share information on human rights defenders, with special focus on human rights awards and laureates
The 2016 Martin Ennals Award Ceremony will take place in Geneva [at Uni Dufour, Auditorium U-600, at 6pm] on 11 October 2016. The Laureate will be announced during the ceremony after the presentation of short films on all three Final Nominees. You can follow the streaming on the MEA’s revamped website:
www.martinennalsaward.org as from 18h00 Geneva time. The ceremony is organized by the City of Geneva and the MEA in the context of Geneva human rights week.
Call For Nominations – 2017
MARTIN ENNALS AWARD
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Deadline: 9 November 2016
Nominations can be submitted electronically at www.martinennalsaward.org (for the PDF version see below)
The following 10 international human rights NGOs form the Jury:
OMCT
ISHR
International Commission of Jurists
HURIDOCS
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights First
Front Line Defenders
FIDH
EWDE Germany
Amnesty International
The present value of the annual Award is a minimum of 20’000 Swiss Francs, to be used for further work in the field of human rights. The ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva which provides each of the final three Finalists with project funds of 11’650 CHF and a 5’000 CHF travel grant.
The Award is named after Martin Ennals (1927-1991), an activist who was instrumental to the modern human rights movement and a driving force behind several organisations. His deep desire was to see more cooperation among NGOs.
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Call For Nominations – 2017 MARTIN ENNALS AWARD FOR HRD 1 page / 206 KB |
Jury members of the Martin Ennals Award speak about Razan Zaitouneh, one of three Finalists for the Martin Ennals Award 2016 . Razan Zaitouneh is a prominent human rights lawyer, activist, and journalist in Syria. Razan has dedicated her life to defending political prisoners and documenting crimes against humanity, whether committed by the Government or rebel forces. This video was uploaded on 25 April 2016. The MEA ceremony will take place in Geneva on 11 October.
Last week I reported that a number of NGOs had written to the UN Human Rights Council [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/09/09/un-human-rights-council-urged-to-address-situation-in-ethiopia/]. Speaking at the opening session of the Council, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “While Ethiopia has made impressive gains in terms of economic development, we are deeply concerned about repeated allegations of excessive and lethal use of force against protestors, enforced disappearances, and mass detentions, including of children, as well as by worrying restrictions on civil society, the media and opposition.” The High Commissioner said it was “mystifying” that the Ethiopian government refused to allow his office access to parts of the country where human rights abuses – including the recent shooting of protestors – have been alleged.[https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-states-may-shut-my-office-out-but-they-will-not-shut-us-up/]. The UN High Commissioner used the occasion to criticise Ethiopia for a recent crackdown on opposition which has included the kidnapping and sentencing to death of a British man, Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege.
The Voice of America reported that Feyisa Lilesa, the Ethiopian silver medalist in the marathon at last month’s Rio Olympics, was in Washington this week, calling on the U.S. Congress to take action in solidarity with Ethiopians protesting their government. Lilesa gained worldwide attention when he crossed his wrists as a sign of protest as he approached the finish line during the Rio men’s marathon. He is Oromo and made the gesture in solidarity with Oromo protests that have occurred in Ethiopia since last November over issues including land rights and fair representation in the government. He met with Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, in New York to discuss human rights issues in Ethiopia.
The Martin Ennals Award has in the meantime published a short video with comments by its Jury members about the Final Nominee from Ethiopia: Zone 9 Bloggers:
sources:
http://www.voanews.com/a/ethiopian-runner-calls-united-states-push-human-rights/3509965.html
The 2016 Martin Ennals Award Ceremony, organized annually by the City of Geneva and the Martin Ennals Foundation, will this year take place on 11 October, 6.00 pm, at Uni Dufour, Geneva, as the the opening of the Human Rights Week hosted by the University of Geneva from October 11 to 14 and with the support of the Canton of Geneva.
The laureate will be selected from among three 2016 finalists:
Mr. Ilham Tohti (China) was sentenced to life imprisonment after working for two decades to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese.
Mrs. Razan Zaitouneh (Syria) was kidnapped after dedicating her life to defending political prisoners and documenting crimes against humanity in Syria.
Zone 9 Bloggers (Ethiopia) have been prosecuted for documenting human rights abuses in their country.
The finalists and laureate are selected by the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award, made up of ten of the world’s leading human rights organizations: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), Frontline Defenders, the International Commission of Jurists, EWDE-Germany, the International Service for Human Rights, and HURIDOCS. The detailed programme of the ceremony will follow at the beginning of September.
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
For the conversation in the social media, use the hashtag: #Ennals2016.
You can register already now through: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=296%3Amea-2016-save-the-date&lang=en.
Just now the Martin Ennals Foundation announced that the three Final Nominees of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders are: 
Read the rest of this entry »
While waiting for the breaking news of who will be the Final Nominees of the 2016 Martin Ennals Award (in 2 hours) I received the sad news that the first winner of the MEA in 1994, Chinese human rights defender Harry Wu has died at the age of 79.
His short bio and a film on his work can be viewed at: http://www.martinennalsaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=120&lang=en
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
For those who missed this impressive ceremony of the 2015 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders last night, here is the link to the full 1h40 event, including the surprise appearance by Laureate Ahmed Mansoor via the internet. The films and streaming were provided by True Heroes Films.
BREAKING NEWS: Ahmed Mansoor was just announced during the ceremony in Geneva as the 2015 MEA Laureate [6 October 2015]. Since 2006, Ahmed Mansoor (United Arab Emirates) has focussed on initiatives concerning freedom of expression, civil and political rights. He successfully campaigned in 2006-2007 to support two people jailed for critical social comments, who were released and the charges dropped. Shortly after, the Prime Minister of UAE issued an order not to jail journalists in relation to their work. Mr Mansoor is one of the few voices within the United Arab Emirates who provides a credible independent assessment of human rights developments. He regularly raises concerns on arbitrary detention, torture, international standards for fair trials, non-independence of the judiciary, and domestic laws that violate international law.
He has faced repeated intimidation and harassment, including imprisonment in 2011 after being convicted of “insulting officials” and sentenced to three years’ in prison, although he was released after eight months. Since being jailed in 2011, he has been denied a passport and banned from travelling. The Martin Ennals Jury has in vain urged the government of the UAE to lift this travel ban and allow him to travel. Martin Ennals Foundation Chair Micheline Calmy-Rey stated “ Ahmed Mansoor continues to pay the price for speaking out on human rights issues in his country, we urge his government to lift the travel ban.” [https://thoolen.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/fly-emirates-if-the-emirs-let-you/]
Ahmed Mansoor’s message (recorded on video before the ceremony):
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) is a unique collaboration among ten of the world’s leading human rights organizations to give protection to human rights defenders worldwide. The Jury is composed of the following NGOs:
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
– Amnesty International,
– FIDH,
– Human Rights First,
– HURIDOCS,
– International Service for Human Rights,
– EWDE Germany,
– Front Line Defenders,
– Human Rights Watch,
– International Commission of Jurists,
– World Organisation Against Torture.
The two other finalists received Martin Ennals Prizes:
Robert Sann Aung (Myanmar)
Since 1974, Robert Sann Aung has courageously fought against human rights abuses. He has been repeatedly imprisoned in harsh conditions, physically attacked as well as regularly threatened. He was disbarred from 1993 – 2012. Currently, he represents students detained for peaceful protests.
Asmaou Diallo (Guinea)
Her human rights work started following the events of 28 September 2009 when the Guinean military attacked peaceful demonstrators. She founded l’Association des Parents et Amis des Victimes du 28 septembre 2009 (APIVA), which assists those affected, and supports them to testify in court proceedings.
Electronic version of the press kit with Video: http://bit.ly/1DYqlFn
For further information, please contact: khambatta@martinennalsaward.org
On 6 October, the ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award can be followed on https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bs5tMd0JWSA.
(at 18h00 Geneva time)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 