Get inspired by human rights defenders

Son güncelleme Cuma, 27/08/2021

The Sakharov Prizes and Fellowships are the European Parliament’s way of standing with people who put themselves on the line for human rights. Thanks to this support, young people like you are making a difference around the world.

The award pays tribute to courageous action for promoting and protecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and democracy and gives praise to this work with a fellowship and prize money. So how do they work?

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, is awarded to people, groups or organisations who dedicate their lives to promoting and protecting human rights through peaceful means.

Anyone can be a candidate. Each year, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) nominate potential winners, which parliamentary committees on foreign affairs and development fine-tune to a list of three. 

The Parliament’s president and leaders of the parliament’s political groups then choose the year’s winner, who receives an award, €50 000, and instant access to a network of MEPs and NGOs.
In 2016, previous winners underlined the invaluable political support the EU can provide to defenders worldwide. The Parliament took notice and set up the Sakharov Fellowship programme for human rights defenders from countries outside the EU. 

Human rights defenders can apply directly for one of the yearly 14 fellowships, awarded by a group of MEPs dealing with global democracy support. Two weeks of intensive training in Brussels and at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice follow, along with the chance to meet politicians and other influential people who can promote positive change.

The support doesn’t stop there. Sakharov Prize and Fellowship winners can touch base with the European Parliament and with local EU Delegations in their countries to continue their work. 

Curious to find out who gets these awards and if you could follow their example? Read on.

The Restorers – Sakharov Prize finalists 2019

Over 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM), the partial or total removal of female external genitalia for non-medical reasons. Most were under 15 years old when it happened. 

Five tech-savvy Kenyan teenagers – Ivy Akinyi, Macrine Onyango, Synthia Otieno, Purity Ouma and Stacy Owino – decided to develop an app to fight the practice, with input from their mentor Dorcas Adhiambo Owinoh.

Girls at risk of or who have undergone FGM can use the i-Cut app to call for medical and legal help at the touch of a button. The app also shares information on FGM and can collect donations to fund additional work.

So far, the all-female team has focused on services and communities in the north-western part of Kenya. 

That is set to change.

‘The prize has exposed our work to other organisations that fight female mutilation,’ Dorcas says. ‘It made us look for more ways in which we can improve on our activism.’

The Restorers are nothing if not ambitious. FGM harms women and girls around the world. They want to expand their life-saving support to more communities, more parts of Kenya and even other countries.

And all with a simple app.

Asma Kaouech – Sakharov Fellow 2017

This 27-year-old Tunisian co-founded and directs the youth organisation ‘Fanni Raghman Anni’, which means ‘my art in spite of myself’. The organisation uses alternative ways of expression such as graffiti art or street theatre to promote human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The work targets young people and vulnerable groups and provides an accessible way to prevent radicalisation. It gives marginalised people the chance to express themselves and spreads messages for tolerance on the street.

Asma was already an experienced human rights defender before she set up the organisation during the Tunisian revolution of 2011. She uses her experience to train other defenders.

A more equitable, just and sustainable world is still her ultimate goal. ‘I believe all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,’ she says.

Asma adds: ‘The Fellowship is a call for me to fight for human rights while feeling secure that I am part of a larger network of supporters.’

There is still plenty of work to do, according to Asma. She points to current political and security instability, climate change, and the global pandemic, which create new challenges.

‘The role of human rights defenders … is needed more than ever,’ Asma concludes.

Lorent Saleh – Sakharov Prize 2017

Lorent started his activism early on when he led student protests for democracy and human rights in his home country Venezuela. After being arrested several times on vague charges such as ‘disseminating false information’, he fled to Colombia. 

In 2014, Lorent was deported back to Venezuela, this time accused of carrying out paramilitary training and planning attacks against the country, but was never formally charged. 

He spent the next four years in prison, spending over half of his sentence in the headquarters of Venezuela’s intelligence service, SEBIN. While imprisoned, he was subject to a form of torture called ‘white torture’. He was held incommunicado, in isolation and under constant surveillance in a tiny cell with a white light turned on 24/7.

There was a glimmer of hope. Lorent, as part of the Democratic Opposition of Venezuela, was awarded with the Sakharov prize in 2017 together with other pro-democracy activists and political prisoners. In October 2018, he was finally released and went into exile in Madrid, Spain. 

‘The Sakharov Prize has validated the claims I’ve made over the years,’ Lorent says. ‘It was a show of support for a years-long struggle and a large number of oppressed people.’

The 32-year-old continues to advocate for freedom and democracy in Venezuela, and to campaign for international action against experiences like his. 

‘I intend to keep working on the eradication of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that many people around the world continue to suffer to this day.’