Voluntary organisations, institutions and individuals worldwide are welcome to nominate candidates for the 2011 Rafto Prize for Human Rights. The Rafto Prize, awarded in memory of Norwegian professor Thorolf Rafto, is awarded to an individual or organisation that embodies and upholds the principles of the Human Rights Charter through activism or engagement.
At the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Georgia, including continued restrictions on civil society, the targeting of Human Rights House Tbilisi, and ongoing violations in Russian-occupied territories. HRHF called for stronger UN scrutiny and continued international engagement.
At the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation highlighted the escalating use of Russia’s criminal justice system against residents of occupied Crimea and called for stronger UN monitoring of closed and politically motivated trials. HRHF cited analysis by Human Rights House Crimea member organisation, Crimean Process, which documents a sharp rise in “high treason” prosecutions alongside systematic fair-trial concerns.
At the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights House Foundation raised the case of Azerbaijani human rights defender Anar Mammadli, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison following earlier engagement with UN mechanisms, and called for further UN action to address reprisals against human rights defenders.
