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French Republic’s Human Rights Prize 2007

The Minister of State responsible for Foreign Affairs and Human Rights, Rama Yade, presented the French Republic’s human rights prize, “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”, on 10 December. The ceremony was held at the Palais des Affaires Etrangères.

Founded in 1988, the prize is awarded every year in complete independence by the National Advisory Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) and rewards human rights defenders around the world for their action on the ground. Previous recipients of the prize include Shirin Ebadi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, writer Taslima Nasreen, the Russian association “Memorial”, Ibrahim Rugova and Cuban human rights defender Elizardo Sanchez.

The 2007 prizewinners were recognized for their action to advance freedom of expression and for their commitment to combating human trafficking, the two themes chosen by the CNCDH this year.

They are:

 Mo Shaping, Li Jingsong, Teng Biao, lawyers for the civil rights defence movement in China;

 the Free Theatre of Minsk, represented by playwright Nikolai Khalezin and journalist Natalya Kolyada, which produces plays in Belarus promoting freedom of expression;

 the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, for its action in furthering freedom of expression in the Mediterranean region;

 the association “Enfants solidaires d’Afrique et du Monde”, which fights child trafficking in Benin;

 the Maurice Sixto Shelter which combats the domestic slavery of children in Haiti./.

See also:

French Republic Human Rights Prize 2007: Call for applications