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Call for nominations for the 2020 edition of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize

This annual prize is awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in partnership with the Václav Havel Library, the Charta 77 Foundation, and the Government of the Czech Republic. It is awarded in memory of Václav Havel, playwright, opponent of totalitarianism, architect of the velvet revolution of 1989, President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic and an enduring symbol of opposition to despotism.

 

The Prize, which consists of a sum of €60 000, a trophy and a diploma, rewards outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond. It is open to nominations from any individual, non-governmental organisation or institution working to defend human rights.

 

Since 2013, it has been awarded in turn to Ales Bialiatski (Belarus), Anar Mammadli (Azerbaijan), Ludmilla Alexeeva (Russian Federation), Nadia Murad (Iraq), Murat Arslan (Turkey) and Oyub Titiev (Russian Federation). In 2019, the Prize was awarded jointly to imprisoned Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti from China and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR), which brings together young people from across the Balkans to promote reconciliation.

 

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2020 edition of the Prize is 30 June 2020. The Award Ceremony will take place in the Assembly Chamber on 12 October 2020 during the Fourth part-session.

 

Prize regulations and the nomination forms can be found on the Assembly’s website: Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize

 

Should you require further information, the Secretariat of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize remains at your disposal, by mail hrprize.pace@coe.int or by phone at + 33 3 90 21 41 00.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Ms Isild Heurtin

Secretariat of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize