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Geneva, January 20 (KMS): Incarcerated Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez has been named among the three recipients of the 2023 Martin Ennals Award.
Three outstanding activists who pioneered human rights movements in Venezuela, Chad, and Kashmir are scheduled to receive the Martin Ennals Award 2023 on February 16th, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland.
A jury of 10 of the world’s leading human rights NGOs – Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, Huridocs, Bread for the World, Human Rights First, World Organisation Against Torture, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), and Front Line Defenders – have selected, after much deliberation, the three human rights defenders and honored by the Award in 2023. The tree awardees for 2023 Laureates are Feliciano Reyna (Venezuela), Delphine Djiraibé (Chad), and Khurram Parvez (Kashmir).
“We are particularly proud to honor these three exceptional Laureates who have each dedicated over 30 years of their lives to building movements which brought about justice for victims or delivered medicines to the marginalized. They have made human rights real for thousands of people in their communities,” said Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury.
Khurram Parvez was arrested by Indian authorities in November 2021 under the draconian law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Created in 1992, the Martin Ennals Award (MEA) is an annual prize providing recognition, support, and protection to human rights defenders from across the globe. The Award gives visibility to the Laureates and highlights the situation in their homelands.
The MEA Ceremony, which is co-hosted with the Ville de Genève, will take place on February 16th, 2023 at the Salle communale de Plainpalais. The Ceremony is livestreamed and draws many local and international human rights supporters to an uplifting event which celebrates the achievements and commitment of exceptional human rights defenders.
