Ingrid Betancourt, the Dalai Lama and Zimbabwe’s opposition leader are among the eight nominees for the prestigious Sakharov Prize, a yearly award given by the European Parliament to defenders of democracy and human rights around the world, setting up a contest between some of the world’s most celebrated activists this year.
Betancourt, a one-time Colombian presidential candidate with French citizenship who was released in July after being held hostage for six years by FARC rebels, was nominated by parliament’s Socialist group. “Betancourt has constantly spoken out and stood up to the forces of terrorism and its devastating effects against ordinary, innocent people both in Colombia and around the world,” her nomination read. The spiritual and political leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, was chosen by the nationalist UEN group for his “message of peace, non- violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion.” Other nominations include the European Roma Rights Centre, Chinese civil rights activist Hu Jia, Russian lawyer and democracy campaigner Mikhail Ivanovich Trepashkin and Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The number of candidates will be narrowed down to a shortlist of three on September 22, with the winner due to be picked in mid- October.
This year’s award marks the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize, which was first awarded in 1988 in honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. Other past winners incl - ude Nelson Mandela, 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest in Burma; and Alexander Dubcek, a reformer of the Czech Communist party during the so-called Prague Spring of 1968. Betancourt, a Colombian-French politician and anti-corruption activist, was kidnapped by the FARC, while campaigning for the Colombian presidency, and rescued from captivity this July. According to the nomination, “Betancourt has constantly spoken out and stood up to the forces of terrorism and its devastating effects against ordinary, innocent people both in Colombia and around the world.“ The European Roma Rights Centre campaigns against anti-Romani racism and abuse. According to the nomination, “since its establishment in 1996, the ERRC has endeavoured to give Roma the tools necessary to combat discrimination and win equal access to government, education, employment, health care, housing and public services.”
Hu Jia is a Chinese campaigner for civil rights, environmental protection and AIDS advocacy. Following his testimony on human rights in China in November of 2007, via a conference call, he was arrested, charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ in jail. Trepashkin was cited in his nomination for his work as an FSB (KGB) detective. “Trepashkin uncovered a number of cases where his colleagues from the secret services were involved in corruption, organised crime and terrorism.” He was persecuted, then jailed for four years. Released in November 2007 following an international campaign, he has since continued campaigning for human rights and democracy in Russia. Tsvangirai’s nomination said he “has fought for democracy, freedom of speech and the rule of law in Zimbabwe. At enormous personal risk he has led the main opposition party and has courageously endured a succession of assassination attempts and politically motivated arrests.”
Other nominees include: -Alexander Kozulin, a former presidential candidate in Belarus. According to the nomination, “Aleksandr Kozulin has shown great courage to withstand the regime’s actions and to fight for freedom of thought and expression and basic civil rights. In 2006, during the presidential campaign, he was beaten several times, detained and finally sentenced to five and a half years of imprisonment.” -Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu - Chair of the Independent Electoral Commission of Democratic Republic of Congo. The nomination praises “his efforts in making dialogue prevail over violence during the Goma conference [aimed at bringing peace to the DRC provinces of North and South Kivu] and for dedicating his wisdom and experience to realising these principles throughout his career.”