Sakharov Prize

Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

The awarding ceremony of the 1990 prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi inside the Parliament's Strasbourg hemicycle, in 2013.
Country European Union
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Presented by European Parliament
Reward(s) €50,000[1]
First awarded 1988
Currently held by Nadia Murad Basee and Lamiya Aji Bashar
Website Official website

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, honours individuals and groups of people who have dedicated their lives to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought.[2] Named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament.[2] A shortlist of nominees is drawn up annually by the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Development, with the winner announced in October.[1] The prize is accompanied by a monetary award of €50,000.[1]

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.

Some Sakharov laureates still face harsh political oppression. Laureates living under repressive regimes include the Belarusian Association of Journalists (2004), Damas de Blanco and Guillermo Fariñas (Cuba, 2005 and 2010), Alaksandar Milinkievič (Belarus, 2006) and Hu Jia (China, 2008). Razan Zaitouneh (2011) was kidnapped in 2013 and is still missing. Nasrin Sotoudeh (2012) was released from prison in September 2013, and, along with fellow 2012 laureate Jafar Panahi, is still barred from leaving Iran.

Three Sakharov laureates were subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Malala Yousafzai.

Laureates

Nelson Mandela was the inaugural winner of the prize, together with Anatoly Marchenko.
The awarding ceremony of the 1990 prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi inside the Parliament's Strasbourg hemicycle, in 2013. Suu Kyi could not collect it before as she had been under house arrest for decades.
Members of Ladies in White, a 2005 laureate, demonstrate in Havana, Cuba.
Doctor Denis Mukwege, recipient of the prize in 2014
Writer Raif Badawi, recipient of the prize in 2015
Year Recipient Nationality Notes Reference
1988 Mandela, NelsonNelson Mandela  South Africa Anti-apartheid activist and later President of South Africa [3]
Marchenko, AnatolyAnatoly Marchenko (posthumously)  Soviet Union Soviet dissident, author and human rights activist [3]
1989 Dubček, AlexanderAlexander Dubček  Czechoslovakia Slovak politician, attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring [3]
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi  Burma Opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy [4]
1991 Demaçi, AdemAdem Demaçi  Yugoslavia Kosovo Albanian Politician and long-term political prisoner [3]
1992 Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo  Argentina Association of Argentine mothers whose children disappeared during the Dirty War [4]
1993 Oslobođenje  Bosnia and Herzegovina Popular newspaper that defended Bosnia and Herzegovina as a multi-ethnic state [4]
1994 Nasrin, TaslimaTaslima Nasrin  Bangladesh Ex-doctor, feminist author [4]
1995 Zana, LeylaLeyla Zana  Turkey Politician of Kurdish descent from Southeastern Turkey, who was imprisoned for 10 years for being member of PKK. [3]
1996 Jingsheng, WeiWei Jingsheng  China An activist in the Chinese democracy movement [4]
1997 Ghezali, SalimaSalima Ghezali  Algeria Journalist and writer, an activist of women's rights, human rights and democracy in Algeria [4]
1998 Rugova, IbrahimIbrahim Rugova  Yugoslavia Albanian politician, the first President of Kosovo [3]
1999 Gusmão, XananaXanana Gusmão  East Timor Former militant who was the first President of East Timor [5]
2000 ¡Basta Ya!  Spain Organisation uniting individuals of various political positions against terrorism [6]
2001 Peled-Elhanan, NuritNurit Peled-Elhanan  Israel Peace activist [3]
Ghazzawi, IzzatIzzat Ghazzawi  Palestine Writer, professor
Kamwenho, Dom ZacariasDom Zacarias Kamwenho  Angola Archbishop and peace activist
2002 Payá, OswaldoOswaldo Payá  Cuba Political activist and dissident [7]
2003 Annan, KofiKofi Annan  Ghana Nobel Peace Prize recipient and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations [3]
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" [8]
2005 Ladies in White  Cuba Opposition movement, relatives of jailed dissidents [9]
Reporters Without Borders N/A (International) France-based non-governmental organisation advocating freedom of the press [9]
Ibrahim, HauwaHauwa Ibrahim  Nigeria Human rights lawyer [9]
2006 Milinkievič, AlaksandarAlaksandar Milinkievič  Belarus Politician chosen by United Democratic Forces of Belarus as the joint candidate of the opposition in the presidential elections of 2006 [10]
2007 Mahmoud Osman, SalihSalih Mahmoud Osman  Sudan Human rights lawyer [4]
2008 Jia, HuHu Jia  China Activist and dissident [11]
2009 Memorial  Russia International civil rights and historical society [12]
2010 Fariñas, GuillermoGuillermo Fariñas  Cuba Doctor, journalist and political dissident [13]
2011 Asmaa Mahfouz  Egypt Five representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights. [14]
Ahmed al-Senussi  Libya
Razan Zaitouneh  Syria
Ali Farzat
Mohamed Bouazizi (posthumously)  Tunisia
2012 Jafar Panahi  Iran Iranian activists, Sotoudeh is a lawyer and Panahi is a film director. [15][16]
Nasrin Sotoudeh
2013 Malala Yousafzai  Pakistan Campaigner for women's rights and education [17]
2014 Denis Mukwege  Democratic Republic of the Congo Gynecologist treating victims of gang rape [18]
2015 Raif Badawi  Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian writer and activist and the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals [19]
2016 Nadia Murad Basee  Iraq Yazidi human rights activists and former abductees of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [20]
Lamiya Aji Bashar

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 "1986: Sakharov comes in from the cold". BBC News. 23 December 1986. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "20 years of the Sakharov Prize: Human rights and reconciliation". European Parliament. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sakharov Network calls for immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Sakharov Prize laureate 1990". Reporters Without Borders. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "Gusmão receives EU Sakharov prize". BBC News. 15 December 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Basque group wins peace prize". BBC News. 26 October 2000. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Cuban dissident collects EU prize". BBC News. 17 December 2002. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "The Belarusian Association of Journalists - 2004, Belarus". European Parliament. 9 November 2004. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 Gibbs, Stephen (14 December 2005). "Cuba 'bars women from prize trip'". BBC News. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "Belarussian takes EU rights award". BBC News. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "China dissident wins rights prize". BBC News. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "Russia rights group wins EU prize". BBC News. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  13. ↑ "Cuba dissident Farinas awarded Sakharov Prize by EU". BBC News. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  14. ↑ "Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2011". European Parliament. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Dehghan, Saeed Kamali (26 October 2012). "Nasrin Sotoudeh and director Jafar Panahi share top human rights prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  16. ↑ "Nasrin Sotoudeh and Jafar Panahi – winners of the 2012 Sakharov Prize" (PDF). European Parliament. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  17. ↑ Jordan, Carol (10 October 2013). "Malala wins Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought". CNN. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "DR Congo doctor Denis Mukwege wins Sakharov prize". BBC News. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  19. ↑ "Raif Badawi wins Sakharov human rights prize". The Guardian. Brussels. Associated Press in. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
  20. ↑ "Sakharov prize: Yazidi women win EU freedom prize". BBC News. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.

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