Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2016 awarded to Nadia Murad
The fourth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad. The €60 000 prize was presented at a special ceremony today at the Palais de l'Europe in Strasbourg, on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
At the age of 21 (in 2014), Nadia Murad was kidnapped by ISIS in northern Iraq together with thousands of other women and children. She was kept in slavery and abused for three months until she managed to escape and flee to Germany. Since then, she has become a human rights activist, bringing the plight of the Yazidi community, in particular the forced sexual enslavement and human trafficking of women and children captured by ISIS, to the forefront of international attention. She was a candidate for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize; in September 2016, she was appointed as the first United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
The two other shortlisted nominees – Gordana Igric, a journalist from Serbia and an active defender of human rights and media freedom, and the International Institute of Human Rights/René Cassin Foundation, which has worked since 1969 to promote human rights and peace through teaching and research, also received diplomas during the ceremony.
"This year would have marked the 80th anniversary of Václav Havel. He is not with us any more, but his legacy is more relevant than ever," PACE President Pedro Agramunt said during the ceremony. "Through his writing and his political activity, he forewarned about the danger of hatred and prejudice, and the importance of tolerance, co-existence, and respect for human rights and the rule of law. In times when we are facing renewed challenges to the unity of Europe, when diversity is becoming a dividing element, and people are starting to look at each other with suspicion and mistrust, we must turn back to his message," he underlined.
The first Václav Havel Prize was awarded in 2013 to Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski. The Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli won the Prize in 2014, and veteran Russian human rights defender Ludmilla Alexeeva was last year's winner.
The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded each year by the PACE in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation to reward outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.
The Prize is awarded in memory of Václav Havel, playwright, opponent of totalitarianism, architect of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic and an enduring symbol of opposition to despotism. Nominations of any individual, non-governmental organisation or institution working to defend human rights are taken into consideration. The Prize consists of a sum of €60 000, a trophy and a diploma.
On 25 March 2013, the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize was launched at a ceremony in Prague with the signature of the Co-operation Agreement by the President of the Assembly, Jean-Claude Mignon, the Director of the Václav Havel Library, Marta Smolíková, and the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Charta 77 Foundation, František Janouch, in the presence of Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize replaces the Assembly Human Rights Prize, which was created in 2007 and awarded every two years, first in 2009 to "British Irish Human Rights Watch" and then, in 2011, to the Russian NGO "Committee against Torture".
Winners of the Prize
Nominations for the Prize should be addressed to the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly and be signed by at least five sponsors, other than the nominee, on the special form to be found at the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize website.
Nominations shall provide details of the nominee's work in the defence of human rights and specify the reasons why the nominee's work can be considered to be outstanding. Relevant supporting documents should be provided. Nominations should be submitted in either of the two official languages of the Council of Europe, English or French.
Individuals or non-governmental institutions active in the defence of human rights can be nominated for the Prize.
The Selection Panel of the Prize is composed of the President of the Assembly (or a person designated by him/her) and six independent persons (who cannot be current members of the Assembly) with recognised moral standing in the field of human rights.
The Panel will examine the nominations, submit a shortlist of three nominees to the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly for information and, subsequently, designate the Prizewinner for the year in question.
Three Panel members are appointed by the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly and three Panel members by the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation. The six independent experts are appointed for a two-year period, renewable twice.
The Panel is chaired by the President of the Assembly or the person designated by him/her.
The Prize will be awarded at a ceremony which shall take place in Strasbourg on the Monday of the Autumn Session of the Parliamentary Assembly, usually in late September or early October.
The name of the Prizewinner is announced by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The former Czech First Lady, Dagmar Havlova, is invited to honour the ceremony with her presence.
The Václav Havel Library will organise, at a later date, an international conference in Prague in honour of the Prizewinner.
Timetable for 2016:
- 15 January: call for candidates;
- 30 June : deadline for submission of nominees for the 2016 Prize;
- 30 August: first meeting of the Selection Panel in Prague which will shortlist three candidates out of the candidatures received;
- 9 October: second meeting of the Selection Panel in Strasbourg which will select the final Prizewinner from the shortlist;
- 10 October: Prize Award Ceremony in Strasbourg in the Debating Chamber of the Parliamentary Assembly during its Autumn Session.
Application:
Secretariat of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize