Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law

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The Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and Rule of Law is an award for people and organizations who are committed to human rights . It is awarded jointly by the French and German foreign ministries.

history

The prize was first awarded on December 1, 2016 by Foreign Ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault in Berlin . It is a sign of a common foreign policy in the area of ​​human rights. Franco-German human rights prizes have so far been awarded to national organizations and individuals in Colombia , Mexico , Nicaragua and Guinea by the two respective embassies.

On December 2, 2016, the German and French ambassadors were summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing , where they were informed of the Chinese government's protest over the awarding of the award to Wang Qiaoling, wife of detained attorney Li Heping .

On December 4, 2017, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel announced the winners for this year.

Award winners

2016

  • Eva Abu Halaweh , Jordan, (* 1974), head of the human rights organization Mizan Law Group for Human Rights
  • Pietro Bartolo , Italy, (* 1956), is committed to the initial medical examination of refugees, especially women and children on the island of Lampedusa , made famous by the documentary film » Fuocoammare «
  • Sarah Belal , Pakistan, (* 1978), head of the NGO Justice Project Pakistan , which campaigns against the death penalty.
  • Valentina Tscherewatenko , Russia, (* 1956), head of the NGO »Women from Don«, refused to register her organization as a » foreign agent «
  • Aleh Hulak , Belarus, (* 1967), head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee , the most important human rights organization in Belarus
  • Beverly K. Jacobs , Canada, (* 1962) former president of the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), won the Canadian government's donation of ten million dollars to investigate 500 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women.
  • Sunitha Krishnan , India, (* 1972), founder of the Prajwala association , which campaigns against human trafficking and forced prostitution.
  • Mary Lawlor , Ireland, (* 1952), founder of the human rights organization Front Line Defenders , which supports human rights activists internationally.
  • Jacqueline Moudeina , Chad, (* 1957), lawyer who was one of the first women to actively work to come to terms with the crimes of the Habré dictatorship and helped bring about its conviction, member of the human rights organization Association tchadienne pour la Promotion et la Défense des Droits de l'Homme .
  • Maximilienne Ngo Mbe , Cameroon, (* 1972), head of the human rights organization Reseau des Defenseurs de Droits Humains en Afrique Centrale (REDHAC), is one of the most famous human rights activists in Cameroon.
  • Maria da Penha , Brazil, (* 1945) fought for the recognition of domestic violence as a criminal offense and brought about such a law in Brazil, which was known as the Maria da Penha law.
  • Tahmina Rahman , Bangladesh, (* 1962), regional director of the human rights organization Article 19 , is committed to the right to freedom of expression, especially for journalists on the Internet and bloggers.
  • Thun Saray , Cambodia, (* 1951), President of the human rights organization Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), formerly a victim of the rule of the Khmer Rouge , supports communities or individuals in land conflicts with private, local or foreign investors.
  • Montserrat Solano Carboni , Costa Rica, (* 1976) became ombudswoman (Defensora de los Habitantes) of the Costa Rican parliament in 2014, worked on the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, participated in field visits to the Congo and Ukraine as a representative of the International Human Rights Federation participated in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
  • Wang Qiaoling ( 王 峭 岭 , Wáng Qiàolǐng ), China, (* 1972), lawyer, is the most important spokeswoman for the family members of the human rights lawyers affected by the wave of 709 arrests . She is the wife of lawyer and dissident Li Heping .

Special Price

  • White Helmets , Syria, volunteers helping to restore local infrastructure in a country devastated by civil war.

2017

  • Adilur Rahman Khan , Bangladesh, is chairman of the human rights organization "Odhikar". As an attorney at the Supreme Court, he advocated the rule of law and access to the legal system for poor and marginalized groups. Among other things, he obtained the release of 300 members of an indigenous population who were arrested in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In 2013 he was abducted himself, detained for 62 days after his organization published a report on suspected extrajudicial killings. He is committed to investigating enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial killings.
  • Nounongnon Balbylas Gbaguidi , Benin (* 1956) is the country coordinator of the non-governmental organization "Prisonniers Sans Frontières" (Prisoners Without Borders), also chairman of the National Human Rights Coalition of North Benin and head of the training center for human rights in Parakou. As a lawyer, he has been committed to improving prison conditions in the country's prisons for more than twenty years. In particular, it supports women and minors in prison, enables prisoners better access to food and care, and offers legal support and practical help with reintegration into society.
  • Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga , Bolivia, is president of the Network of People with HIV (REDBOL), also a member of the Committee against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination, the Interprogrammatic Committee for Tuberculosis-HIV and Vice-President of the National AIDS Council. She is committed to the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide.
  • Ragia Omran , Egypt, is a founding member of the "Front for the Defense of the Protesters of Egypt" and the organization "No Military Trials for Civilians". These offer legal assistance and support to families of those arrested. She is a member of the "Egyptian National Council for Human Rights" and works as a lawyer at the "Hisham Mubarak Law Center", which offers free legal assistance for victims of torture and arbitrary arrests, and at "Shayfeencom", an impartial organization that deals with election observation and transparency . From 2005 to 2008 she was chairman of the "New Woman Foundation".
  • César Ricaurte , Ecuador, is the founder and managing director of the "Andes Foundation for Social Monitoring and Research into the Media" (FUNDAMEDIOS), which has since been committed to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and freedom of expression as well as the further training of journalists.
  • Abdullah Al Khonaini , Kuwait (* 1987), is the founder of the "meem3" movement, which advocates a more liberal handling of censorship regulations in the country, and co-founder of the website "Raqib50", which monitors and documents the activities of the parliament in Kuwait. The political scientist is a trainer and moderator of the youth development program “n-mu youth”, which aims to empower young people to become active in local communities. He is also a member of the non-governmental organization “Sout Al Kuwait”, which aims to increase knowledge about the Promote Kuwaiti Constitution.
  • Bekim Asani , Macedonia, founded “LGBTI United Tetovo”, the first officially registered organization outside the capital Skopje, which campaigns for equal rights for LGBTI people. At the same time he is committed to the interethical dialogue in Tetovo, to women's rights, the rights of Sinti and Roma and more rights for street children. The human rights activist is repeatedly exposed to threats and attempts at intimidation because of his commitment: In 2013 he was kidnapped for six hours.
  • Mandira Sharma , Nepal, has been actively campaigning for human rights and the rule of law in Nepal for over 20 years. Torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and sexual violence against women are her focus. As the voice against impunity, the lawyer is actively involved in the transitional justice system in Nepal in order to comprehensively deal with human rights violations. She also represents victims before the UN Human Rights Committee. She is the founder of the national NGO “Advocacy Forum”, which documents human rights violations, offers victims free legal aid and raises awareness to prevent further crimes. During the armed conflict in Nepal, she trained a team of 100 lawyers and human rights defenders and guided them in the documentation of over 8,000 cases.
  • Grace Osakue , Nigeria, is the co-founder and chairwoman of the Girls Power Initiative Nigeria (GPI), which aims to strengthen the rights of women and young people through educational assistance and information about sexual self-determination. GPI supports victims of human trafficking and tries to have a preventive effect by raising awareness. For the past 18 years she has coordinated the work of the GPI in relation to people smuggling, which ranges from research to awareness-raising work and rehabilitation of victims. Grace Osakue is the rector of a high school in Benin City, coordinator of the "West Africa Network for the Protection of Children" in southern Nigeria, board member of the network against smuggling, child labor and abuse, and chairwoman of the "Brave Heart Initiative" for women and youth.
  • Rosemarie Trajano , Philippines, General Secretary of the “Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Defenders” (PAHRA), an umbrella organization of approximately 50 organizations that work for human rights in the Philippines. It is her merit to bring together the human rights commitment of civil society in the Philippines. The trained nurse has been campaigning for the protection of human rights since 1986. As an employee of the organization "Medical Action Groupe" she was involved in the documentation of violations and in providing medical and psychosocial help for victims of torture and for family members of those who were murdered or abducted. In addition, she campaigns for the concerns of Filipino migrant workers and for the victims of trafficking in women by providing legal and psychosocial help.
  • Elena Milashina , Russia, is an award-winning investigative journalist for the independent Russian daily " Novaja Gazeta ". Since the murder of Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, Elena Milashina has been researching and reporting on the serious human rights violations in Chechnya . She investigates enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions, torture, the persecution of relatives of alleged insurgents and women's rights in Chechnya and other parts of the country. Elena Milashina made a significant contribution to the independent investigation into the murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova . In April 2017, she exposed a wave of persecution against gay Chechens. During the conflict between Russia and Georgia in 2008, she documented the acts of violence on both sides and advocated prosecution. Elena Milashina has received numerous death threats from among the Chechen power elite.
  • Shreen Abdul Saroor , Sri Lanka, is the founder of the "Mannar Women's Development Federation" (MWDF) and one of the founding members of the "Women's Action Network", a collective consisting of 11 women's groups that is mainly active in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Both organizations focus on the fight against gender-based violence. Although the war in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, war widows and women-run households in particular still suffer great hardship. Shreen Abdul Saroor gives these women a voice through her commitment and lobbying work, and she also provides support in the search for missing family members. Shreen Abdul Saroor experienced the challenges of forced displacement for himself when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) evicted her and her community from their hometown in 1990.
  • Kerem Altiparmak , Turkey, (* 1973), lawyer, human rights defender and professor. Until October he was director of the Human Rights Center of the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University. He is currently working with the Human Rights Joint Platform to monitor the implementation of ECHR decisions in Turkey. He is also working with Prof. Yaman Akdeniz (Istanbul Bilgi University) on a project to train lawyers, organize student legal advice and support digital activists and civil society representatives. In 2014 both successfully called the Turkish Constitutional Court to unblock YouTube and Twitter.
  • Pavlo Lysianskyi , Ukraine, (* 1987), lawyer, human rights activist and mediator trained in Germany, is head of the non-governmental organization “Eastern Human Rights Group ”. This was founded in 2014 by internally displaced lawyers. These campaign for human rights in the cities and towns of eastern Ukraine that are close to the contact line, monitor compliance with human rights in prisons, and fight against forced labor and illegal detention in areas not controlled by the government. In 2017, Pavlo Lysianskyi succeeded in securing the release of Alexander Yefreshyn from captivity by the separatists. Lysianskyi is currently building a regional network of human rights defenders.
  • Liliana Ortega Mendoza , Venezuela, (* 1965) is the founder of COFAVIC, the Committee of the Victims of the Events from February to March 1989 (Comité de Familiares de las Víctimas de los Sucesos de Febrero-Marzo de 1989), one of the most recognized human rights organizations in Venezuela . Through her work and her commitment, the lawyer and professor contributed to the self-organization of victims of vulnerable social groups and also represented them in proceedings before international human rights bodies. Liliana Ortega Mendoza represented the victims of the 1989 unrest. As the director of COFAVIC, she is a reference in establishing standards for the documentation of extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances. She was chosen by Time magazine (1999) as one of the 50 leading figures for the new millennium in Latin America.

2018

2019

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ China angry about honoring human rights activists , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , December 2, 2016
  2. ↑ German-French Human Rights Prize 2017 awarded by the French Embassy in Berlin
  3. ↑ Eva Abu Halaweh (English)
  4. ↑ Pietro Bartolo (Italian)
  5. ↑ 李 和平 拒 认罪 警方 哄骗 父母 录 视频 劝说 , Independent Chinese PEN Center November 18, 2016, accessed December 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ Federal Foreign Office: Franco-German Human Rights Prize: These are the 2018 winners. Federal Foreign Office, accessed on December 10, 2018 . , with justifications on PDF