years in Geneva, rewards a cartoonist for his/her courage, talent and commitment to the values of peace, tolerance as well as for his/her fight for freedom of expression. The event goes with an exhibition presented along the quai Wilson in Geneva until June 4th, 2016. For more information, click here!
For 2014 event see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/cartooning-for-peace-award-handed-over-by-kofi-annan-in-geneva/
Gado (Kenya)
Gado (Kenya)
Gado (Kenya)
Gado (Kenya)
Zunar (Malaysia)
Zunar (Malaysia)
Zunar (Malaysia)
Zunar (Malaysia)
Breaking News: Final Nominees of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award are known
April 27, 2016Just now the Martin Ennals Foundation announced that the three Final Nominees of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders are: 
Read the rest of this entry »
First MEA Laureate, Harry Wu from China, dies at age of 79
April 27, 2016While waiting for the breaking news of who will be the Final Nominees of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award (in 2 hours) I received the sad news that the first winner of the MEA in 1994, Chinese human rights defender Harry Wu has died at the age of 79.
Harry Wu at the official award dinner in March 1994
His short bio and a film on his work can be viewed at: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=120&lang=en
Malaysian Bersih 2.0 (Walk for Democracy) wins Gwangju human rights award
April 26, 2016
Participants shout slogans during a rally organised by pro-democracy group Bersih 2.0 near Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, August 30, 2015. — Reuters pic
Bersih 2.0 (also called the Walk for Democracy) has won South Korea’s 2016 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights for its efforts in pushing for electoral reform in Malaysia. The Bersih 2.0 steering committee, in a statement, said it was proud for being acknowledged for its work through the Gwangju award. “This acknowledgement is the result of the fight of the people of Malaysia who had gathered peacefully as many as four times in the city centre to seek a clean and fair electoral system in the country…The people have also proved their patriotic spirit when they walked the streets to defend the constitution, freedom to gather, voice an opinion and seek information,” it said. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all non governmental organisations overseas who have supported Bersih 2.0 all these years.”
The committee said Bersih 2.0 was nominated by Indonesian activist Mugiyanto from the International NGO forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) and Malaysian activist Yap Swee Seng. The award ceremony will take place on May 18 at the Memorial Foundation in South Korea.
Source: Bersih 2.0 wins South Korean human rights award | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 