Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
Encyclopedia
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, called also "the Nobel Prize for human rights", was created in 1993 to honour and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate exceptional courage in defending and promoting human rights
. Its principal aim is to provide special protection ("protective publicity") to human rights defenders who are at risk by focusing international media
attention on their plight, mainly through television, radio, internet and the press, particularly in their country of origin.
The award carries a cash prize of 20,000 Swiss francs to be used by the award winners to support their work in the field of human rights.
The annual ceremony takes place in Geneva
in October.
The award is named after Martin Ennals
, past secretary general of Amnesty International
.
An international jury, composed of representatives of ten leading human rights organizations, selects the award winner each year. Members of the Jury include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
, International Federation of Human Rights
, World Organisation Against Torture
, Front Line Defenders, International Commission of Jurists
, Human Rights First
, International Service for Human Rights
, Diakonie Germany
, and Huridocs
.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Its principal aim is to provide special protection ("protective publicity") to human rights defenders who are at risk by focusing international media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
attention on their plight, mainly through television, radio, internet and the press, particularly in their country of origin.
The award carries a cash prize of 20,000 Swiss francs to be used by the award winners to support their work in the field of human rights.
The annual ceremony takes place in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
in October.
The award is named after Martin Ennals
Martin Ennals
Martin Ennals was a British human rights activist.Ennals served as the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, between 1968 and 1980....
, past secretary general of Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
.
An international jury, composed of representatives of ten leading human rights organizations, selects the award winner each year. Members of the Jury include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, International Federation of Human Rights
International Federation of Human Rights
The International Federation for Human Rights is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the oldest international human rights organisation worldwide and today brings together 164 member organisations in over 100 countries.FIDH is nonpartisan,...
, World Organisation Against Torture
World Organisation Against Torture
The World Organisation Against Torture is the world’s largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other forms of violence...
, Front Line Defenders, International Commission of Jurists
International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists is an international human rights non-governmental organization. The Commission itself is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists , including members of the senior judiciary in Australia, Canada, and South Africa and the former UN High Commissioner for Human...
, Human Rights First
Human Rights First
Human Rights First is a nonprofit, nonpartisan human rights organization based in New York City and Washington, D.C....
, International Service for Human Rights
International Service for Human Rights
The International Service for Human Rights is a Geneva- and New York-based human rights NGO that specializes in providing training, information and advice for defenders of human rights worldwide. Established in 1984, ISHR provides information on both international and regional human rights law...
, Diakonie Germany
Diakonisches Werk
The Diakonisches Werk is a charitable organization of Protestant churches in Germany , Austria as well as numerous free churches. Its Roman Catholic equivalent is the Caritas....
, and Huridocs
HURIDOCS
HURIDOCS stands for Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International. Established in 1982, it is a global network of organisations concerned with human rights...
.
Recipients
- 1994: Harry WuHarry WuHarry Wu is an activist for human rights in the People's Republic of China. Now a resident and citizen of the United States, Wu spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps. In 1992, he founded the Laogai Research Foundation. In 1996 the Columbia Human Rights Law Review awarded Wu its second Award for...
(China) - 1995: Asma JahangirAsma JahangirAsma Jilani Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and human rights activist, who works both in Pakistan and internationally to prevent the persecution of religious minorities, women, and exploitation...
(Pakistan) - 1996: Clement Nwankwo (Nigeria)
- 1997: Bishop Samuel RuizSamuel RuizSamuel Ruiz García was a Mexican Roman Catholic prelate who served as bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, from 1959 until 2000. This zone in Mexico is characterized by its poverty and its indigenous population...
García (Mexico) - 1998: Dr. Eyad El Sarraj (Palestina)
- 1999: Natasha Kandic (Yugoslavia)
- 2000: Immaculée Birhaheka (DR Congo)
- 2001: Peace Brigades InternationalPeace Brigades InternationalPeace Brigades International is an NGO, founded in 1981, which "protects human rights and promotes nonviolent transformation of conflicts". It primarily does this by sending volunteers to accompany human rights defenders whose lives are at risk in areas of conflict and to provide training in...
(Colombia) - 2002: Jacqueline Moudeina (Chad)
- 2003: Alirio Uribe Muñoz (Colombia)
- 2004: Lidia Yusupova (Russia)
- 2005: Aktham Naisse (Syria)
- 2006: Akbar GanjiAkbar GanjiAkbar Ganji is an Iranian journalist and writer. He has been described as "Iran’s preeminent political dissident", and a "wildly popular pro-democracy journalist" who has crossed press censorship "red lines" regularly...
(Iran) and Arnold TsungaArnold TsungaArnold Tsunga is the Director of the Africa Regional Programme of the International Commission of Jurists . Before joining the ICJ, he was the Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights as well as the acting Executive Secretary of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and the National...
(Zimbabwe) - 2007: Rajan HooleRajan HooleMichael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole known as Rajan Hoole is a Tamil Human Rights activist and a co founder, along with the late Ranjani Thiranagama, of University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna branch, while affiliated to the Department of Mathematics, University of Jaffna. He is the eldest son of...
(Sri Lanka), Kopalasingham SritharanKopalasingham SritharanKopalasingham Sritharan is a Tamil Human Rights activist who along with Rajan Hoole run the University Teachers for Human Rights. He was awarded prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2007 along with Rajan Hoole. He is a co-author of Broken Palmyra,...
(Sri Lanka) and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa (Burundi) - 2008: Mutabar Tadjibaeva (Uzbekistan)
- 2009: Emad Baghi (Iran)
- 2010: Muhannad Al-Hassani (Syria)
- 2011: Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (Uganda)