Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its 2023 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin on 26 May 2023. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including:
“This year’s laureates are a courageous and inspiring group of people who reflect the determination, dynamism and diversity of human rights defenders (HRDs) who are on the front lines of fighting for a more just world,” said Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders. “Their vital work in defence of human rights in DRC, Ecuador, Jordan, Philippines and Ukraine impacts countless people in their communities and beyond. By shining an international spotlight on their struggles and empowering them to continue their work, we at Front Line Defenders hope this Award will touch the lives of many more people on whose behalf they act.”
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a leader among environmental and land defenders in DRC and one of the most trusted advocates on behalf of communities impacted by land grabs, trafficking, and illegal resource extraction activities. He is also the only advocate who organises judicial training and capacity-building sessions for DRC citizens on topics related to environment and community rights in Goma, eastern DRC.
AMERICAS
Segundo Ordóñez (Ecuador), an Afro-descendant human rights defender, is one of the most visible faces and the community representative in the two legal proceedings brought against the Japanese-owned company Furukawa Plantaciones C. A. and the State of Ecuador. The cases have focused on how workers on abacá (Manila hemp) plantations suffer labour exploitation as they farm the raw materials in slavery-like conditions.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Jeany ‘Rose’ Hayahay (Philippines) is a woman human rights defender based in Mindanao, the Philippines. Since 2019, she has been the spokesperson of the Save Our Schools Network (SOS Network), a coalition of child-focused NGOs, church-based groups and other stakeholders advocating for children’s right to education in Mindanao.
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
Digital Security Lab Ukraine (Ukraine) is a team of specialists in the field of digital security and internet freedom. They help Ukrainian journalists, human rights defenders and public activists solve problems with digital security, as well as promote the realisation of human rights on the internet by influencing government policy in the field of digital rights.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Hala Ahed (Jordan) is a Jordanian human rights lawyer who has worked with a number of human rights and feminist organisations to defend women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly in Jordan.
We, the undersigned human rights organisations, call on Saudi authorities to reveal the health condition of and immediately and unconditionally release prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the now dissolved Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)*, Dr. Mohammed al-Qahtani, who has been detained incommunicado for six months. We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of four ACPRA members who remain in arbitrary detention.
Today, 24 April 2023, marks six months since prominent Saudi human rights defender and co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA)* Mohammed al-Qahtani last contacted his family. Since then, the authorities have subjected him to incommunicado detention. Al-Qahtani served his full sentence in November 2022. Five ACPRA members remain imprisoned in reprisal for their peaceful human rights activism: Mohammed al-Qahtani, Essa al-Hamid, Mohammed al-Bajadi, Fawzan al-Harbi, and Abdulaziz al-Shubaili.
Mohammed al-Qahtani was arbitrarily arrested in March 2012 and interrogated regarding his work with ACPRA and his peaceful activism. On 9 March 2013, the Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced him to 10 years in prison to be followed by a travel ban of equal length on charges including “breaking allegiance to the ruler”, “questioning the integrity of officials”, “seeking to disrupt security and inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations”, and “instigating international organizations against the Kingdom.” The authorities failed to release Al-Qahtani on 22 November 2022, when he finished serving his prison sentence. However, since 24 October 2022, Saudi authorities have denied him any contact with his family and continue to keep him in incommunicado detention.
Despite al-Qahtani’s wife making several inquiries about him to al-Ha’ir prison, where al-Qahtani was serving his sentence, prison officers continue to refuse to disclose any information about him. His family has reasons to believe that he has entered into a hunger strike and his health has considerably deteriorated, putting his life at imminent risk. This is not the first time Mohammed al-Qahtani was denied contact with his family. In April 2021, he was held incommunicado after testing positive for Covid-19, raising fears regarding his health and well-being for the duration of his illness. For the past 10 years of imprisonment, security forces subjected al-Qahtani to inhumane and degrading conditions of detention, and they have also subjected him to torture and ill-treatment, including beatings.
We are all the more concerned about -al-Qahtani’s well-being considering the death of ACPRA co-founder Abdullah al-Hamid in detention on 23 April 2020. Abdullah al-Hamid suffered from hypertension, and his doctor told him three months before he passed away that he needed to undergo heart surgery. He was threatened by prison authorities that if he told his family about his health condition, they would cut his communication with his family. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid had suffered a stroke on 9 April 2020 and remained in detention, despite being in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh.
Following al-Hamid’s death, the Saudi authorities carried out a wave of arrests against several individuals who expressed sympathy over his passing.
Created in 2009 by 11 human rights defenders and academics, ACPRA was established to promote and protect fundamental rights and freedoms in Saudi Arabia, including through promoting constitutional reforms. While ACPRA was never officially registered by the government, it was formally banned as an organization and dissolved by court order in 2013. As of May 2016, all of its 11 members had been sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to lengthy prison sentences ranging between seven and 15 years for their human rights activism and cooperation with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.
In light of the above, we, the undersigned organisations, reiterate our call on the Saudi authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammed al-Qahtani and other imprisoned members of ACPRA who are arbitrarily detained solely for their peaceful activism. In the interim, we call on the authorities to disclose the fate and whereabouts of Mohammed al-Qahtani, ensure immediate contact with his family, and provide him with any medical care he may need. Saudi Arabia should ensure a free and enabling environment for all human rights defenders, in order for them to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals and without undue restrictions.See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/78383825-0b3f-4bca-883a-b81e1baecd09
Among the co-founding members of ACPRA, five remain imprisoned today: Dr Mohammed al-Qahtani (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban. He completed his sentence in November 2022, yet remains in detention incommunicado); Mohammed al-Bajadi (sentenced to four years in prison, four years of suspension followed by a 10-year travel ban, and currently detained since May 2018); Abdulaziz al-Shubaili (sentenced to eight years in prison followed by an eight-year travel ban); Fowzan al-Harbi (sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by a 10-year travel ban); Essa al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison, followed by an 11-year travel ban). Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rashudi (sentenced to 15 years in prison and a 15-year travel ban. He was released in April 2018 for medical reasons; Abdulkarim al-Khodr (sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by a 10-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to the travel ban); Abdulrahman al-Hamid sentenced to 9 years in prison, followed by a 9-year travel ban. He was released in January 2023 upon the completion of his sentence but remains subject to a travel ban); Dr Abdullah al-Hamid (sentenced to 11 years in prison followed by an 11-year travel ban), passed away on 23 April 2020 in custody. Abdullah al-Hamid and Mohammed al-Qahtani, alongside Waleed Abu al-Khair, have received the Right Livelihood Award in November 2018.
Signatories:
MENA Rights Group
Right Livelihood
ALQST
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)
Freedom Initiative
Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Amnesty International
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Human Rights First
Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT France)
14 NGOs call on Bahrain to ensure that human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is allowed adequate medical treatment, as well as the right to access and respond to allegations made by the Government of Bahrain in a response to a UN communication.
In a joint communication made public on 4 May 2023, six UN experts – including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, and the Vice-Chair of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mumba Malila – expressed their utmost concern at the continued arbitrary detention of human rights defender Mr. Al-Khawaja. He is a widely recognised HRD, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/4d45e316-c636-4d02-852d-7bfc2b08b78d
The UN communication addresses troubling allegations of torture, ill treatment and poor prison conditions of Mr. Al-Khawaja, including intimidation, restriction of communication with family, deprivation of basic rights, including his inability to give power of attorney to his lawyer in court, as required, shackling of hands, despite doctors’ orders to the contrary, as well as fabrication of cases against him and other political prisoners in Bahrain.
The UN communication was sent to the Government of Bahrain on 17 February 2023 and remained confidential for 60 days, as is UN protocol. The Government of Bahrain replied to the six UN experts on 17 April 2023, which was recently translated and made publicly available.
The Government of Bahrain’s response denies that Mr. Al-Khawaja has been subject to torture. This is contradicted by findings from the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which was established by the King of Bahrain and medically documented that Al-Khawaja was subjected to torture and sexually assaulted by security forces in 2011. Furthermore, the Government of Bahrain’s response fails to adequately recognize Mr. Al-Khawaja as a human rights defender or acknowledge the arbitrary nature of his detention.
On more than one occasion, Mr. Al-Khawaja attempted to receive information over the phone about the nature of the UN communication, including the Government of Bahrain’s response, but the calls were systematically cut by the authorities. Therefore, Mr. Al-Khawaja officially requested through his lawyer that he be allowed a hard copy of the mentioned documents. The signatories call on Bahrain to ensure that the request is honored.
In addition, Mr. Al-Khawaja has continued to be repeatedly denied access to a cardiologist, as well as other appointments with relevant doctors, despite being at risk of a heart attack or stroke at any time. As recently as the past two weeks, Mr. Al-Khawaja was denied two medical appointments, the most recent being on Thursday 11 May 2023.
Since 9 May 2023, Mr. Al-Khawaja has protested in the yard of Jaw Prison on a daily basis holding up two signs in front of the CCTV cameras stating “Treatment prevention is slow systematic killing” and “You commit torture and prevent treatment” in order for him and his fellow prisoners of conscience to be allowed his necessary medical appointments. He informed his family on 14 May 2023 that he has suspended his protest temporarily due to promises made by the prison administration to improve conditions and allow access to adequate treatment.
The signatories call on the Government of Bahrain to:
Immediately and unconditionally release human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, as well as all other prisoners of conscience.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is taken to the necessary medical appointments for diagnostics and treatment.
Ensure that Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja obtains the requested documents related to the UN communication and that he is allowed a written response.
Signatories:
The #FreeAlKhawaja Campaign
Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
European Center for Democracy and Human Rights (ECDHR)
Image caption, Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi have been detained in Iran for more than 200 days
BBC Persian Service on 5 May 2023 drew attention to the fate of the two journalists who reported first on Mahsa Amini, whose name made headlines around the world when she died in custody last September, sparking waves of protests in Iran. But not many people have heard of Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi.
The two female journalists helped break the story of Ms Amini’s death and have been detained in two of Iran’s most notorious prisons ever since. On Tuesday, they and the imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi were awarded the 2023 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize by the United Nations’ cultural agency, UNESCO.”They paid a hefty price for their commitment to report on and convey the truth. And for that, we are committed to honouring them and ensuring their voices will continue to echo worldwide until they are safe and free,” said Zainab Salbi, the jury chair. For more on Narges, see; https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/07C20809-99E2-BDC0-FDC3-E217FF91C126
On 22 September, just six days after she tweeted a photograph of Mahsa’s grieving family, Niloufar Hamedi was arrested. Security forces also raided Elaheh Mohammadi’s home at the same time, seizing her electronic devices. On 29 September, she too was arrested.
Both Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi were already known for hard-hitting news reports and coverage of human rights issues.
“Journalists in Iran are risking their lives on a daily basis to report on the conditions and oppressions there,” the Harvard fellows noted.
Image caption, Mahsa Amini’s death led to a wave of protests in Iran and rallies in solidarity around the world
Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi have meanwhile been kept in harsh conditions at Evin prison in Tehran and Qarchak Women’s Prison, south of the city. Reports from inside Qarchak suggest that the facilities are inhumane, with a lack of medicine, food and even safe drinking water or clean air. Ms Mohammadi lost 10kg (22lbs) in the first three months of her detention, her husband wrote on his Instagram page.
Both women have also struggled to access legal support. The first lawyer appointed to represent the pair said in October that he was unable to communicate with them or access the legal documents surrounding their arrests. Less than a month later, he was himself arrested. The journalists’ families have struggled with the pain of not knowing what is going to happen to them.
“I’m asked, ‘What do the authorities tell you?’ I’m not even sure which institution or person to contact,” Ms Hamedi’s husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, said in an interview with Sharq.
He too has found it difficult to get information about what his wife is accused of and what is likely to happen to her.
At the end of October, Iran’s ministry of intelligence and the intelligence agency of the Revolutionary Guards issued a statement accusing Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi of being trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency to foment unrest in Iran.
Their newspapers denied the allegations and insisted they had just been doing their jobs.
Last week, after they had both spent more than 200 days in custody, the Iranian judiciary announced that Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi had been indicted and their cases referred to a court.
Guatemalan lawyer Claudia González Orellana will receive the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2023. The Award will be presented at a ceremony co-hosted by Lawyers for Lawyers and the Amsterdam Bar in the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam on 11 May. Watch online, via the following link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIF9Im9wXVo from 5:30 PM until 6:00 PM CEST.
Jury: “By awarding Claudia González Orellana the Lawyers for Lawyers Award, the jury wants to highlight the important work of a lawyer who has bravely represented human rights defenders at high cost to her own personal life and safety. Despite the risk of arrest or physical harm to Claudia and her family, the submission to online harassment, threats, intimidation and the risk of persecution, Claudia bravely continues her work in order to protect human rights and the rule of law”.
After 36 years of internal warfare, Guatemala struggled for democracy and installed an International Commission against Impunity (CICIG). From 2011 to 2019, a period known globally for unprecedented accountability for corruption in Guatemala, Claudia González Orellana was a prosecutor with the CICIG. CICIG successfully prosecuted high level government officials, Supreme Court and Congress members, and other members of organized crime. This work threatened the interests of a corrupt network, the so-called ‘Pacto de corruptos’ a group of economic, military and political elites. In September 2019 CICIG closed down and the former team of lawyers faced several attacks.
As a prosecutor with CICIG Claudia González Orellana pursued accountability for corruption and human rights abuses. She and her family now face extremely high risks of arrest or physical harm for the work she did as a CICIG prosecutor and now as a superb, persistent and public-facing defense attorney for those being targeted. She is now subject to online harassment and threatening rhetoric, verbal threats indicating she may be criminally prosecuted herself, and physical acts of intimidation outside her home. Despite these pressures, Ms González has remained in Guatemala and continues to handle dozens of defense cases, representing individuals who are being prosecuted for their involvement in cases relating to the fight against corruption. For example, she is the lead defense attorney for Virginia Laparra, who has been arbitrarily imprisoned in retaliation for her work as a prosecutor and who has been designated as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
As a result of defending the lawyers and prosecutors who previously defended the right to a life free of corruption and impunity, Claudia González is now facing violent treatment during hearings and through social media, and she is also being subjected to harassment and intimidation. She has faced multiple instances of judicial harassment, the last one of which was a fake case in which they falsely accused her of forging the signature of the nation’s lead anti-corruption prosecutor. Despite this situation, Claudia is currently using her more than 20 years of experience to defend nine lawyers, all of whom worked on high profile anti-corruption cases for several years: six are former Prosecutors of the General Prosecutor’s Office and three are former CICIG lawyers.
Twenty-seven human rights lawyers from across the world were nominated for the Lawyers for Lawyers Award 2023. The independent expert jury which consisted of Mr Egbert Myjer (chair), Mr Cees Flinterman, Ms Jenny Goldschmidt, and Ms Channa Samkalden selected Claudia González Orellana as laureate. The independent expert jury selected lawyer Manuchehr Kholiknazarov from Tajikistan and lawyer’s collective Bufete Jurídico de los Pueblos from Honduras as shortlisted candidates.
Ruth Michaelson in the Guardian of Friday 24 March 2023 reports that human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s health has suffered so much inside a Bahraini prison that his daughter Maryam has offered to trade places with him. She fears that without urgent action, her father will slowly die behind bars without being able to see his family.
“I don’t know how much longer my dad has. I spend every day dreading each time the phone rings, as it might be someone calling me to let me know my dad is no longer around,” said Maryam. “I know he has serious health issues and the authorities are using [lack of] access to proper treatment as a method of punishment. I don’t want to wait around for my dad to be released to us in a coffin. I can’t do that.” She added: “The central issue is that my father shouldn’t be in prison to begin with.” [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/11/29/mea-laureate-abdulhadi-al-khawaja-facing-new-charges-for-protesting-injustice-in-jau-prison/]
Khawaja is one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights campaigners. He has a decades-long history of activism, and was arrested in the dead of night at his family home in April 2011 for his involvement in pro-democracy protests that swept the kingdom. Two months later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Twelve years into his sentence, his family say the Danish-Bahraini dual national is being denied crucial medical treatment as punishment for his status as a human rights defender, raising the risk that Khawaja could die behind bars without urgent intervention from the Danish authorities. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/4d45e316-c636-4d02-852d-7bfc2b08b78d
He was convicted of terrorism and attempting to overthrow the government, charges that were condemned as politicised by rights groups. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary detention declared that the sentence was directly linked to Khawaja’s desire to freely express his political beliefs and participate in protests, despite the Bahraini authorities’ ruling that anti-government protests were illegal. A spokesperson for the Bahraini government, when asked about Khawaja’s case, said that “freedom of expression and opinion is a constitutional right and no one is detained because of their political views or activism.”
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The animation pilot series “True Heroes Are For Real” explores the moment when ordinary people stand up for justice. When does one become a human rights defender? On the 16th of February 2023, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders ceremony is taking place in Geneva and will celebrate three outstanding activists; Khurram Parvez from Kashmir, on of the 2023 Martin Ennals Award laureates is part of this animation pilot series. THE HEROES ANIMATIONS will also cover Ahmed Mansoor – UAE, Estela de Carlotto – Argentina, Asma Jahangir – Pakistan, Ilham Tohti – China, Eren Keskin – Turkey, and Sizani Ngubane – South Africa.
True Heroes Films (THF) collaborates with Human Rights Defenders through audio-visual communication. Besides the animation series, we are currently preparing a library of short messages to highlight the work and courage of these Heroes through different themes. Both projects are in the fundraising phase. Feel free to reach out if you would like to support our work.
Our True Heroes Digest of Awards is an overview of all international human rights awards and laureates. The Digest recognises and applauds those who stand up for their community. Recently it reached the milestone of over 3000 Human Rights Defenders: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedi… . We also have over 100 in-depth portraits and interviews with some of the most outstanding True Heroes of our time. View them on our website http://www.trueheroesfilms.org
Three outstanding activists who pioneered human rights movements in Chad, Venezuela, and Kashmir are to receive the Martin Ennals Award 2023 on February 16th in Geneva. The common denominator between the 2023 Laureates, Delphine Djiraibé (Chad), Feliciano Reyna (Venezuela), and Khurram Parvez (Kashmir) is their courage, passion, and determination to bring the voice of the voiceless to the international arena, despite the ongoing, sometimes life-threatening, challenges they endure. [see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/01/19/breaking-news-laureates-of-the-mea-for-2023-announced/]The ceremony takes place on February 16th at 6.30 pm. To sign up: https://www.martinennalsaward.org/2023-edition/
On 22 January 2023 Freedom Under Law (FUL) said that the news that eSwatini human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko has been gunned down in cold blood comes as no surprise. The eSwatini government said Maseko was brutally shot and killed by unknown criminals at his home in Mbabane on Saturday night. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/03464020-c1e6-11ea-a3f7-933e766692a6
“A ceaseless and fearless human rights lawyer, an outspoken critic of the regime in his beloved eSwatini, Thulani had all too long suffered at the hands of a heedless regime. But he lived by the motto: ‘My head is bloody, but unbowed … I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul’.
“Sadly, and to the shame of those engaged in the administration of justice in his country, all too often he was a lone beacon of light,” FUL chair judge Johann Kriegler said. He said no-one could be misled by the cynical message of condolence put out on behalf of the eSwatini government.
“His passing has not only left his family bereft of a loved one; his country has been left the poorer, its human rights conscience brutally stifled.”
FUL said in paying tribute to Maseko that it respectfully suggested it would be fitting if the Law Society of eSwatini were to mark his passing by observing January 21 every year as a day of mourning his death and rededication to the rule of law. “To his widow and family we express our grateful condolences. They have paid a bitter price on behalf of all who try to serve the principles for which their dear one lived.”
According to the eSwatini government, Maseko was shot by “unknown criminals”. “[His] demise is a loss to the nation, and his footprints as a human rights lawyer are there as proof of his contributions to the country. He will be surely missed,” it said in a statement. Spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said the country’s security forces had assured the government that they were already at work looking for the killers and would not rest until they have been brought to book. “Government also wants to warn against speculations and insinuations, peddled particularly on social media platforms in instances like these. Again, government distinctively disassociates… and the country’s authorities from these heinous acts.”
Maseko chaired the Multi-Stakeholders Forum, a collaboration of political parties and civil society groups working to amplify calls for democratic reforms.
In 2018, Maseko took Swaziland’s King Mswati III to court for changing the country’s name. He had argued that the resources to be channelled to the name change should rather go towards improving living standards of the poor, according to reports by City Press. In 2014, Maseko was sentenced to two years in prison, with the editor of news magazine The Nation, Bheki Makhubu, for contempt of court over articles critical of the government and judiciary. The Nation published articles co-authored by the two men which were critical of the chief justice and suggested that he may have abused his powers. See also: https://lawyersforlawyers.org/en/lawyers/thulani-maseko/
Today the three Martin Ennals Award Laureates 2023 were announced !
The 2023 Laureates — Delphine Djiraibé (Chad), Feliciano Reyna (Venezuela), and Khurram Parvez (Jammu and Kashmir) — have each dedicated over 30 years of their lives to building movements which brought justice for victims, accountability from leaders, or medicines to the marginalized. They have made human rights real for thousands of people in their communities, despite the ongoing, sometimes life-threatening, challenges they endure. For more on this award and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/043F9D13-640A-412C-90E8-99952CA56DCE
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Delphine Kemneloum Djiraibé was one of the first female lawyers in Chad and a pioneer of the human rights movement in one of the poorest countries in the world, fraught with corruption and human rights abuses. Convinced that her role is to “challenge the power”, Delphine has advocated on behalf of victims and the democratic process for over 30 years. She was a key figure in bringing the former dictator Hissène Habré to justice. Djiraibé heads the non-governmental organisation Public Interest Law Center (PILC), which trains volunteers and accompanies citizens seeking justice for violations of their rights. In recent years she has been particularly active in combating gender-based violence and is in the process of establishing the first women’s counselling center in Chad, which will include an emergency shelter for women affected by domestic violence. See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/5B701F71-12FD-B713-9F99-5E09B9AFD6DA
After the death of his partner Rafael from AIDS in 1995, Feliciano Reyna, then an architect, founded Acción Solidaria to provide much needed medication and treatment to Venezuelans living with HIV & AIDS. Feliciano and Acción Solidaria began advocating for access to health for the marginalised LGBTQI population in a country where healthcare was on the decline and corruption on the rise. They created the first national AIDS Help Line in Venezuela and ran a national awareness campaign on HIV & AIDS, which aired on TV and in movie theaters, and received radio and magazine coverage. Feliciano Reyna went on to found CODEVIDA, a coalition of Venezuelan organisations promoting the rights of Venezuelan citizens to health and life. As he put it: “We walked directly into the complex humanitarian emergency in Venezuela”. Despite ongoing threats, since 2006, he has worked closely with UN mechanisms to defend human rights in his country. In 2019 his advocacy was instrumental in establishing the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela.
At the age of 13, when Khurram Parvez witnessed the shooting of his grandfather during a protest demonstration against the molestation of women outside his house in Kashmir, he chose to “not incite violence and become part of some revenge” , but rather to become a “nonviolent activist“. He founded the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and is the Chair of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. For 15 years he has travelled to the most remote parts of the region to sit with victims of abuse, collect documentation and report on their stories. Under his leadership, the JKCCS has been highly effective in translating the protections guaranteed in international human rights law into local realities. Despite continued attacks on his right to freedom of expression by the Indian government, being jailed in 2016 and losing a leg to landmines, Khurram relentlessly spoke the truth and was an inspiration to civil society and the local population. In November 2021, he was arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on politically motivated charges. He remains detained without trial in India. See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/81468931-79AA-24FF-58F7-10351638AFE3
You can watch them take questions from the press at the Club Suisse de la Presse, livestreamed on February 14th, 2023 from 12h CET.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 