World Organisation Against Torture

Geneva: Exceptional Uzbek Woman honored on 20 November 

World Organisation Against Torture

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

Exceptional Uzbek Woman Honored in Geneva on 20 November 

Mutabar TADJIBAEVA, released from prison on the 2^nd of June and for the first time allowed to travel abroad, will receive the 2008 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) on Thursday 20^th November, 18h00, during an international ceremony in Geneva at the prestigious Musee Ariana. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will present the award and opera star Barbara Hendricks will perform. This year's event is covered by Swiss Television for the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) which will broadcast a news flash on Euronews.

The program includes exclusive film images and a roundtable with experts on Uzbekistan. The event is co-organised with the Municipality of Geneva which wants to commemorate in this way the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Mutabar Tadjibaeva is a very courageous woman who has long helped ordinary people to find justice, monitored trials and made findings public. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison for her outspoken criticism of the Government over the 2005 massacre of Andijan, where hundreds unarmed civilians were killed and wounded.  She was released on strict conditions but refuses to be silenced.

Uzbekistan will be under examination under the UPR (Universal Periodic Review) of the UN Human Rights Council next month. In this context, the Chairman of the Jury of the MEA, Hans Thoolen, draws the attention of the international community to her dramatic past and present situation, and encourages Uzbekistan to continue its reforms and to release all human rights defenders still in prison.

A unique collaboration among 10 of the world's leading human rights organizations makes the MEA the prize of the whole human rights movement... 

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

The previous laureates: Rajan Hoole-Kopalasingham Sritharan, Sri Lanka and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, Burundi (2007); Akbar Ganji, Iran and Arnold Tsunga, Zimbabwe; Aktham Naisse, Syria; Lida Yusupova, Russia; Alirio Uribe Munoz, Colombia; Jacqueline Moudeina, Chad; Peace Brigades International; Immaculee Birhaheka, DR Congo; Natasa Kandic, Yugoslavia; Eyad El Sarraj, Palestine; Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Mexico; Clement Nwankwo, Nigeria; Asma Jahangir, Pakistan; Harry Wu, China (1994).  

For further information and to arrange interviews with the Laureate, please contact :

Luis Marreiros, Coordinator

Tel. +41 22 809 4925

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it