HURIDOCS Portal

From: "HURIDOCS" <info@huridocs.org>

Subject: Martin Ennals Award 2007

Date: 2007-05-03 14:07

PRESS RELEASE

 

EMBARGO: 4 May 2007 – 01.00h GMT

 

Human Rights Defenders from Sri Lanka and Burundi share 2007 Martin Ennals
Award

 

 

HURIDOCS,  as one of the members on the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for
Human Rights Defenders (MEA),  announces that the 2007 Laureates are:

 

Rajan Hoole and Kopalasingham Sritharan, co-founders of  the University
Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), Jaffna, have monitored and documented in
regular reports the human rights abuses committed by the Sri Lanka
Government as well as the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). At great personal risk they
have reported on the effects of armed conflict on children, women,
minorities and displaced persons over the past 18 years. Since the last
upsurge in fighting, the UTHR has conducted groundbreaking investigations
into the most serious atrocities, including the Trinco 5, the Mullaitivu
bombing that killed some 51 young women and girls, and the execution-style
slaying of 17 humanitarian aid workers. Often alone in exposing abuses by
all parties, both men are under death sentences from the LTTE. Since the
assassination of their colleague, Rajani Thiranagama, the two men have been
forced to work underground for more than a decade, but their reports are
well known in Sri Lanka and abroad.

 

Pierre Claver Mbonimpa served as a policeman in Burundi until December 1994.
He spent two years in prison on the basis of false accusations. Upon his
release, he founded NGOs to help protect the rights of prisoners, including
the 9,000 prisoners that have been waiting for trial for years in the
country’s overcrowded jails. He has campaigned fearlessly against torture,
and organized events where police and military representatives have had to
face public questions from human rights activists and victims. When civil
society members and journalists were arrested recently, he again spoke out
despite the risks. In a fragile country, where civil war has claimed
thousands of lives, Mr. Mbonimpa is often hailed as the only one who stands
up for the rights of Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. He is outspoken about human
rights violations, even in the public media. 

 

The Chairman of the Jury of the MEA, Hans Thoolen, describes the laureates
as “symbols of the human rights movement in their respective countries,
where standing up for human rights and democracy is a dangerous activity”.
He draws attention to the laureates’ principled stand to effectively cover
abuses committed by both sides in the conflict. The eleven organizations on
the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award call on the Governments of Sri Lanka and
Burundi to ensure the safety of the Laureates and allow them to work without
harassment.  The Ceremony of the Martin Ennals Award will take place in
Geneva in October.

 

MEA: the main award of the human rights movement. The Martin Ennals Award
for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) is a unique collaboration among eleven of
the world’s leading human rights organizations to give protection to human
rights defenders worldwide.  The Jury is composed of the following NGOs:
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, International
Federation for Human Rights, World Organization Against Torture,
International Service for Human Rights, Front Line, International Commission
of Jurists, Diakonie Germany, International Alert, HURIDOCS. Previous
laureates : Akbar Ganji, Iran and Arnold Tsunga, Zimbabwe (2006); Aktham
Naisse, Syria; Lida Yusupova, Russia; Alirio Uribe Muñoz, Colombia;
Jacqueline Moudeina, Chad; Peace Brigades International; Immaculee
Birhaheka, DR Congo; Natasha Kandic, Yugoslavia; Eyad El Sarraj, Palestine;
Samuel Ruiz, Mexico; Clement Nwankwo, Nigeria; Asma Jahangir, Pakistan;
Harry Wu, China.

 

Patrons of the Martin Ennals Award: Asma Jahangir, Barbara Hendricks, Jose
Ramos-Horta, Adama Dieng, Leandro Despouy, Robert Fulghum and Theo van
Boven.

 

 

For further information, please contact : Luis Marreiros, Coordinator, +41
22 809 49 25

  marreiros@martinennalsaward.org or
visit   www.martinennalsaward.org