Posts Tagged ‘human rights awards’
April 20, 2018
As part of the global Celebration of World Press Freedom Day, the winner of the “UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize” will be announced on 3 May 2018. for last year’s award: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/05/04/eritrean-born-journalist-dawit-isaak-awarded-2017-unescos-guillermo-cano-world-press-freedom-prize/
For more on this award and some 20 other international awards protecting freedom of speech and the media see: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/unesco-guillermo-cano-world-press-freedom-prize.
https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/The-UNESCO-Guillermo-Cano-World-Press-Freedom-prize-643081
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Tags: censorship, digest of human rights awards, freedom of information, human rights awards, journalists, Media and Human Rights, UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, World Press Freedom Day (3 May)
April 16, 2018
On 16 April 2018 the NGO-network Scholars at Risk (SAR) announced that Turkey’s Academics for Peace is the recipient of its 2018 Courage to Think Defender Award, for their extraordinary efforts in building academic solidarity and in promoting the principles of academic freedom, freedom of inquiry, and the peaceful exchange of ideas. The award, which will be presented at the Scholars at Risk Network 2018 Global Congress, will be accepted on behalf of the group by Muzaffer Kaya, of Technische Universität Berlin, and Tebessüm Yılmaz, of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Rose Anderson, SAR’s Director of Protection Services stated: “By connecting their threatened colleagues both inside and outside of Turkey to resources, opportunities, and support, they are working to ensure that Turkey’s vibrant higher education community can continue to pursue scholarship, and be free to think, question and share ideas. The solidarity of the Academics for Peace community is an inspiration for all of us who work on behalf of threatened scholars and academic freedom worldwide.”
Fo more on the SAR’s Courage to Think and other awards see: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/courage-to-think-award. For last year’s: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/06/09/scholars-at-risk-gives-its-courage-to-think-defender-award-to-egypts-detained-scholars-and-students/
For more information about the Courage to Think Award and the Global Congress, including registration information, the Congress program and speaker bios, visit https://www.con-gressa.de/gc2018.
https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/2018/04/2018-courage-to-think/
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Tags: Academic freedom, Academics for Peace (NGO Turkey), Berlin, Courage to Think Defender Award, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Muzaffer Kaya, Scholars at Risk, Tebessüm Yılmaz, Turkey
April 13, 2018
Viatcheslav
Moshe Kantor launched in early March 2018 a new award – the
European Medal of Tolerance – aimed at fighting extremism and promoting peace in Europe. The European Jewish leader announced the prize at the
European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR) round-table event at the Salon Bellevue in Monaco.The €1 million prize also referred to as the “
Kantor Prize for Secure Tolerance” is awarded by ECTR’s panel of academic advisers to those who achieve exceptional research that advance the idea of “secure tolerance.” Candidates for the award need to present original and creative research on the ways the practice of tolerance can address the challenges of a globalized world and societies that exhibit rich diversity. The award is intended to foster progressive thinking that will be helpful for Europeans as they deal with security and human rights threats.
Moshe Kantor Launches €1 MN Prize to Combat Extremism | Newsmax.com
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Tags: digest, Europe, European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR), extremists, human rights awards, intolerance, launch, Moshe Kantor, Prince Albert II (Monaco), research
April 12, 2018
On 12 April 2018 the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) announced two of the three recipients of the 2018 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent. This year’s laureates include the underground group Belarus Free Theatre and the South Sudanese hip hop musician and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal. Their efforts will be honored in a ceremony during the 2018 Oslo Freedom Forum on Wednesday, 30 May (to avoid possible travel restrictions imposed on the third laureate, the final award will be announced only in May).
For more on the this and other awards: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/vaclav-havel-prize-for-creative-dissent
Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) was founded in 2005 in response to the severe censorship and repression of Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. BFT has staged powerful social and political documentary theater from secret locations (private homes, cafes, and even the woods), characterized by stripped-down performances and topics, including refugees, climate change, torture, and sexuality. According to co-founder and artistic director Natalia Kaliada, “In a country where the state seeks to control every aspect of life, everyone has the potential to rebel in their own way. And a million small acts of rebellion can chip away at even the most entrenched dictatorship.” In April 2017, the company had to postpone a premiere after several members were arrested or injured during large-scale, anti-government protests. BFT is the only theater company in Europe banned by its government on political grounds.
Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese hip hop artist and a former child soldier of Sudan’s brutal civil war that took place between 1983 and 2005. With five critically acclaimed albums, an autobiography, and a documentary to his name, Jal is focused on supporting South Sudanese youth with educational scholarships through his “Survivors of War” program. He founded the charity Gua Africa to work with individuals, families, and communities to help them overcome the effects of war and poverty. “Emmanuel uses powerful music as a vehicle to spread a message of freedom and hope for a better future in war-torn South Sudan. He inspires people everywhere to stand up for the freedom of others, and in so doing brings people closer together,” said Havel Prize Committee member Garry Kasparov.
The Havel Prize ceremony will be broadcast live at oslofreedomforum.com on Wednesday, 30 May. If you would like to attend the ceremony in Oslo please email info@hrf.org and follow @HRF and @OsloFF for updates.
For last year’s award see : https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/05/07/havel-prize-for-creative-dissent-recognizes-human-rights-defenders-in-bahrain-venezuela-and-zimbabwe/
https://mailchi.mp/40e79b190542/havel-prize-for-creative-dissent-celebrates-efforts-in-belarus-and-south-sudan?e=f80cec329e
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Tags: artist, Belarus, Belarus Free Theatre, digest of human rights awards, Emmanuel Jal, Garry Kasparov, human rights awards, Human Rights Foundation, Natalia Kaliada, OFF, South Sudan, Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent
April 3, 2018
An Egyptian lawyer, Samir Sabry, has requested the Attorney General to bring human right defender Asmaa Mahfouz to court. The reason? Winning the Sakharov Prize in 2011! If Egypt Today had reported it a day earlier (on 1 April), I would have credited it as a good April 1st spoof, but unfortunately it is not. In his complaint, Sabry called for the Attorney General to transfer Mahfouz to a Criminal Court trial and ban her from travelling outside the country. He stated that the prize, worth €50,000 was given to her suddenly, and he did not know why. He asked whether it is funding, a reward, or for certain service, and what the reason is for this award. The complaint from Sabry also claimed that this is a Jewish award [SIC} and questions the award’s links to Zionism. According to Sabry, the answer is that Mahfouz received the prize money, and accepted the award, in return for betraying Egypt.
Asmaa Mahfouz was one of the founding members of the April 6 Youth Movement, which sparked nation-wide demonstrations in April 2008 and was indeed awarded the Sakharov prize in 2011 (sharing it with four other Arab figures).
The prize in question is the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought [http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/sakharov-prize-for-freedom-of-thought], which is of course is not granted by Israeli but by the European Parliament!
However, the issue of foreign funding is a major one in the Egyptian context as demonstrated by the case of two Egyptian woman human rights defenders in the ‘NGO foreign-funding case” (as ISHR reminds us on 29 March 2018): harassed and targeted Egyptian woman defenders Azza Soliman and Mozn Hassan [https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/02/02/right-livelihood-has-to-go-to-egypt-to-hand-mozn-hassan-her-2016-award/] face life imprisonment if their cases are brought to trial simply for conducting legitimate human rights work.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in CIHRS, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Asmaa Mahfouz, Azza Soliman, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, digest of human rights awards, Egypt, foreign funding, human rights award, human rights awards, ISHR, Israel, Mozn Hassan, NGO foreign-funding case, Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Samir Sabry, travel ban, woman human rights defenders
March 16, 2018
The 2018 United Nations Human Rights Prize(s) will be given out at the United Nations HQ in New York on Human Right Day, 10 December 2018. The Call for Nominations is now open. This year’s award will coincide with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The honorary prize is given out every five years, usually shared by 6 laureates. For more information see http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/united-nations-prizes-in-the-field-of-human-rights
An remarkable feature of this ‘inter-governmental’ award is that nominations can be received from: “member States, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations in consultative status and from other appropriate sources.” Nominations may be made by submitting the online nomination form with basic identifying information about the nominee and the reasons for making the nomination.
Hard copies can, alternatively, be sent by post to: Human Rights Prize, OHCHR New York Office, Room S-1306, United Nations, New York, NY 10017. A printable form for submitting a nomination by post is available for download here.
The deadline for submission of nominations is 6 April 2018.
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See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/12/08/new-human-rights-award-music-to-our-ears/
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Tags: 70th anniversary UDHR, call for nominations, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, UN, UN human rights prizes, United Nations
March 1, 2018
Vietnamese blogger Pham Doan Trang is shown in an image provided by the website danlambao.com
A Vietnamese human rights defender and blogger – now under house arrest – says she will not travel outside the country to receive a human rights award in March, vowing instead to remain in Vietnam to work for change in the one-party communist state. Pham Doang Trang, author of a recently published book on political engagement that has angered Vietnamese authorities, wrote on Wednesday on her Facebook page that she will not attempt to go abroad to receive her prize, according to Radio Free Asia on 28 February 2018.
“I haven’t gone abroad and don’t plan to, not even for a few days to receive the Homo Homini Prize in the Czech Republic on March 5,” Trang said. “I will never leave Vietnam until Vietnam has changed.” “When one is like a fish that has been born in a dirty and polluted pond, one can either find one’s way to a nicer and cleaner pond nearby or to the vast ocean, or one can try to change one’s own pond to make it beautiful, breathable, and worth living in,” Trang said. “I choose this second option”.
[Trang received the 2017 Homo Homini Award from People in Need, an international human rights organization based in the Czech Republic. See : http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/homo-homini-award]
See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/11/18/overview-of-recent-campaigning-for-human-rights-defenders-in-vietnam/
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/change-02282018145831.html
https://www.clovekvtisni.cz/en/what-we-do/human-rights-support/vietnam/the-homo-homini-prize-for-2017-will-be-awarded-to-a-persecuted-vietnamese-blogger-4888gp
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Tags: blogger, digest of human rights awards, freedom of expression, Homo Homini Award, House arrest, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, People in Need, Pham Doang Trang, Vietnam, woman human rights defender
February 14, 2018
This blog has a keen eye for all human rights awards, so I report with pride rather than embarrassment that the 7th Thoolen NJCM Dissertation Prize 2017 goes to Sylvie McCallum Rougerie. Sylvie wrote her dissertation on ‘Police Failures to Combat Sexual Assault: Lessons from International and Regional Human Rights Law for Improving Accountability under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’.
No less than four student dissertations made the final cut this time. They were assessed on the following criteria: originality of the chosen human-rights based theme, development thereof; academic level; degree of innovative insight; and accessibility. Tied for second place are Jordi Bierens and Danielle Snaathorst. Jordi wrote his dissertation on the growing influence of fundamental rights on European copyright rules. Danielle wrote about ‘The Curious Case of the Legitimate Aim. Understanding the “Legitimate Aim” Test of the European Court of Human Rights in Cases Concerning Freedom of Religion’. The third place goes to Jake Tingen. He wrote his dissertation on the tension between the freedom of information and the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act.
The prize for winning the Thoolen NJCM Dissertation Prize is the publication of the winning dissertation by NJCM’s publishing house, Stichting NJCM-Boekerij. The award ceremony will take place during NJCM’s seminar on 12 April 2018 in The Hague (from 7.00 to 8.30 pm).
See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2016/03/03/dissertation-on-social-rights-and-austerity-wins-thoolen-njcm-award-2016/
https://njcm.nl/actueel/and-the-thoolen-njcm-dissertation-prize-2017-goes-to/
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Tags: Canada, dissertation, human rights awards, Police, sexual assault, students, Sylvie McCallum Rougerie, Thoolen NJCM Dissertation Prize, Thoolen NJCM prijs
February 6, 2018
Applications for the European Commission‘s 2018 Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, which recognises journalists doing outstanding reporting on development topics, are open from 5 February to 9 March for online, print and audio-visual works.
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said: “In an era of disinformation, fake news and digital algorithms, we need professional and fact-based journalism more than ever. The important work of journalists is not only crucial for democracy across the globe, but also gives visibility and a voice to those who would otherwise not be heard. Through their stories they inform, inspire, and call for much-needed change. With this prize, we thank them for their determination and encourage them to keep up the fight.”
The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize is awarded to journalists reporting on issues such as poverty eradication and the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Journalists are invited to submit their work, be it in print, digital, radio or TV broadcast format. Deadline: 9 March 2018. Detailed information on the specific rules and criteria are available online. The prize has two categories based on age groups: 21 to 26 years, and 27 years plus. For each category there will be a winner from each region: Africa; the Arab World and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific; Latin America and the Caribbean; and Europe.
A “Grand Winner” will be selected among the regional winners [this is the award listed in the Digest: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/lorenzo-natali-grand-prize-for-development-and-human-rights] and an additional thematic prize will be awarded for work focused on the elimination of violence against women and girls.
The selection will be carried out by a “Grand Jury” composed of renowned journalists from across the world. This year’s jury members include Bruce Shapiro from the Columbia School of Journalism, Peruvian reporter and founder of “Panorámica Lationamericana” Isabel Recavarren, New Delhi-based journalist and President of the Commonwealth Journalists Association Mahendra Ved, Le Soir’s Maroun Labaki, and Mary Harper, the BBC World Service’s Africa Editor.
All 11 winners will receive their awards at a ceremony during the 2018 European Development Days in Brussels this June.
Application
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Tags: call for nominations, development, digest of human rights awards, European Commission, human rights awards, journalists, Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, lorenzo-natali-grand-prize-for-development-and-human-rights
December 15, 2017
Front Line Defenders is currently accepting nominations for the 2018 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
For more information on this and other awards: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/front-line-defenders-award-for-human-rights-defenders-at-risk
If you would like to nominate a human rights defender for the 2018 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, please follow this link: <https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/secure/nomination.php?l=en> Please also note that nominations can be submitted in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic via the Front Line Defenders website. Deadline: midnight Friday, 19 January 2018.
See also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/05/26/lawyer-wins-front-lines-2017-human-rights-award-for-helping-crimean-tartars/
Posted in awards, Front Line, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, call for nominations, digest of human rights awards, Dublin, Front Line (NGO), Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, human rights awards
