Posts Tagged ‘human rights awards’
December 22, 2014
As a relative specialist on human rights awards [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/my-post-number-1000-human-rights-awards-finally-made-accessible-for-and-by-true-heroes/], I would be amiss not to relate the following ‘problem’ with a human rights award in Zimbabwe. The local NGO ZimRights gave a number of human rights awards and ended up having to defend the People’s Choice Award, which had been attributed to a ZANU-PF MP Joseph Chinotimba. A number of human rights defenders activists protested as they said it as was wrong to honour a war veteran who is known to have led violent farm invasions which claimed lives and displaced thousands of people.
Buhera-South MP Joseph Chinotimba
ZimRights has responded by saying that the People’s Choice Award is not [really] a Human Rights Defender Award but is an award “linked to the raising of pertinent developmental issues in the nation using platforms that one has access to”. It also explained that the nominees were selected by the people in all ZimRights’ eleven provinces and when votes were tallied Hon Chinotimba emerged as the winner. ZimRights said they take this result as a challenge and lesson on future education and human rights voting. The 3rd Edition of the Community Human Rights Defenders Award was held in Bulawayo last week on Thursday and the controversy may have obscured that the Overall Human Rights Defender of the Year was awarded to Rebecca Chisamba, a television talk show host. The New Zimbabwe report on 21 December added that “It is not clear what has endeared Chinotimba to the people but a few months ago the comical legislator arrived in Victoria Falls where he bought 200 cases of beer for the revellers at a local beer garden. Chinos, as the Buhera South MP is affectionately known, also pledged to pay school fees for over 20 school children at Chinotimba School which he claims is named after his ancestor.”
ZimRights defends Chinotimba’s award.
Another paper, Newsday, on 22 December, reported that the MP in question, perhaps in response to the criticism, “stunned the more than 200 invited guests that included donor agencies, MPs, civil society leaders, community human rights defenders and commissioners of a variety commissions when he turned down the holiday offer and requested that the money be channelled towards improving infrastructure in his constituency” [The prize was a paid holiday at Victoria Falls with his wife.]
[Chinotimba came into the political limelight in 2000 when he together with the late war veterans’ leader Chenjerai Hunzvi led violent farm invasions and later stormed then High Court judge Justice James Devitte’s chambers in protest against his court rulings on land issues. Since his election into Parliament last year, Chinotimba has generated a lot of controversy through his fearless debates.]
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2014/12/22/will-spend-prize-poor-not-holiday-chinotimba/
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: award, Buhera-South, Chinos, human rights award, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Joseph Chinotimba, New Zimbabwe, Newsday, Rebecca Chisamba, violence, woman human rights defender, ZANU PF, Zimbabwe, ZimRights
December 14, 2014
AFP, Front Line, Human Rights Watch’ Moscow office report that the office of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) in Grozny, Chechnya, was torched after they criticised the Kremlin-supported Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who had called for collective punishment against families of Islamist insurgents (such as burning their houses). It is only the latest chapter in years of harassment and murder of human rights defenders investigating torture, kidnapping and war crimes in Chechnya. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, Front Line, HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Joint Mobile Group | 1 Comment »
Tags: AFP, arson, Chechnya, collective punishment, Front Line Defenders, Grozny, harassment, HRW, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, human rights lawyers, Igor Kalyapin, intimidation, Joint Mobile Group, MEA Laureate 2013, Natalya Estemirova, Ramzan Kadyrov, threats
November 23, 2014
On 1 December, the 2014 Laureates – Basil Fernando, Asma Jahangir, Bill McKibben and Alan Rusbridger – will receive the Right Livelihood Awards [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/snowden-and-asma-jahangir-among-recipients-2014-right-livelihood-award/]. Edward Snowden, will not be able to participate in person. There may be a live video-link with him during the Award Ceremony streamed live on the homepage at 16.00 (CET).
During the week, the Laureates will participate in several public events in Sweden, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. The detailed programme with more information about registration for the events is available from the website, but I want to highlight the following:
Human Rights Defenders in Asia:
On Friday, 28 November, Asma Jahangir (MEA Laureate 1995) and Basil Fernando will participate in a seminar on civic organisations’ contributions to Asian societies at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. The seminar will be followed by a screening of the documentary “Unjust”, which is produced by the Basil Fernando’s organisation and features among others the story of murdered RLA Laureate Munir from Indonesia.
In Berlin on 27 November, Fernando will also speak about civil society’s involvement in Asia along with Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Assembly and Association.
On 2 December, Asma Jahangir will give the 7th Right Livelihood Award Lecture at the University of Zürich, organized by the Right Livelihood Award Foundation Switzerland.
CITIZENFOUR:
Laura Poitras’ documentary film CITIZENFOUR focuses on the encounters with Edward Snowden as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass surveillance by governments. The film will be screened on Saturday, 29 November at Södra Teatern in Stockholm.
The film is followed by a discussion with Daniel Ellsberg (2006 Laureate), Ewen MacAskill (The Guardian), Sarah Harrison (WikiLeaks), and Wolfgang Kaleck (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights). Tickets are available for sale.
Democracy and the right to know: The digital world poses opportunities as well as challenges for today’s journalists. On Monday, 1 December, Alan Rusbridgerwill discuss responsible journalism and the public’s right to know with Peter Wolodarski (Dagens Nyheter) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs in Stockholm.
via: http://rightlivelihood.org/newsl_november14.html
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alan Rusbridger, Asma Jahangir, Basil Fernando, CITIZENFOUR (film), documentary, Edward Snowden, film "Unjust", human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, human rights films, Maina Kiai, Munir, Right Livelihood Award, Sweden, Zurich
November 12, 2014
(Fartuun Adan, Director of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Mogadishu/Somalia. Photo: Fartuun Adan)
The Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation’s human rights award 2014 recognizes Fartuun Adan’s long-standing and persistent commitment to the human rights of women in the complex political context of a society shaped by decades of civil war in Somalia. Bestowing the human rights award on the director of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center also acknowledges that women are no mere victims of violence and discrimination, but socio-political actors, who actively contribute to peace and reconciliation.
[Fartuun Adan is the director of the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center. She founded the organization in 1991 with her husband Elman Ali Ahmed, who was murdered five years later and after whom the center is named today. After his death, Fartuun Adan immigrated to Canada with her daughters. In spite of ongoing conflicts, she returned to Mogadishu in 2007 to continue her work for peace and reconciliation. The Elman Peace and Human Rights Center advocates for women’s and children’s rights under difficult political circumstances. It was the first non-governmental organization providing survivors of gender-based violence and vulnerable women with legal and psychological support, health care and shelter. Furthermore, it advocates for long-term reconciliation and development, and cooperates with OXFAM, ILO and others to support the social reintegration of former child soldiers.]
The award ceremony will take place on 4 December, 2014, 15:00 h, at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hiroshimastr. 28, 10785 Berlin. The laudation will be held by Christoph Strässer, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid.
For more information on the Ebert award, see: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/friedrich-ebert-foundation-human-rights-award.
Human Rights Award of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: awards, Berlin, Christoph Strasser, conflict and peace, digest of human rights awards, Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Fartuun Adan, Friedrich Ebert Human Rights Award, human rights award, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, human rights of women, Mogadishu, rights of children, Somalia, woman human rights defender
October 12, 2014
(ASL19, founded by Iranian-Canadian Ali Karimzadeh Bangi, develops ways for Iranians to counter the country’s “Great Firewall” of censorship – COLIN MCCONNELL / TORONTO STAR)
The prize aims to reward groups that use innovation to promote human rights. Of the 30 shortlisted candidates, ASL19, founded by Iranian-Canadian Ali Karimzadeh Bangi, is running fourth.
The remainder of the article sets out how the group helps Iranians to evade censorship.
Canadian web defenders up for top human rights award | Toronto Star.
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Ali Karimzadeh Bangi, ASL19, Canada, censorship, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Information security, information technology, innovation, internet, Iran, Netherlands, on-line, The Tulip Award, Toronto Star
October 11, 2014
More on awards: The winner of the 2014 Raw in War Anna Politkovskaya award is Kurdish Yazidi member of Iraq parliament Vian Dakhil .On Monday 6 October, RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) selected Vian Dakhil who has courageously spoken out and campaigned to protect the Yazidi people from the terror of Islamic State. She is the only ethnic Yazidi in the Iraqi Parliament and, despite being injured in a helicopter crash while delivering aid to survivors on Mt Sinjar, she continues to advocate and to mobilize support for her people, for the refugees and for those trapped in towns and villages under the regime of Islamic State. “I make no secret of the fact that I’m proud to be honored with your esteemed award, but the real way to honor someone is by protecting their freedom and rights. It is by bringing our prisoners back,’ said Dakhil in her speech while receiving the award.
Previous women human rights defenders who received this award: Malala Yousafzai 2013, Marie Colvin 2012, Razan Zaitouneh 2011, Dr. Halima Bashir 2010, Leila Alikarami on behalf of the One Million Signatures Campaign for Equality in Iran 2009, Malalai Joya 2008 and Natalia Estemirova 2007. See also: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards
via Kurdish Yazidi Woman Wins International Award | BAS NEWS.
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: Anna Politkovskaya, conflict and peace, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Iraq, ISIS, islamic fundamentalists, Islamic State, Kurdish cause, Kurdish Yazidi, Malala Yousafzai, RAW in WAR, terrorism, Vian Dakhil, woman human rights defender, women human rights defenders, Yazidi
October 11, 2014
You will have learned this already from the main news media, but to bee complete in the area of human rights awards: On Friday 10 October the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 was awarded to India‘s Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan‘s Malala Yousafzai for their struggles against the violations of the rights of children. As the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, “Children must go to school, not be financially exploited.”
Malala Yousafzai came to global attention after she was shot in the head by the Taliban — two years ago Thursday — for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after surgery, she has won several high level human rights awards and now the Peace Prize. [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/malala-collects-another-award-sacharov-instead-of-snowden/]
Satyarthi, age 60, has shown great personal courage in heading peaceful demonstrations focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain, the committee said. Satyarthi told reporters that the award was about many more people than him — and that credit should go to all those “sacrificing their time and their lives for the cause of child rights” and fighting child slavery.
The peace aspect of the Prize is double this year: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: 2014, awards, digest of human rights awards, hindu, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, India, Kailash Satyarthi, Malala Yousafzai, Muslim, Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistan, peace prize, right to education, rights of children, THF
September 25, 2014
Honorary Awards goes to EDWARD SNOWDEN (USA) “for his courage and skill in revealing the unprecedented extent of state surveillance violating basic democratic processes and constitutional rights” and ALAN RUSBRIDGER (UK) “for building a global media organisation dedicated to responsible journalism in the public interest, undaunted by the challenges of exposing corporate and government malpractices”.
Three other Laureates will equally share the cash award of SEK 1.5 million:
ASMA JAHANGIR (Pakistan) “for defending, protecting and promoting human rights in Pakistan and more widely, often in very difficult and complex situations and at great personal risk”.
BASIL FERNANDO/ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (Hong Kong) “for his tireless and outstanding work to support and document the implementation of human rights in Asia”.
BILL McKIBBEN (USA) “for mobilising growing popular support in the USA and around the world for strong action to counter the threat of global climate change”.
The Foundation will also fund legal support for Edward Snowden.
Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, said: “This year’s Right Livelihood Laureates are stemming the tide of the most dangerous global trends. With this year’s Awards, we want to send a message of urgent warning that these trends – illegal mass surveillance of ordinary citizens, the violation of human and civil rights, violent manifestations of religious fundamentalism, and the decline of the planet’s life-supporting systems – are very much upon us already. If they are allowed to continue, and reinforce each other, they have the power to undermine the basis of civilised societies. But the Laureates also demonstrate that the choice is entirely in our hands: by courageous acts of civil disobedience in the public interest, through principled and undeterred journalism, by upholding the rule of law and documenting each violation of it, and by building social movements to resist the destruction of our natural environment, we can turn the tide and build our common future on the principles of freedom, justice, and respect for the Earth.”
The Awards will be presented at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament on December 1.
http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards
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Tags: Alan Rusbridger, Asian Human Rights Commission, Asma Jahangir, Basil Fernando, digest of human rights awards, Edward Snowden, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Pakistan, Right Livelihood Award, Sweden, THF
September 22, 2014
7 nominees for the European Parliament’s 2014 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, chosen by political groups and groups of MEPs, will be presented at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Development committees and the Human Rights Subcommittee on 23 September. The laureate will be decided by political group leaders and Parliament’s President on 16 October. The award ceremony takes place in Strasbourg on 26 November. The nominees in alphabetical order are [for more information on human rights awards: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards]
- Mahmoud Al ‘Asali post mortem and Louis Raphael Sako, nominated by the ECR group, Anna Záborská and 66 other MEPs,
- Mouad Belghouate, Ala Yaacoubi and Alaa Abdel Fattah, nominated by the GUE/NGL group,
- CHREDO, Open Doors, Oeuvre dOrient and Aid to the Church in Need, nominated by Philippe Juvin and 60 other MEPs,
- EuroMaidan, represented by Mustafa Nayem, Ruslana Lyzhychko, Yelyzaveta Schepetylnykova and Tetiana Chornovo, nominated by Jacek Saryusz-Wolski and 52 other MEPs,
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, nominated by the EFDD group,
- Denis Mukwege, nominated by the S&D and ALDE groups and Barbara Lochbihler, and
- Leyla Yunus, nominated by The Greens/EFA group and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, Marietje Schaake and Ramon Tremosa.
via Nominees for Sakharov Prize 2014 announced.
Posted in awards, EU, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: awards, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Denis Mukwege, digest of human rights awards, European Parliament, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Leyla Yunus, MEPs, Sacharov, Sakharov Prize, Strasbourg
September 4, 2014
Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRD–Net) has opened a call for nominations for the 2nd Edition of its human rights defenders awards. The awards will honor exceptional individuals who peacefully promote and protect universally recognized rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Altogether six awards will be presented, one overall award and five sub-regional awards:
– Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Award
– East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– West Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Northern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
Both individuals and organizations are eligible for the award. Nominations should be received not later than 20 September 2014.
Please use the following forms [CONTROL/CLICK] : English | French
Submissions can be made in Arabic, French, English or Portuguese. Return your nomination to hrdawards@defenddefenders.org.
Awards include support to the human rights work of the winning individual or organisation. The winners will be selected by an independent jury and the awards will be presented to the winners at the occasion of the Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights
http://www.defenddefenders.org/
for more on human rights awards see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Africa, african region, awards, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRD–Net), protection, THF
