Media reported on the EU Parliament’s vote to drop criminal charges against Edward Snowden and to encourage members to block his extradition Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the 'awards' Category
EU Parliament says Snowden is human rights defender
October 30, 2015Saudi blogger Raif Badawi awarded Europe’s Sakharov prize
October 29, 2015The Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose flogging sentence caused a global outcry, is awarded the 2015 Sakharov human rights prize. Mr Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in Saudi Arabia for “insulting Islam”[https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/the-middle-ages-are-back-10-years-prison-1000-lashes-for-saudi-human-rights-defender/].
European Parliament President Martin Schulz urged Saudi King Salman “to free him, so he can accept the prize“. Mr Badawi’s wife Ensaf Haidar, now living Canada with their children, told AFP news agency that award was a “message of hope and courage”.
For more on the prize: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/sakharov-prize-freedom-thought.
[Earlier this year Badawi also won the Pen Pinter Prize and the Moral Courage Award].
Badawi was one of three nominees for this year’s prize along with assassinated Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and the Venezuelan opposition movement Mesa de la Unidad Democratica.
Source: Saudi blogger Raif Badawi awarded Sakharov human rights prize – BBC News
Today was OXI Day in Greece: worth an award or two
October 29, 2015
The short video tells why Greece celebrates every 28 October “Oxi Day“. At 3:00 am on October 28, 1940, a representative of the Axis Forces arrived at the Greek Prime Minister’s residence and demanded Greece’s surrender. The Prime Minister replied with a single word: Oxi [No].
Within hours, the Axis forces descended on Greece, expecting it to quickly fall. But the Greek resistance forced Hitler to change his plans. News of Greece’s victory flooded the radio airwaves and covered the front pages of newspapers and magazines around the globe – no one expected such a small nation to derail the seemingly unstoppable Axis forces. Greece forced Hitler to change his timeline and delaying the attack on Russia. Greece’s actions inspired Winston Churchill to say “If there had not been the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know which the outcome of World War II would have been.”
Mugabe wins Chinese peace prize – this time for real
October 23, 2015When I wrote my 1 April 2013 post about President Robert Mugabe getting the revamped Gaddafi award [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/gaddafi-human-rights-award-resurrected-mugabe-rumored-to-be-laureate/], I could not know that one day he would actually get an award. But according to the Guardian and other newspapers this what happened when he was given the “Confucius award“, which was set up in 2010 as a Chinese alternative to the Nobel peace prize after the Norwegian Nobel committee infuriated Beijing by handing its annual peace prize to the jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo. Read the rest of this entry »
Peter Norman: the missing third man in that famous picture
October 22, 2015That all human rights defenders are not equally recognized is an unfortunate but well established fact. The case below – which was written by Riccardo Gazzaniga (griotmag.com) – is a remarkable one as we all remember the famous picture from the Summer Olympics in Mexico in 1968. What most of us have not seen is the picture below which shows the statue – erected at the San Jose State University – of only two of the three. Who was the third one and why is he missing? The article below [The White Man In That Photo – 12 October 2015] tells the story of Australian sprinter Peter Norman and quite a story it is.
2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award goes to Natalia Taubina from Russia
October 21, 2015On 7 October, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights announced that Ms. Natalia Taubina, a leading human rights defender from Russia, has been selected as the laureate of the 2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, now in its 32nd year. “..I know my father would be proud of her work” said Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “This award is not just a recognition, it is an opportunity to work hand in hand with human rights defenders to protect the rights and freedoms of the Russian people.”
Natalia is the Director of the Public Verdict Foundation in Russia and is being recognized for her work to hold law enforcement agents accountable for human rights violations and support victims of torture in Russia. The Public Verdict Foundation litigates on behalf of citizens wrongfully arrested, beaten, tortured, and illegally detained by police. In 2014, the Russian government categorized the foundation as a “foreign agent”to publicly invalidate, shame, and render inoperable organizations with international ties. Natalia’s organization has resolutely fought this label in court and is committed to protecting human rights despite the government’s attempt to shut down civil society groups.
“This recognition of our work is especially important today when civil society in Russia is under unprecedented pressure. The climate in which we now operate is hostile like never before. But victims of abuse in Russia need us, and we are not going to abandon them” said Natalia Taubina.
Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy will present Natalia with the 2015 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in Washington, D.C., in a ceremony on 19 November.
About the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award see their website or http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award
For more info: cronin@rfkhumanrights.org
Source: | Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights
Martine Anstett honored with own human rights award
October 16, 2015Martine Anstett (born on 15 March 1969) was a French human rights defender who worked for a variety of organizations. For NGOs such as APT and AI, for the UN and the French diplomatic service. Her last post was with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. She died at a young age on 29 April, 2015
Friends of hers decided to create an association to remember Martine and honor her memory so that her outstanding commitment should not be lost. The main activity of the association is to award every year – on 29 April – a remarkable human rights defender who deserves to be noticed and supported with the Martine Anstett Prize. The award comes with a prize of a minimum 1,500 euros. The website http://www.prixmartineanstett.org/En-PrixModeEmploi.html gives ample instructions on how to apply and on the life and work of Martine Anstett.
More on the Tunisian winners of the Nobel Peace Prize
October 13, 2015My short post on the Nobel Peace Prize for the Tunisian quartet [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/10/09/tunisian-national-dialogue-quartet-laureates-of-2015-nobel-peace-prize/] is better understood with the post by Dan Smith: http://dansmithsblog.com/2015/10/13/the-tunisian-spring-and-the-nobel-peace-prize/.
Reprisals against children of Human Rights Defenders in UAE
October 11, 2015The second case concerning children of human rights defenders is a more general category as described by Rebecca Sheff in a blog on Human Rights First: “Reprisals Against Children of Human Rights Defenders in UAE“.
She reports that on 8 October 2015, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child released a report expressing “concern” about the United Arab Emirates’ treatment of human rights defenders and their families. It noted that the government has been persecuting the children of defenders, restricting their “rights to education, identity documents, to freedom of movement and to keep contact with their detained parents.” The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires the UAE to protect children against discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of their parents. The UAE’s acts of intimidation violate children’s fundamental rights and inhibit the work of defenders. Dozens of political prisoners in the UAE are serving long prison sentences after being convicted in a mass unfair trial in 2013. ….The Committee on the Rights of the Child also expressed concern “about the reported continuous harassment of human rights defenders in the State party, which greatly undermines the emergence of a vibrant civil society as well as the protection and promotion of children’s rights.” The lack of a robust civil society in the UAE means that children’s rights issues are neglected and violations go unaddressed. Ahmed Mansoor, a prominent human rights defender in the UAE, recently received the 2015 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Indeed one of the most moving scenes in the film on the work of MEA Laureate Mansoor was when he told how his own child did not recognize him after a stay in detention: (minutes 5.20)
Source: Reprisals Against Children of Human Rights Defenders in UAE | Human Rights First
Azerbaijan’s Intigam Aliyev receives IBA Human Rights Award 2015
October 9, 2015Intigam Aliyev, President of the Legal Education Society (LES), Azerbaijan, was today named the winner of the 2015 International Bar Association (IBA) Human Rights Award. The Award was presented by IBA President, David W Rivkin. A political prisoner in Azerbaijan, Mr Aliyev was unable to collect the Award in person. His son and daughter travelled to Vienna and collected the Award, on Friday 9 October, on his behalf. For more on the IBA award: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/iba-human-rights-award
In a letter read by his son Necmin Kamilsoy, Mr Aliyev said, ‘When I heard about this prestigious Award, I felt honour and happiness with sadness at the same time. Today, in my country, my friends, colleagues, conscientious people, are facing prosecutions, pressures, and imprisonments. They deserve this award at least as much as I do. Therefore, I am accepting this award on behalf of them. I share my deep gratitude with the IBA for appreciating my efforts in such a way, as well as with all organisations that nominated me for this award.’
Mr Aliyev won earlier the Homo Homini Award (2012). https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/azerbaijan-harasses-human-rights-defenders-even-the-recipient-of-the-homo-homini-award/
To read Mr Aliyev’s acceptance letter in full click here.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 