Past Winners

2009: La'Onf, the Iraqi Nonviolence Network

Before the U.S. invaded iraq in 2003, Ismaeel Dawood ran a shoe shop in Baghdad; he also studied statistics, and read widely about human rights. After the invasion, he became active in collecting stories of civilian casualties and worked with other activists in Baghdad to compile information about the detention of Iraqis in U.S. military prisons. In 2005, at the World Social Forum in Brazil, Ismaeel met Martina Pignatti Morano from Un Ponte Per (UPP), an Italian NGO formerly known as Bridges to Baghdad, and Jean-Marie Muller, an expert in nonviolence from France. Jean-Marie Muller and UPP organized nonviolence training for people in Baghdad, most of whom were connected with the al-Mesalla Centre, a community-based human rights centre.

2008: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)has played a leading role in the promotion and protection of human rights across Zimbabwe since its founding in 1996. Guided by a professional commitment to the rule of law and Zimbabwe’s international human rights obligations, ZLHR provides essential services ranging from legal support for victims of state-endorsed persecution to public education and human rights training for activists and civil society organizations working at the community level. In 2003, ZLHR established a project to provide legal support for human rights defenders facing prosecution. Up to 1,500 Zimbabweans now benefit from the service each year, and its lawyers have yet to lose a single case in the project's five year history.

2007: Akbar Ganji (Iran)

Akbar Ganji is an emblematic figure of dissent in Iran. Well-known journalist and author, Akbar Ganji spent six years in prison for exposing rights abuses committed by Iran’s Fundamentalist regime. The charges stemmed from a series of investigative articles exposing the complicity of then President Rafsanjani and other leading members of the conservative clergy in the murders of political dissidents and intellectuals in 1998. During his time in prison, Mr. Ganji endured solitary confinement and went on a hunger strike that lasted from May to August 2005. He also continued to write, producing a series of influential political manifestos and open letters calling for Iran’s secularization and the establishment of democracy through mass civil disobedience. The works were smuggled out of Evin Prison and published on the Internet. Mr. Ganji’s work has appeared in pro-democracy newspapers across Iran, most of which the government has since shut down. He has also written many books, including the bestselling The Dungeon of Ghosts (1999) and The Red Eminence and The Grey Eminence (2000).

2006: Su Su Nway (Burma)

"I really want to go to Canada but I can't. Please tell them that I will come down there as soon as Burma achieves democracy".

Su Su Nway, 34, came to the world’s attention last year for her inspiring efforts to see the junta’s representatives in her village brought to justice for forcing her and her neighbours to repair a road without pay. Conscious of the dangers inherent to confronting Burma’s military authorities, Su Su Nway’s determination paid off last year when a judge sentenced the village Chairman and a deputy to eight months in prison under an untested law passed in 1999 that bans forced labour. The verdict was the first ever against the military regime’s long-standing practice of forced labour. Su Su Nway’s legal victory was short lived, when a few months later she was charged with defamation of the village’s replacement Chairman. She was sentenced to 18-months in prison in October 2005. Su Su Nway, who suffers from a heart condition, endured nine months in Insein before authorities finally bowed to international pressure and released her on June 6, 2006. Su Su Nway’s defiant struggle for human rights and dignity has made her a symbol of resilience and courage to the people of Burma, who now honour her with the title, “Courageous Su Su Nway.”

2005: Yan Christian Warinussy (West Papua)

Yan Christian Warinussy, has been a dedicated human rights activist for more than fifteen years in West Papua, a territory under Indonesia’s military control since 1963. Lawyer and Director of the Institute for Research, Analysing, and Development of Legal Aid (LP3BH), Mr. Warinussy has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to shedding light on gross human rights violations in West Papua and defending people whose rights are ignored, despite repeated intimidation and threats to his personal safety.

2004: Godeliève Mukasarasi (Rwanda)

A survivor of the 1994 genocide, Ms. Mukasarasi has gone on to make an invaluable contribution to the promotion of human rights and democratic development in Rwanda as the founder of SEVOTA , a support group for the widows and orphans of the April 19, 1994, massacre of Tutsi in the town of Taba, and as a social worker with the Women's Network for Rural Development.

2003: Kimy Pernia Domicó (Columbia) and Angélica Mendoz de Ascarza (Peru)

Kimy Pernía Domicó is a respected leader of the Embera Katio people of Colombia's Cordoba province. Mr. Domicó played a pivotal role in his people's fight against the construction of the Urra 1 hydroelectric dam, a mega-project partly funded by Canadian investment and serious threat to the survival of the Embera Katio. In June, 2001, Mr. Domicó was abducted shortly after meeting a Canadian delegation that included representatives of Rights & Democracy. His fate is still unknown. Mr. Domicó's daughter, Martha Cecilia, will accept the prize on her father's behalf.

Angélica Mendoza de Ascarza exemplifies the incredible courage of ordinary citizens cast into extraordinary circumstances. Since the abduction and disappearance of her 19-year-old son, Arquimedes, in 1983, Ms. Mendoza de Ascarza's has led a tireless campaign to uncover his fate and that of thousands of other victims of Peru's civil war. Ms. Mendoza de Ascarza's work is cited as a key inspiration behind the establishment of Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

2002: Ayesha Imam (Nigeria)

Ayesha Imam has been selected as this year's John Humphrey Freedom Award recipient for her exemplary contribution to the women's rights movement, and in particular for her work against the new restrictive and discriminatory Sharia criminal laws in Nigeria, as carried out through the human rights organization BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights.  In the face of threats and harassment, Ayesha Imam has mobilized civil society organizations across Nigeria to challenge conservative religious laws that are being used to perpetuate violence against women.

2001: Dr. Sima Samar (Afghanistan)

In the face of threats to her own safety, Dr. Samar has defied the Taliban's edicts that deny women and girls their basic rights to education, employment, mobility and medical care. Since 1989, Dr. Samar has been operating schools for girls and health clinics in many of the provinces of Afghanistan as well as in the refugee camps in Quetta, Pakistan. She has shown an incredible commitment towards assisting Afghan women in their struggles to end their oppression and to provide them with access to healthcare and education services. She is a strong advocate for the involvement of Afghan women in government and the reconstruction of civil society in Afghanistan.

2000: Reverend Timothy Njoya (Kenya)

From the pulpit to the streets, Reverend Njoya has been calling for freedom from the political dictatorship in Kenya for almost two decades. This Presbyterian Minister is also a very enthusiastic supporter of women's human rights, having established the Men for Equality with Women (MEW) lobby group and working with UNIFEM to popularize equal rights for men and women in Kenya.  With Reverend Njoya in the lead, the church has emerged as one of the few institutions willing to challenge Kenya's government under President Daniel Arap Moi.  Reverend Njoya's fearlessness and outspokenness have led Kenyan authorities to accuse him of subversion. During pro-democracy gatherings in 1997 and in 1999, Reverend Njoya was brutally beaten by police and hospitalized. His home was also ransacked.

1999: Dr. Cynthia Maung & Min Ko Naing (Burma)

Dr. Cynthia Maung is a 39-year old physician from the Karen ethnic minority in Burma who fled her country during the 1988 uprisings and who for the past ten years has been livingalong the Thai/Burmese border. She is known widely as "Dr. Cynthia." Thousands of refugees, displaced persons and migrant workers seek the solace and safety of her clinic, where she not only heals the wounded but also maintains a sense of community and keeps alive the hope for a life of freedom.

Min Ko Naing is a legendary figure of the student movement in Burma. During the 1988 nation-wide democratic uprising, his statements, speeches and poems aroused the democratic aspirations of the people. Viewed as a threat by the military regime, Min Ko Naing was arrested in 1989 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His last known contact with the international community was in 1995, when the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma was permitted to visit him in detention.