Negen nominaties voor EU Sacharov Prijs 2010 (en)
Nine nominations for the 2010 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought were presented at a joint meeting on Tuesday of the Foreign Affairs and Development committees and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. They are: the citizen movement Access, Haytham Al-Maleh, Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, Guillermo Fariñas, Aminatou Haidar, Dawit Isaak, Birtukan Mideksa, Father Thadeus and the Christian mission Open Doors.
The nominees, who must be nominated by either a political group or at least 40 individual MEPs, are presented below in alphabetical order. The winner will receive €50, 000.
Access is a global citizen movement that helps human rights defenders protect themselves and their communications online. Founded in the wake of the 2009 Iranian post-election crackdown, Access provided critical technical support that helped keep the internet open for the Iranian democracy movement.
Nominated by the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Haytham Al-Maleh , aged 80, is a prominent Syrian human rights lawyer and activist who was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on 4 July 2010, on the grounds of "transferring false and exaggerated news that weakens national sentiment". "Awarding the 2010 Sakharov Prize to Mr Al-Maleh could be seen as a major support for all those who defend human rights and promote democratic reforms in Syria and would launch a significant signal to the EU which has to guarantee coherence and efficiency of its external action in terms of respect and promotion of human rights", according to the signatories.
Nominated by Heidi Hautala and 44 other MEPs.
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli NGO was established in 2004 by Israeli soldiers and veterans who collect and provide testimonies about their military service in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem during the Second Intifada. The NGO is dedicated to exposing the Israeli public to the realities of the Israeli occupation as seen through the eyes of Israeli soldiers and to stirring debate about the impact of the prolonged occupation on both the Palestinian population and on Israeli society. Bu awarding the Sakharov prize to the Israeli NGO, "we want to give peace a chance", declared Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA, FR).
Nominated by Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit on behalf of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) and by Lothar Bisky on behalf of the Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL).
Mr Guillermo Fariñas , aged 48, was nominated in the name of all those who fight in Cuba for freedom and human rights. He is doctor for psychology, independent journalist and political dissident in Cuba. He has conducted 23 hunger strikes over the years to protest against the Cuban regime. A supporter of non-violence and daring to denounce the Castro regime, "Guillermo Fariñas is a symbol in the struggle against the imprisonment of political opponents" according to the MEPs who nominated him.
Nominated by Joseph Daul, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Jaime Mayor Oreja, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Jaroslaw Leszek Walesa and Francisco José Millán Mon on the behalf of the Group of the European People's Party (EPP), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) and by Edvard Kožušník and 91 other MEPs.
Aminatou Haidar is a Sahrawi human rights defender and political activist for the independence of Western Sahara. She is sometimes called the "Sahrawi Gandhi" for her nonviolent protests, including hunger strikes, in the support of the independence of Western Sahara. "Awarding her the Sakharov Prize would send also a positive signal in the context of Euromediteranean relations" , said Raül Romeva i Rueda (Greens/EFA, ES).
Nominated by Norbert Neuser, Willy Meyer, Raül Romeva i Rueda and 40 other MEPs.
Dawit Isaak , a Swedish-Eritrean journalist is a political prisoner, held in prison under very harsh conditions for 3,299 days to date. The European Parliament has several times demanded his immediate release. In 2009 he was one of the three final Sakharov Prize candidates.
Nominated by Olle Schmidt, Cecilia Wikström, Marit Paulsen and Lena Ek and 37 other MEPs.
Birtukan Mideksa, an Ethiopian politician and former judge, is the leader of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party. On December 28 2008, she was re-arrested and imprisoned to serve a life sentence, after having spoken in Sweden with journalists about the way opposition leaders were released in her country. She openly admitted to continue her "peaceful struggle for more democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law" in Ethiopia. The Sakharov prize would offer her more visibility and international protection, say the S&D group.
Nominated by Martin Schulz on behalf of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D).
Father Thadeus, Nguyën Van Ly, a Vietnamese Roman-Catholic priest and leading human rights activist, uses only non-violent struggle as means to achieve his goal of promoting universal human rights. He has spent a total of over 20 years in prison or under house arrest for his advocacy of human dignity and democracy.
Nominated by European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
OPEN DOORS is a non-denominational Christian mission working for the defence of persecuted Christians, which are the religious minority suffering most from persecution, according to the submitted nomination. The organization, currently active in more than 45 countries with a wide range of activities, was founded in 1955 by Dutch woman Anne van der Bijl, after having visited persecuted Christians in communist Poland.
Nominated by European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
Next steps
On 18 October Foreign Affairs, Development and Human Rights Subcommittee MEPs will vote to determine the three finalists. The overall winner will be decided by the EP Conference of Presidents on 21 October in Strasbourg, and invited to attend the award ceremony on 15 December, also in Strasbourg.
In the chair: Gabriele Heidi HAUTALA (Greens/EFA, FI)