[huridocs-tech] Martin Ennals Award 2002

MARTIN ENNALS AWARD
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

PRESS RELEASE	
Geneva, 11 April 2002, 10h local time

CHADIAN WOMAN LAWYER RECEIVES HIGHEST AWARD OF HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT FOR
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE WORK

Today, Jacqueline Moudeina, the lawyer for the victims of the former
dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, receives the 2002 Martin Ennals Award for
Human Rights Defenders. She took enormous risks by filing complaints in
Chad against a number of Habré's accomplices, many of whom are still in
positions of power. She also is one of the lawyers in the case against
Habré himself in Senegal, where he lives in exile. As one of the few women
lawyers in Chad, Jacqueline Moudeina gives much of her time to the local
NGO, ATPDH. On 11 June 2001, when she took part in a peaceful sit-in to
protest against the fraudulent elections, a security squad, led by one of
the men she is suing, threw a grenade at her. Jacqueline Moudeina had to go
to Paris for treatment.

The award will be handed to her today, 11 April 2002 at 17.30, by the
Senegalese singer Cheikh Lô, himself a human rights activist. The ceremony
takes place in studio 4 of the Télévision Suisse Romande in Geneva in the
framework of the Festival Media North-South.

This 11th of April also marks the much-awaited entry into force of the
International Criminal Court. The Jury of the Martin Ennals Award is proud
to honour today an activist who symbolises the fight against impunity. The
members of the Jury are: Amnesty International, Defence for Children,
German Diakona, Human Rights Watch, HURIDOCS, International Alert,
International Commission of Jurists, International Federation for Human
Rights, International Service for Human Rights and World Organisation
Against Torture.

The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) is a unique
collaboration among ten of the world's leading non-governmental human
rights organizations. The MEA, created in 1993, carries a money component
of 20.000 CHF. It is granted annually to an individual or an organization
who has displayed exceptional courage in combating human rights violations.
The previous 8 recipients of the MEA are: Peace Brigades International
(2001), Immaculée Birhaheka, DRC; Natasa Kandic, Yugoslavia; Eyad El
Sarraj, Palestine; Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Mexico; Clement Nwankwo, Nigeria;
Asma Jahangir, Pakistan; Harry Wu, China (1994).

Martin Ennals (1927-1991) was instrumental to the modern human rights
movement seeking cooperation and solidarity among NGOs. A fiercely devoted
activist, he was the first Secretary-General of Amnesty International and
the driving force behind many other organisations. For further information
please call the Secretariat of the Martin Ennals Foundation, Geneva,
Switzerland, + 41.76 3662043 (Nadja Houben), or +30 9 44758678. e-mail
info@huridocs.org Website: http://www.martinennalsaward.org




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