The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thoughtfirst awarded in 1988 to Nelson Mandela and Anatoli Marchenko, becomes the highest tribute paid by the European Union to work in the field of human rights.
(Also read: Colombian Truth Commission, finalist for the 2022 Sakharov Prize)
According to the website of the European Parliament, this award is the expression of recognition to individuals, groups and organizations for their contribution extraordinary protection of freedom of conscience.
The European Parliament also details that with the award and through the network linked to it, the European Union supports the winners, reinforcing and promoting their efforts to defend their cause.
So far, the prize has been awarded to dissidents, political leaders, journalists, lawyers, civil society activists, writers, mothers, wives, minority leaders, an anti-terrorist group, peace activists, an anti-torture activist , a cartoonist, people imprisoned for a long period for reasons of conscience, a film director, the United Nations as an organization and even a girl who fights for the right to education.
“It promotes, in particular, freedom of expression, the rights of minorities, respect for international law, the development of democracy and the application of the rule of law,” says the text.
This award brings with it one with an endowment of 50,000 euros, in an official plenary session held at the end of the year in Strasbourg.
Each of the political groups in Parliament can propose candidates, as can Members, in their personal capacity (the support of at least 40 Members is required per proposed candidate).
The proposed candidates are presented at a joint meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Development and the Subcommittee on Human Rights, in which all their members vote on the basis of a list of three finalists.
The final laureate(s) are elected each year by the Conference of Presidents, a body of the European Parliament coordinated by the President and made up of the Presidents of all the political groups represented in Parliament, making the choice of the Laureate a decision authentically European.
Truth Commission of Colombia
The people of Ukraine, the Truth Commission of Colombia and WikiLeaks activist Julian Assange are the finalists for the 2022 Sakharov Prize, the European Parliament reported.
The winner of this edition will be announced on the 19th, after a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Parliamentwhich brings together its president, Roberta Metsola, and the leaders of the political groups.
The award, which the previous edition was awarded to the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalni, it will be handed over at an official ceremony in Parliament’s hemicycle in Strasbourg on 14 December.
Regarding the candidacy of the Truth Commission in Colombia, nominated by the group of the Left, he highlighted the objective of this institution -created by virtue of a 2016 peace agreement to end the Colombian civil war- of ” establish the facts about human rights violations during the conflict and advocate for the rights of millions of its victims.
The nomination pays tribute to the victims of the civil war and is described as an opportunity to support the peace process.
It mentions the names of Francisco de Roux, Alejandro Valencia Villa, Marta Ruiz Naranjo, Alfredo Molano Bravo (posthumously), Alejandro Castillejo, Saúl Alonso Franco, Lucía Victoria González, Patricia Tobón Yagarí, Alejandra Miller, Leyner Palacios, Ángela Salazar Murillo ( posthumously) and Carlos Martín Beristain. P
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
With information from EFE
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