Posts Tagged ‘digest of human rights awards and laureates’

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JOINT NGO LETTER asks to suspend EU-CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE 2024

June 17, 2024

On 12 June 2024, a group of important NGOs addressed the following letter to Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs:

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, are writing to reiterate our request for the European Union to suspend its human rights dialogue with China, and to consider other, more impactful measures at the EU’s disposal to address the Chinese government’s assault on human rights at home and abroad.

While appreciative of the open and frank discussion and engagement with the EEAS in preparation of each round of human rights dialogue with China, we regret that the EU continues this exercise despite its amply proven ineffectiveness over 38 rounds. While the EU raises concerns during these dialogues, it knows that the Chinese government will not acknowledge abuses, will not undertake any effort to secure accountability, and will not be persuaded to undertake any policy or legislative action to comply with China’s international human rights obligations. The EU’s reluctance to establish any measurable benchmark of progress, or even to establish clearly defined objectives beyond having a dialogue, exacerbates the ineffectiveness of this exercise.

This year’s human rights dialogue would also entail EU officials sitting down with authorities in Beijing to “engage… through dialogue and cooperation” on human rights, days after the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.

Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, the Chinese government has intensified its crackdown on dissent, harassing and imprisoning human rights defenders and activists including the Swedish bookseller Gui Minhai, the Uyghur economist and Sakharov Prize laureate Ilham Tohti [7 human rights awards, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/37AE7DC4-16DB-51E9-4CF8-AB0828AEF491], the Hong-Kong barrister and human rights activist Chow Hang-tung and human rights lawyers Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan, who were arrested a little over a year ago on their way to meet with the EU delegation [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/69fc7057-b583-40c3-b6fa-b8603531248e and https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/07/12/new-wave-of-repression-against-human-rights-lawyers-unleashed-in-china/]. The Chinese government has committed egregious violations against Uyghur and other Turkic communities in Xinjiang/The Uyghur Region, which a report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in August 2022 stated “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.” Beijing has also intensified its repression in Tibet, while in Hong Kong the creation of a new national security architecture at Beijing’s behest has severely restricted the rights and freedoms long enjoyed by Hong Kong’s people.

Beijing’s foreign policy has also been increasingly detrimental to human rights, both in the region and beyond. The Chinese government continues to support highly abusive governments, to challenge international efforts to secure accountability for grave abuses, and to intensify efforts to undermine the international human rights system and rewrite its norms. The Chinese government has also engaged in increasingly brazen transnational repression – abuses committed outside its borders – including in EU countries.

The EU has already suspended human rights dialogues with highly repressive countries such as Russia, Syria, Belarus, and Myanmar, among others, in light of the nature, scale and pervasiveness of their authorities’ human rights abuses and violations of international law. The Chinese government has committed serious crimes amounting to crimes against humanity. It has long been evident that the human rights dialogue is not an appropriate nor an effective tool to address them. There is no reason to expect the 39th round will prove more beneficial to the rights of people in China than the previous 38. The EU and its member states should pursue different, more effective actions to press the Chinese government to end its crimes against humanity and other serious violations – and to hold accountable those responsible for failing to do so.

We have long been suggesting alternative action, latest in this February 2023 letter. We stand ready to discuss these and other options with you any time.

Signatories:
Amnesty International
Front Line Defenders
Human Rights Watch
International Service for Human Rights
World Uyghur Congress

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/joint-public-civil-society-letter-eu-china-human-rights-dialogue-2024

and see https://www.ucanews.com/news/jailing-of-chinese-metoo-journalist-upsets-rights-groups/105431

https://www.aol.com/news/eu-urges-china-stop-human-145953152.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-urges-china-stop-human-rights-crackdown-2024-06-17/

Posted in Amnesty international, Front Line, HRW, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
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Obituary of Leah Levin: 1926 – 2024

June 7, 2024

I am not a professional obituary writer, but I surely wished I were, as writing about my dear friend Leah Levin deserves the best possible skills. Fortunately, I received some excellent input from her caring family of which I am making good use. A celebration of Leah’s life will be held by the family on 13 June, 4 pm BST which can also be followed online.

For those of you who wish to attend via zoom, here is the link:
https://ted-conf.zoom.us/j/91594050908?pwd=cE9SaHB4S0JkSW5MWFEwUTdOWmJIZz09

And you can leave messages at: : https://www.mykeeper.com/profile/LeahLevin/ 

Leah Levin, was a well-known figure in the international human rights movement of the 1970’s and onwards. She died of cardiac arrest on 25 May, 2024, at the formidable age of 98. For over half a century, she served and led a range of human rights organisations and collaborated globally with some of the world’s leading activists. For which she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in 1992 and an OBE in 2001.

She was the author of UNESCO’s “Human Rights: Questions and Answers”, one of the world’s most widely disseminated books on human rights, (translated into more than 30 languages).

From 1982-1992, she was director of JUSTICE, a pioneering organisation that sought to right miscarriages of justice and which was a national section of the International Commission of Jurists . She served as a board member or trustee of the United Nations Association, the Anti-Slavery Society, International Alert, Redress, Readers International and The International Journal of Human Rights. But most of all, I remember her from the work she did to make sure that we would not forget one of our most impressive friends: Martin Ennals, who had led Amnesty from 1968 to 1980 and had been one of her closest friends until his death in 1981. [see his biography in the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, OUP, 2009, Vol 2, pp 135-138].

Leah’s contribution to the creation and development of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders was enormous. She stepped down from the board after two decades in 2013.[see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2013/10/07/leah-levin-a-human-rights-defender-of-the-first-rank/].

Frances D’Souza, said about Leah: “without any pretension she was nearly always right. She hit the nail on the head whether dealing with world affairs or people. She made a significant difference by her wise counsel and fact that she could really see what the issues were, read the situation and do something about it.”

Leah Levin had the special talent to draw other like-minded people to her and help coalesce a community of activists with whom she would collaborate throughout her entire life.

Her own life story is one of human rights struggle: Leah was born Sarah Leah Kacev on 1 April 1926 in Lithuania. She grew up as Leah Katzeff in Piketberg, South Africa, a small, rural town in Western Cape to where the family had to flee to escape poverty and anti-Semitism in the difficult years after the First World War and Russian revolution. Leah was the first of four children and the first person in her family to go to university. She graduated in 1945, when at the end of the second world war, the Katzeffs found out that their family along with their entire Jewish community in Mazeikiai, had been murdered by local Lithuanians organized by the Germans in the very first days of the Nazi advance in 1941.

In 1947 she married Archie Levin, fifteen years her senior. Like Leah, Archie was the child of European Jewish immigrants. Together they set up a new business, writing travel guides to Central and Southern Africa. In 1960, disgusted by the repression of anti-apartheid protest, the couple moved to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) with their two children Michal and Jeremy. A third son, David, was born in Salisbury (now Harare).  

In Rhodesia, Leah completed a second degree in international relations at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, while her husband became politically active. His activities angered those in power; shortly before Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence. Archie was tipped off that he was likely to be arrested. He rapidly left for the UK with his daughter Michal and later was joined by his son Jeremy; a few months later, Leah and her infant son David joined the rest of the family in the UK. 

In London, Leah found a volunteer post as Secretary of the newly founded United Nations Association. The UNA human rights committee brought together people who became lifelong friends as well as colleagues: Martin Ennals, Sir Nigel Rodney, Amnesty’s first legal officer and later UN rapporteur on torture, and Kevin Boyle, who ran the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex.  After the death in 1977 of her husband Archie, Leah threw herself still more wholeheartedly into human rights work.  In 1978, she took a job as Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, which connected her to the United Nations in Geneva. And in 1982 she moved to run JUSTICE for a decade. In 1992, she co-founded Redress, representing victims of torture to obtain justice and reparation for them. 

Even when fully retired Leah continued to keep an active interest in children and grandchildren as well as her human rights “children”. I will bitterly miss her almost yearly phone calls to check on me to make sure I am doing the right thing.

See also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/ac7b872e-5b7d-409f-975b-265a59f5f160

On 21 June 2024 the Times published https://www.thetimes.com/article/4a2d6b5a-a2a0-477d-8701-29a8358a6dee?shareToken=0dd6ee7a6cedbc723f18cce633713205 with emphasis on her ‘national’ role but disappointingly leaving out much of her international contribution.

and later:https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/26/leah-levin-human-rights-dies/

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Front Line Defenders: 2024 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk

May 31, 2024

On 31 May 2024, Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its top distinction, the 2024 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin this morning. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including:

  • Africa: Gamito dos Santos Carlos of AJOPAZ, the Youth Association for Peace (Mozambique)
  • Americas: The Trans women collective Muñecas de Arcoíris (Honduras), represented by Jennifer Bexara Córdova
  • Asia and the Pacific: Sammi Deen Baloch of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (Balochistan, Pakistan)
  • Europe and Central Asia: Doros Polykarpou of KISA (Cyprus)
  • Middle East and North Africa: We Are Not Numbers (Gaza, Palestine), represented by Ahmed Alnaouq

“Given the immensity of the challenges we face and the adverse forces working against human rights in many parts of the world, it might seem tempting to lose hope that a better world is even possible,” said Alan Glasgow, Executive Director of Front Line Defenders. “But these courageous human rights defenders have defied that temptation and inspire us to keep hope alive. They say ‘no’ to the perpetrators and ‘yes’ to optimism – they know a fairer, more equal, rights-respecting world is worth fighting for.

For more on the Annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk and it many laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D

The 2024 Front Line Defenders Award winners are:

Gamito dos Santos Carlos, a human rights defender from Nampula, northern Mozambique, is the executive director of AJOPAZ, the Youth Association for Peace. His human rights work centres around social, civil and political rights and accountability. Gamito has been advocating for the protection of human rights activists and engaging with young people to advocate for significant social change in his community, to foster justice and sustainable decision-making by authorities. He is also a member of the Friends of Amurane Association for a Better Mozambique -KÓXUKHURO, as well as an analyst and Provincial Coordinatorof the Mozambican Network of Human Rights Defenders (RMDDH). He has faced ongoing intimidation for his human rights work, including repeated raids on his home and the loss of his job, and in March 2023 he was kidnapped and tortured after he organised a demonstration.

Muñecas de Arcoíris (Rainbow Dolls) is a collective of trans women from the city of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela in Honduras, founded in 2008. Muñecas works under the LGTBI+ Arcoíris Association of Honduras with the aim of creating a safe space for trans sex worker women. The members of Muñecas started as volunteers of the Arcoíris Association, where they became more aware of the situation that trans people were facing in Honduras. With the support of the Arcoíris Association, Muñecas members received training related to their rights as LGTBI+ people. They then started to document human rights violations specifically against trans women in 2006 and two years later, on 31 October 2008, the collective was formally created as a trans women organisation. Most of its members are sex workers, informal workers, stylists, and housekeepers,among others.

Sammi Deen Baloch is a Baloch woman human rights defender from Mashkai, Awaran District of Balochistan province,Pakistan. She is the General Secretary of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), a non-governmental organisation that represents and supports victims and relatives of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. In June 2009, at the age of 10, Sammi’s father, Dr Deen Mohammed Baloch, was forcibly disappeared in Khuzdar, Balochistan. She began persistently campaigning for the release of her father, which further led to her deeper, collective involvement in advocating against enforced disappearances in Balochistan by state forces.

Doros Polykarpou is a leading human rights defender and founding member of KISA (the Movement for Equality, Support, and Anti-Racism). He is an expert on migration, asylum, discrimination, racism, and trafficking in Cyprus. For over 27 years, he has dedicated himself to defending and advocating for the rights of people on the move and tackling discrimination and xenophobia in Cyprus, navigating the unique socio-political environment of the small island nation with strong conservative elements. This has exposed him and the organisation to a backlash, and earlier this year KISA’s office was targeted by a bomb attack. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/01/19/attack-against-cypriot-anti-racism-ngo-kisa/]

We Are Not Numbers (WANN) is a youth-led Palestinian nonprofit project established in the Gaza Strip in 2014, with the aim of telling the everyday, human stories of thousands of Palestinians. Their vision is to spread Palestinian voices and narratives, based on respect for human rights through the work of peaceful, non-violent, youth led Palestinians. When co-founder Ahmed Alnaouq lost his 23-year-old brother, Ayman, during an Israeli military attack on Palestinians in the summer of 2014, he was devastated, and sunk into a depression from which he thought he would never escape. During this time, he met American journalist Pam Bailey, who encouraged him to celebrate his brother’s legacy by writing a story about him. Like many young people in Gaza, Ahmed was majoring in English literature to improve his language skills. Pam published the story on a Western news website, which was well-received beyond expectation. Ahmed and Pam realised that writing the story had brought some healing to him and that this could be done on a much bigger platform.

https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/inspirational-human-rights-defenders-five-continents-receive-front-line-defenders

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Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent 2024 goes to: Iranian hip-hop artist, Uyghur poet and Venezuelan pianist

May 25, 2024

Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero.

On 22 May 2024) The Human Rights Foundation announced the recipients of the 2024 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent: Iranian hip-hop artist Toomaj Salehi, Uyghur poet and activist Tahir Hamut Izgil, and Venezuelan pianist and recording artist Gabriela Montero.

“Their work stands as a testament to extraordinary bravery and ingenuity,” HRF Founder Thor Halvorssen said. This year’s laureates will be recognized during a ceremony on Tuesday, June 4, at the 2024 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) in Oslo, Norway. Montero will be performing the European and Scandinavian premiere of “Canaima: A Quintet for Piano and Strings” at the Oslo Konserthus.
The Havel Prize ceremony will also be broadcast live at oslofreedomforum.com.

Toomaj Salehi is an Iranian hip-hop artist known for lyrics protesting the Iranian regime and calling for human rights. In September 2022, at the height of the nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, Salehi released several songs supporting women’s rights. One song, “Divination,” with the lyrics, “Someone’s crime was that her hair was flowing in the wind. Someone’s crime is that he or she was brave and…outspoken,” grew in popularity and was sung throughout the protests. Salehi was first arrested in October 2022 and was released on bail in November 2023 after the Iranian Supreme Court overturned his charges of “corruption on Earth,” “propaganda against the system,” “collaboration with a hostile government,” “inciting people to murder and riot,” and “insulting the leadership.” On November 27, 2023, he posted a YouTube video describing the torture and forced confession he experienced during his detention. Three days later, armed plain-clothes agents abducted Salehi. He was subsequently charged in two trials. On April 24, the Isfahan Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death.

Tahir Hamut Izgil is a prominent Uyghur poet, filmmaker, and activist. He is known for his avant-garde poetry, written in Uyghur and influenced by Uyghur life. Originally from Kashgar, Izgil led the 1989 student movement at the Central Nationalities Institute in Beijing. In the late 1990s, he was arrested on charges related to the possession of sensitive literature, leading to a three-year sentence in forced labor camps. He is among the few Uyghur intellectuals who successfully escaped the region in 2017.Izgil’s new memoir, “Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: A Uyghur Poet’s Memoir of China’s Genocide,” documents his journey living in and escaping the Uyghur Region, sharing a rare testimony of the Uyghur genocide with the broader world. His book has been listed as one of the “50 notable works of nonfiction” by The Washington Post and as one of the “10 0 Must-Read Books of 2023” by Time Magazine

Gabriela Montero is a Grammy Award-winning Venezuelan pianist and recording artist. Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, Montero has garnered critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Montero’s recent highlights include her first orchestral composition, “Ex Patria,” a tone poem that grew from the human rights struggle in Montero’s native Venezuela. The piece powerfully illustrates and protests Venezuela’s descent into lawlessness, corruption, and violence, winning her first Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album.Montero is a committed human rights advocate, using her gifts of composition and improvisation as tools of creative dissent. In 2015, she was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International. Montero was awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2018/10/15/venezuelan-pianist-gabriela-montero-wins-the-2018-beethoven-prize/]

For more on this Havel Prize and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/438F3F5D-2CC8-914C-E104-CE20A25F0726

https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/announcing-the-2024-havel-prize-laureates?e=f80cec329e

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Call for nominations for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize 2024

May 16, 2024

On 4 May 2024, during World Press Freedom Day, the European Parliament launched a call for the submission of entries for the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize 2024. The award is for all journalists who work in newspapers registered in one of the 27 member countries. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding work that promotes and defends the fundamental principles and values of the European Union, such as human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, and human rights. [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/ea7f958d-a957-4495-9ab4-9550741a8a58]

An independent jury, comprising representatives of the press and civil society from EU countries and members of leading European journalists’ associations, will award the 20,000 euro  prize. The award ceremony will be around October 16, the anniversary of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. Journalists have until 12 on July 31 to submit their entries.

The award aims at remembering Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese journalist active against corruption, who was killed in 2017 by an explosive device planted in her car. The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in presenting the 2024 edition, was keen to remember Daphne Caruana Galizia: “She was murdered, but her spirit endures in the work of journalists who, like her, defend truth, pluralism, and justice. This prize is for them.”

Presented the 2024 edition of the Daphne Caruana Galizia journalism award

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Denis Mukwege, Congolese Human Rights Defender, awarded 2024 Aurora Prize

May 13, 2024
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative (PRNewsfoto/Aurora Humanitarian Initiative)

On 10 May 2024, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative announced that eighth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renown gynecological surgeon and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Dr. Mukwege is the president of Panzi Hospital and Foundation in the DRC, which he founded in 1999 to address the systemic issue of maternal healthcare and maternal mortality. Amidst ongoing conflict and critical healthcare needs stemming from war, the hospital has become one of the world’s pre-eminent treatment centres for survivors of sexual violence in conflict. Dennis Mukwege is one of the most recognized HRDs in the world, as shown by the 14 human rights awards already received [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/30515CB2-A763-412A-B61D-549E71306CD4]

In recognition of his courageous work and dedication to improving human rights for all, the Aurora Prize Selection Committee revealed their decision after conferring during a three-hour closed session. The Laureate receives a $1,000,000 award and a chance to continue the cycle of giving by supporting local grassroots leaders helping people in need. See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/denis-mukwege/

“Dr. Mukwege has dedicated his life not only to caring for women and girls suffering from the brutality of sexual violence, but also fiercely advocating for their rights,” said Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. “Aurora is honored to support Dr. Mukwege’s mission to help those in need, demand justice for the victims of sexual violence in war, and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Guests at the Aurora Prize Ceremony also honored the contributions of two other shortlisted Aurora Humanitarians: Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a human rights advocate who has been fearlessly defending the most vulnerable communities in Bahrain and the MENA region, and Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian human rights defender.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-denis-mukwege-congolese-gynecological-surgeon-and-human-rights-activist-awarded-the-2024-aurora-prize-302142129.html

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Burkina Faso: Disappeared MEA laureate Daouda Diallo released

April 1, 2024

On 1 December 2023, Daouda Diallo, a human rights defender and secretary general of the Coalition Against Impunity and Community Stigmatization, was abducted by security forces in civilian clothes in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, and taken to an unknown location. See: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2023/12/04/mea-laureate-2022-daouda-diallo-abducted/

On 28 March, 2024 Amnesty International (Index Number: AFR 60/7830/2024) reported that he was freed on 7 March 2024.

https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/ca7f1556-8f73-4b48-b868-b93a3df9b4e1

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Call for applications for the Courage to Think Award

March 12, 2024

Scholars at Risk is seeking nominations for the 2024 Courage to Think Award, which will be presented at the SAR 2024 Global Congress taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania from June 25-27, 2024, in partnership with the European Humanities University (EHU). Nominations will be reviewed on a rolling basis. See: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/tag/courage-to-think-award/

For more on the Courage to Think Award and its laureates, see https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/165B4CC5-0BC2-4A77-B3B4-E26937BA553C

Nomination Guidelines:

  • Nominations may recognize individuals, groups or institutions;
  • Nominations may be submitted by individuals or organizations;
  • SAR sections are encouraged to submit nominations on behalf of the section;
  • Incomplete nominations will not be considered.

Submit a nomination

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18th edition of the International Women of Courage Awards

March 5, 2024

On Monday, 4 March 2024, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and First Lady Jill Biden hosted the annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards ceremony at the White House. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/A386E593-5BB7-12E8-0528-AAF11BE46695

Now in its 18th year, the Secretary of State’s IWOC Award recognizes women from around the globe who have demonstrated exceptional courage, strength, and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equity and equality, and the empowerment of women and girls, in all their diversity – often at great personal risk and sacrifice.  The 2024 awardees and many earlier laureates can be found via the Digest link above.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power had the following to say: It has always taken bravery and stubbornness to stand up for human rights. But today the threats that human rights activists and defenders face – from threats to their families to legal retribution to imprisonment and outright violence at the hands of those who would prefer to see them silenced – those threats are grave, and sadly they are growing. In 2022, more than 400 human rights defenders were murdered, the highest number ever recorded in a single year. I am in awe of the women we are honouring today for their courage. 

They refuse to back down because of a shared conviction captured by Fatima Corazon, one of the women we are recognizing today. As she puts it, courage, even in the face of danger and fear is the driving force to achieve positive change. The women we are honoring live this conviction every minute of every day. They have been unjustly imprisoned, they have been driven from their homes or trapped inside their homes, they have seen their families and their colleagues attacked, or they have received death threats and been assaulted themselves. 

But they do not relent. They go on fighting, they fight for the rights of political prisoners, they organize movements to bring services to marginalized communities, they publish articles, they host rallies, and they call out injustice wherever they can. Even in the most dangerous places against all odds, they are continuing their work demonstrating incredible, inspiring courage and putting their lives on the line to defend human rights. 

Benafsha Yaqoobi has dedicated her life to defending the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. A former attorney and member of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, she has helped women escape violence and visually impaired children attend school. Today, she continues to fight for the future of Afghanistan – one that respects human rights and human dignity.

Born in Isla Luis Vargas Torres, one of the most violent enclaves within Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Fátima Corozo has put her life on the line to draw hundreds of young people away from rising gang violence and help them get the education and job opportunities they need to build the futures they want for themselves.

Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello was the only woman amongst 75 people imprisoned during the black spring, Cuba’s crackdown on dissidents two decades ago, Martha was jailed for her activism. After her release, she continued to fight for the rights of political prisoners documenting fraudulent court hearings and supporting activists and their families. Unfortunately, as the Secretary relayed, the Cuban government is preventing Ms. Roque Cabello from leaving the country. So she is not here to accept the award, but let us give her a heartfelt round of applause.

As a result of Fariba Balouch’s outspoken activism for the rights of women and systematically oppressed ethnic minorities in Iran’s poorest province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Iranian authorities have threatened her life. And after she escaped to London, they detained her son and brother in a further attempt to intimidate her. Yet, Ms. Balouch believes the only way forward is resistance, and she continues to advocate for marginalized communities in Iran refusing to be silenced.

https://www.miragenews.com/2024-intl-women-of-courage-awardees-unveiled-1185728

https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/speeches/mar-04-2024-administrator-samantha-powers-remarks-international-women-courage-awards-ceremony

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Deadline for nominations Right Livelihood Awards 2024

February 23, 2024

With the March 1 deadline swiftly approaching, the window to nominate for the 2024 Right Livelihood Award is closing fast! This is your opportunity to nominate individuals and organisations striving for social and environmental justice. The nomination process is open to the public— we invite you to elevate those making a significant impact through their courageous efforts.
While submissions are encouraged in English, we also welcome nominations in French and Spanish via our online form. If you have questions about the nomination process, do not hesitate to contact us via email at research@rightlivelihood.org or by phone at +41 (0)22 555 0943. NOMINATE NOW

Since 1980, Right Livelihood has celebrated the courageous and the visionary with its annual awards. It’s not just an award; it’s a global recognition of those who dare to envision and take action to create long-term social change. The Right Livelihood Award defies categories. This means the Laureates work in diverse fields across the world. Spanning from journalists who have brought truth to light to entomologists safeguarding biodiversity and poets who touch hearts and minds, the Award demonstrates that impactful work can come from anyone, anywhere.

To date, 194 Laureates from 76 countries have received the Award. See: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/97238E26-A05A-4A7C-8A98-0D267FDDAD59

See also; https://wordpress.com/post/humanrightsdefenders.blog/25917

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