Today, 6 September, UNHCR announced that the Hellenic Rescue Team and Efi Latsoudi of “PIKPA village” on Lesvos are the joint winners of the 2016 Nansen Refugee Award. Read why:.. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘human rights awards’
Greek Volunteers share UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award 2016
September 6, 2016Trinidad and Tobago’s film festival will have again a human rights award
September 4, 2016Amnesty International will again award a human rights prize at the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) which runs from September 20 – 27. Established in an effort to support the promotion of human rights in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, the Amnesty International Human Rights Prize will be awarded to the maker of the feature-length Caribbean film screening which best highlights a human rights issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Burundian human rights defender Mbonimpa wins Alison des Forges Award 2016
September 3, 2016On 1 September Human Rights Watch announced that Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a well-known human rights defender from Burundi, is the winner of the 2016 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.
Russian protest artist Pavlensky stripped of Havel Prize over support for violent ‘Partisans’
July 10, 2016On 5 May 2016 I reported on the Havel Prize winners [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/2016-havel-prize-of-the-human-rights-foundation-goes-to-atena-farghadani-petr-pavlensky-and-umida-akhmedova/], including the ‘protest artist’ Pyotr Pavlensky. Now that he has been stripped of this award two months later, this should also be reported. The choice may have seemed a bit shaky from the beginning, but the more important is to recognize the decisive action by the award giver, the Human Rights Foundation.
Pyotr Pavlensky
Pavlensky told RFE/RL on July 8 that HRF President Thor Halvorssen had informed him of the formal decision to revoke his prize in an e-mailed letter. The letter, which has been seen by RFE/RL, states that HRF regrets the decision as “unfortunate and unprecedented” but says the prize’s selection criteria disqualify those who have “advocated the use of violence as a valid method to fight government oppression.” Speaking to RFE/RL on July 8, Halvorssen confirmed that the organization had revoked Pavlensky’s prize but said HRF had nothing to add beyond the text of the letter sent to the artist.
North-South Prize 2015 of the Council of Europe goes to Greek and Mozambique organizations
July 5, 2016The North-South Prize is awarded to two candidates who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to promoting North-South solidarity. The 2015 Laureates are:
Ms Lora Pappa is the founder of METAdrasi, Action for Migration and Development. Through the creation of METAdrasi, Ms. Pappa aimed to address long-standing gaps in the area of refugee protection and migration management in Greece. METAdrasi’s main focus has been primarily community interpretation and the care for unaccompanied minors. METAdrasi and Ms Pappa personally, have based their work on the highest standards of professionalism and ethics, developing specialist training methods, recruiting dedicated and committed staff, bringing pioneering methods and approaches benefitting refugees and vulnerable groups in multiple ways. Biography
Chairperson of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation, an organisation that promotes peace, social and economic development and culture in Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano has campaigned for peace in the African continent through his work as an envoy and peace negotiator for the United Nations. He has received the highest awards from many countries and has received several prizes, including the Chatham House in 2006 and the inaugural Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership in 2007. He is the founding member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and played a fundamental role in the 1974 negotiations on the independence of Mozambique, between FRELIMO and the Portuguese Government. Biography
Source: Centre Nord-Sud – Prix Nord-Sud
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate 1986, dies at the age of 87
July 3, 2016
ASSOCIATED PRESS Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel died on Saturday aged 87.
Activist and writer Elie Wiesel, the World War Two death camp survivor who won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust victims, has died, Israel’s Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem said on Saturday 2 July 2016. Wiesel, a philosopher, speaker, playwright and professor who also campaigned for the tyrannized and forgotten around the world, was 87.
The Romanian-born Wiesel lived by the credo expressed in “Night,” his landmark story of the Holocaust – “to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”
In awarding the Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee praised Wiesel as a “messenger to mankind” and “one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world.” Elie Wiesel went on to receive another 6 human rights awards, including one named after himself.
Source: Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor And Nobel Laureate, Dead At 87
Detained Chinese lawyer Wang Yu wins Ludovic Trarieux Prize
June 7, 2016
Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu poses during an interview in Hong Kong, March 20, 2014. – AFP
Radio Free Asia reported on 6 June 2016 that detained (on suspicion of “subversion of state power”) lawyer Wang Yu was awarded the prestigious Ludovic Trarieux Prize in Athens on Saturday. [for more info on award see: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/ludovic-trarieux-international-human-rights-prize]. The jury said it wanted to “hail the courage” of a woman who “decided that she could no longer keep her mouth shut,” founder Bernard Favreau said. “She chose to expose herself to dangers in order to defend the rights of women, children and persecuted minorities,” he told Agence France-Presse.
Wang’s attorney Wen Donghai welcomed the award. “They used a serious of objective criteria, for example, the fact that Wang Yu often gave legal assistance to clients from vulnerable groups,” Wen said. “This has nothing to do with any government, nor with diplomacy.” But he said the award is unlikely to help Wang’s case with the Chinese authorities. “I don’t hold out much hope of that, because our government has a very biased attitude to such prizes, and they see human rights groups as trying to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Wen said. “In reality, rights groups aren’t targeting China, but trying to help victims and vulnerable people around the world.” Wang has unfortunately figured regularly in this blog: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/wang-yu/
[The award comes as the families of dozens of rights lawyers detained on similar charges hit out at the government for denying the detainees access to their lawyers, and amid concerns that some detainees may have been tortured or sexually abused in police detention centers.]
- Meet with representatives of civil society in China during or immediately after the meeting;
- Press Chinese counterparts to repeal or bring into line with international law new national security laws, including the Counterterrorism and the Foreign Non-Governmental Management laws;
- Publicly call for the release of specific individuals detained for peacefully exercising their rights; and
- Publicly discuss US concerns about growing restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and religion, among others.
In Hong Kong, protesters marched to Beijing’s Liaison Office in the former British colony on Monday, demanding an inquiry into the 2012 “suicide” death of Chinese labor rights activist Li Wangyang in police custody four years ago. Rights activist Ou Biaofeng said Li’s friends and relatives are under house arrest or close police surveillance on the anniversary of his death. “They are all under surveillance by the state security police, and are cooperating”
For the Lucovic-Trarieux prize 2015: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/saudi-arabian-human-rights-lawyer-waleed-abu-al-khair-wins-ludovic-trarieux-prize/
Source: Detained Chinese Lawyer Wins Award Amid Calls For Pressure on Human Rights
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/06/05/us-show-breadth-rights-commitment-china-dialogue
Azerbaijan releases human rights defenders bit by bit: Khadijah Ismayilova now free
May 27, 2016
On Wednesday 25 May 2016 Azerbaijan finally released investigative journalist Khadijah Ismayilova [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/azerbaijan-khadija-ismayilova-remains-in-jail-but-council-of-europe-takes-exceptional-step/] after a number of other human rights defenders were released bit by bit over the last months. Ismayilova was serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence on charges which included embezzlement, illegal business activities and tax evasion. The Supreme Court has now amended her imprisonment to 3 1/2 years of suspended sentence and released her from prison. She vowed to continue to fight to clear her name. “I will continue to fight until complete acquittal,” Ismayilova told reporters after her release. “I will also continue to work as a journalist.” The British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Clooney is representing Khadija Ismayilova at the European Court of Human Rights.
As an independent reporter and journalist of the Azerbaijani radio Azadliq (“Radio Freedom”) she has shown great courage (see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/khadija-ismayilova-azerbaijan-is-not-deterred/), and received several international prizes, such as the 2015 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism (HRW), the 2015 Freedom to Write Award, the 2012 Fritt Ord/Zeit Press Prize, and the 2012 Courage of Journalism Award by the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation.
Although there are still human rights defenders and journalists in prison, Azerbaijan provides a fine example of how awards and the combined international pressure from a variety of sources (States, NGOs and international organizations) can have an impact:
https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/azerbaijan-pardon-jafarov-ismayilova-aliyev/
Source:
Reuters – Azerbaijan frees journalist whose case raised outcry in West
https://www.cpj.org/2016/05/-azerbaijani-reporter-khadija-ismayilova-ordered-r.php
Fritt Ord and ZEIT awards to Eastern European media: Elena Milashina, Seymour Hazi and Nashi Groshi
May 13, 2016Fritt Ord and ZEIT-Stiftung have given their 2016 awards to: Read the rest of this entry »
Indonesian LGBT defender to be honored with de Souza award on 16 May 2016
May 12, 2016
Yuli Rustinawati is the founder and chair of Arus Pelangi, one of Indonesia’s leading LGBT organizations. Photo: www.stonewall25.org.uk
Yuli Rustinawati, 40, is a lesbian who is the founder and chair of Arus Pelangi, one of Indonesia‘s leading LGBT organizations. The award comes amidst a rash on anti-gay rhetoric by political leaders in Indonesia in recent months. During the past three months Indonesian politicians have vowed to criminalize homosexuality; ban LGBT people from receiving education, employment, access to health care, and housing; called for the removal of gay characters on popular TV shows; and called upon tech companies to remove same-sex emojis from smart phone apps and social media. Rustinawati is setting up a foundation for sexual orientation and gender variant human rights defenders that will provide an emergency assistance program for its safe house, relocation assistance, a network with other human rights organizations, and an information and referral hotline. The foundation is also launching “You Are Not Alone,” a campaign to educate people about LGBTs and encourage more gay people to be visible.
On 5 May 2016 the Bay Area Reporter Online (Heather Cassel) published the news that Indonesian LGBT human rights defender Yuli Rustinawati will receive the Felipa De Souza Award 2016 at OutRight’s Celebration of Courage Gala on16 May. Bisexual actor Alan Cumming will host the event and the awards will be presented by celebrity stylist Carson Kressley.
For more on the award see: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/felipa-de-souza-award
For earlier posts on LGBT human rights see: https://thoolen.wordpress.com/tag/lgbt-human-rights/
For more information: http://www.alturi.org/indonesia_campaign and http://www.outrightinternational.org/events/celebration-courage-2016.
Source: The Bay Area Reporter Online | Indonesian lesbian activist honored with award
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 