Sakharov Prize

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought.[1] Named after Russian scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, the prize was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament.

A shortlist of nominees is drawn up annually by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Development. The MEPs who make up those committees then select a shortlist in September.[2] Thereafter, the final choice is given to The European Parliament's Conference of Presidents (President and political group's leaders) and the laureate's name is announced late in October. The prize is awarded in a ceremony at the Parliament's Strasbourg hemicycle (round chamber) in December.[3][2] The prize includes a monetary award of €50,000.[3]

The first prize was awarded jointly to South African Nelson Mandela and Russian Anatoly Marchenko. The 1990 award was given to Aung San Suu Kyi, but she could not receive it until 2013 as a result of her political imprisonment in Burma.[4] The prize has also been awarded to organisations, the first being the Argentine Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in 1992. Five Sakharov laureates were subsequently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad.[5]

Razan Zaitouneh (2011) was kidnapped in 2013 and is still missing.[6]Nasrin Sotoudeh (2012) was released from prison in September 2013,[7] but is still barred from leaving Iran, along with fellow 2012 laureate Jafar Panahi.[8] The 2017 prize was awarded to the Democratic Opposition in Venezuela, under boycott of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left.[9][10]

Laureates

Key
Indicates a posthumous award
YearImageRecipientNationalityNotesReference
1988 Nelson Mandela  South AfricaAnti-apartheid activist and later first President of South Africa[11]
Anatoly Marchenko  Soviet UnionSoviet dissident, author, and human rights activist[12]
1989 Alexander Dubček  CzechoslovakiaSlovak politician, attempted to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring[11]
1990 Aung San Suu Kyi  BurmaAt the time she received the award, Suu Kyi was an opposition politician and a former General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, known for her peaceful struggle against military rule in Myanmar. She personally accepted the award in 2013, after she was released from 15 years of house arrest. In 2020, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament formally suspended Suu Kyi from the Sakharov Prize Community due to her role in the atrocities against the Rohingya people, but did not revoke the prize itself.[13][14][15][16]
1991
-
Adem Demaçi  YugoslaviaKosovo Albanian politician and long-term political prisoner[11]
1992 Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo  ArgentinaAssociation of Argentine mothers whose children disappeared during the Dirty War[13]
1993 Oslobođenje  Republic of Bosnia and HerzegovinaPopular newspaper that defended Bosnia and Herzegovina as a multi-ethnic state[13]
1994 Taslima Nasrin  BangladeshFeminist author and former doctor[13]
1995 Leyla Zana  TurkeyPolitician of Kurdish descent from Southeastern Turkey, who was imprisoned for 15 years for being a member of the PKK[11]
1996 Wei Jingsheng  ChinaActivist in the Chinese democracy movement[13]
1997 Salima Ghezali  AlgeriaJournalist and writer, activist for women's rights, human rights, and democracy in Algeria[13]
1998 Ibrahim Rugova  FR YugoslaviaKosovo Albanian politician and first President of Kosovo[11]
1999 Xanana Gusmão  East TimorFormer militant and later first President of East Timor[17]
2000
-
¡Basta Ya!  SpainOrganisation uniting individuals of various political positions against terrorism[18]
2001 Nurit Peled-Elhanan  IsraelPeace activist[11]
Izzat Ghazzawi  PalestineWriter and professor
Dom Zacarias Kamwenho  AngolaArchbishop and peace activist
2002Oswaldo Payá  CubaPolitical activist and dissident[19]
2003 Kofi Annan  GhanaNobel Peace Prize recipient and seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations[11]
United NationsInternational
2004
-
Belarusian Association of Journalists  BelarusNon-governmental organisation "aiming to ensure freedom of speech and rights of receiving and distributing information and promoting professional standards of journalism"[20]
2005 Ladies in White  CubaOpposition movement, relatives of jailed dissidents[21]
Reporters Without BordersInternationalFrance-based non-governmental organisation advocating freedom of the press[21]
Hauwa Ibrahim  NigeriaHuman rights lawyer[21]
2006 Alaksandar Milinkievič  BelarusPolitician chosen by United Democratic Forces of Belarus as the joint candidate of the opposition in the 2006 presidential election[22]
2007 Salih Mahmoud Osman  SudanHuman rights lawyer[13]
2008 Hu Jia  ChinaActivist and dissident[23]
2009
-
Memorial  RussiaInternational civil rights and historical society[24]
2010 Guillermo Fariñas  CubaDoctor, journalist, and political dissident[25]
2011[a] Asmaa Mahfouz  EgyptFive representatives of the Arab people, in recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights[26]
Ahmed al-Senussi  Libya
Razan Zaitouneh  Syria
Ali Farzat
Mohamed Bouazizi  Tunisia
2012 Jafar Panahi  IranIranian activists, Sotoudeh is a lawyer and Panahi is a film director.[27][28]
Nasrin Sotoudeh
2013 Malala Yousafzai  PakistanCampaigner for women's rights and education[29]
2014 Denis Mukwege  Democratic Republic of the CongoGynecologist treating victims of gang rape[30]
2015 Raif Badawi  Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabian writer, activist, and the creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals[31][b]
2016 Nadia Murad  IraqYazidi human rights activists and former abductees of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant[32]
Lamiya Aji Bashar
2017 Democratic opposition in Venezuela  VenezuelaMembers of the country's National Assembly and all political prisoners as listed by Foro Penal Venezolano represented by Leopoldo López, Julio Borges, Antonio Ledezma, Daniel Ceballos [es], Yon Goicoechea, Lorent Saleh, Alfredo Ramos [es] and Andrea González. The award was seen as rewarding the "courage of student activists and protesters in face of repression by Nicolas Maduro's government"[33] and boycotted by the European United Left–Nordic Green Left parliamentary group.[10][34]
2018 Oleg Sentsov  UkraineFilm director, symbol of the struggle for the release of political prisoners held in Russia and around the world[35]
2019 Ilham Tohti  ChinaUyghur economist, scholar, and human rights activist[36]
2020 Democratic opposition in Belarus  BelarusDemocratic opposition of Belarus represented by the Coordination Council, an initiative of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Svetlana Alexievich, Maria Kalesnikava, Volha Kavalkova and Veranika Tsapkala, and political and civil society figures - Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Ales Bialiatski, Sergei Dylevsky, Stsiapan Putsila and Mikola Statkevich.[37][c][d]
2021 Alexei Navalny  RussiaOpposition politician and anti-corruption activist[39]
2022 The Ukrainian people  UkraineAwarded to Ukrainians who are "protecting democracy, freedom and rule of law" following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[40][41]
2023 Mahsa Jina Amini  IranMahsa Amini's death under suspicious circumstances led to widespread protests, often under the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom.[42][42]
Woman, Life, Freedom movement

Table notes

References

External links