Saturday, May 22, 2021

Sakharov Prize

Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honourary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament. A shortlist of nominees is drawn up annually by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Development. The MEPs who make up those committees then select a shortlist in September. Thereafter, the final choice is given to The European Parliament's Conference of Presidents (President and political group's leaders) and the laureate's name is announced late in October. The prize is awarded in a ceremony at the Parliament's Strasbourg hemicycle (round chamber) in December. The prize includes a monetary award of €50,000.

The first prize was awarded jointly to South African Nelson Mandela and Russian Anatoly Marchenko. The 1990 award was given to Aung San Suu Kyi, but she could not receive it until 2013 as a result of her political imprisonment in Burma. The prize has also been awarded to organisations, the first being the Argentine Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in 1992. Five Sakharov laureates were subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege, and Nadia Murad. Razan Zaitouneh (2011) was kidnapped in 2013 and is still missing. Nasrin Sotoudeh (2012) was released from prison in September 2013, but is still barred from leaving Iran, along with fellow 2012 laureate Jafar Panahi.[8] The 2017 prize was awarded to the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, under boycott of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left.

1988 Nelson Mandela South Africa, Anti-apartheid activist and later President of South Africa

1988 Anatoly Marchenko (posthumously) Soviet Union, Soviet dissident, author and human rights activist             

1989 Alexander Dubček  Czechoslovakia, Slovak politician, attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring

1990 Aung San Suu Kyi  Burma, Opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy        

1991 Adem Demaçi  Kosovo, Kosovo Albanian Politician and long-term political prisoner

1992 Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo Argentina. Association of Argentine mothers whose children disappeared during the Dirty War    

1993 Oslobođenje Bosnia and Herzegovina, Popular newspaper that defended Bosnia and Herzegovina as a multi-ethnic state     

1994 Taslima Nasrin  Bangladesh, Ex-doctor, feminist author

1995 Leyla Zana  Turkey, Politician of Kurdish descent from Southeastern Turkey, who was imprisoned for 15 years for being member of PKK.  

1996 Wei Jingsheng China, An activist in the Chinese democracy movement

1997 Salima Ghezali Algeria, Journalist and writer, an activist of women's rights, human rights and democracy in Algeria               

1998 Ibrahim Rugova Kosovo, Kosovo Albanian politician, the first President of Kosovo  

1999 Xanana Gusmão  East Timor,Former militant who was the first President of East Timor        

2000 ¡Basta Ya! Spain, Organisation uniting individuals of various political positions against terrorism

2001 Nurit Peled-Elhanan Israel, Peace activist  

2001 Izzat Ghazzawi  Palestine, Writer, professor

2001 Dom Zacarias Kamwenho Angola,Archbishop and peace activist

2002 Oswaldo Payá  Cuba, Political activist and dissident

2003 Kofi Annan Ghana,Nobel Peace Prize recipient and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations

2003 United Nations N/A (International)

2004 Belarusian Association of Journalists Belarus, Non-governmental organisation "aiming to ensure freedom of speech and rights of receiving and distributing information and promoting professional standards of journalism"

2005 Ladies in White  Cuba, Opposition movement, relatives of jailed dissidents

2005 Reporters Without Borders N/A (International)France-based non-governmental organisation advocating freedom of the press       

2005 Hauwa Ibrahim Nigeria, Human rights lawyer         

2006 Alaksandar Milinkievič Belarus, Politician chosen by United Democratic Forces of Belarus as the joint candidate of the opposition in the presidential elections of 2006          

2007 Salih Mahmoud Osman  Sudan, Human rights lawyer

2008 Hu Jia  China, Activist and dissident

2009 Memorial Russia, International civil rights and historical society     

2010 Guillermo Fariñas Cuba, Doctor, journalist and political dissident  

2011 Asmaa Mahfouz  Egypt, Five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights.        

2011 Ahmed al-Senussi Libya

2011 Razan Zaitouneh   Syria

2011 Ali Farzat

2011 Mohamed Bouazizi (posthumously) Tunisia

2012 Jafar Panahi  Iran, Iranian activists, Sotoudeh is a lawyer and Panahi is a film director.          

2012 Nasrin Sotoudeh

2013 Malala Yousafzai  Pakistan, Campaigner for women's rights and education

2014 Denis Mukwege Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gynecologist treating victims of gang rape        

2015 Raif Badawi Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian writer and activist and the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals               

2016 Nadia Murad Basee Iraq.   Yazidi human rights activists and former abductees of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

2016 Lamiya Aji Bashar

2017 Democratic opposition in Venezuela Venezuela.    Members of the country's National Assembly and all political prisoners as listed by Foro Penal Venezolano represented by Leopoldo López, Julio Borges, Antonio Ledezma, Daniel Ceballos, Yon Goicoechea, Lorent Saleh, Alfredo Ramos and Andrea González. The award was seen as rewarding the "courage of student activists and protesters in face of repression by Nicolas Maduro's government".

2018 Oleg Sentsov  Ukraine, Film director, symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world

2019 Ilham Tohti China, Uyghur economist, scholar and human rights activist

2020 Democratic opposition in Belarus Belarus , Coordination Council, initiative of brave women and political and civil society figures. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakharov_Prize

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