John Humphrey Freedom Award 2009

Rights & Democracy presents the John Humphrey Freedom Award each year to an organization or individual from any country or region of the world, including Canada, for exceptional achievement in the promotion of human rights and democratic development. The Award consists of a grant of $30,000, as well as a speaking tour of Canadian cities to help increase awareness of the recipient’s human rights work.

It is named in honour of the Canadian John Peters Humphrey, a human rights law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Eligibility

• The nominee must be committed to peace and non-violence.
• The nominee must be independent of any political party or governmental affiliation.
• Preference is given to those working at the frontline for the benefit of developing countries, under conditions hostile to the recognition and application of basic human and democratic rights.
• Preference will be given to those involved in the priority issues of Rights & Democracy, namely: democratic development, women's rights, rights of indigenous peoples, globalization and human rights.
• In the case of an individual, the Award is not given posthumously, nor is it given to an organization that is no longer active.
• Former staff or board members of Rights & Democracy are not eligible.
• Self-nominations are not accepted.

An International Jury

The winner will be selected by an international jury composed of five members of Rights & Democracy's Board of Directors: Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo and Secretary General of the Egyptian Independent Commission for Electoral Review; Peter S. Li, Faculty Member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Saskatchewan, and Chair of the Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration‘s Economic Domain; Guido Riveros Franck, President, Bolivian Foundation for Multiparty Democracy;  Sima Samar, Chairperson, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Darfur, Sudan; and Janice Stein, Director of the Munk Centre for International Relations, University of Toronto, and Chairperson of Rights & Democracy's Board of Directors. 

Previous Winners

1992 – Instituto de Defensa Legal (Peru)
1993 – La Plate-forme des organismes haïtiens de défense des droits humains (Haïti).
1994 – Campaign for Democracy (Nigeria) and Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (Egypt)
1995 – Bishop Carlos F. X. Belo (East Timor)
1996 – Sultana Kamal ( Bangladesh )
1997 – Father Javier Giraldo (Colombia)
1998 – Palden Gyatso (Tibet)
1999 – Cynthia Maung and Min Ko Naing (Burma)
2000 – Reverend Timothy Njoya (Kenya)
2001 – Sima Samar (Afghanistan)
2002 – Ayesha Imam (Nigeria)
2003 – Kimy Pernía Domicó (Colombia) and Angélica Mendoza de Ascarza (Peru)
2004 – Godeliève Mukasarasi (Rwanda)
2005 – Yan Christian Warinussy (West Papua)
2006 – Su Su Nway (Burma)
2007 – Akbar Ganji (Iran)
2008 – Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (Zimbabwe)