Five Activists Honored with the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights

NEW YORK - Five individuals, including a former U.S. Attorney General, a deceased nun, and the late former Prime Minister of Pakistan were recently awarded the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights, according to news reports.

This year's honorees were Louise Arbou, a former Supreme Court of Canada judge; Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and founder of the International Action Center; Dr. Carolyn Gomes, executive director and co-founderof Jamaicans for Justice; Dr. Denis Mukwege, who has aided many sexual assault victims in Congo; and Human Rights Watch, according to a news release issued by the IAC and an article in The Asian Tribune. Benazir Bhutto and Dorothy Stang, both deceased, were also lauded. Bhutto was a two-time Prime Minister of Pakistan, while Stang was a nun in Notre Dame de Namur who worked against poverty in Brazil. Both activists were murdered as a result of their human-rights work, according to The Asian Tribune.

The five awardees received this prestigious honor on December 10, which is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President of the General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, lauded the recipients at theUnited Nations Headquarters in New York.

The United Nations held a special press conference after the awards ceremony. Clark implored attendees to remember the United Nations' mission of world peace, noting that, "The greatest threat to human rights is war."

The honor is granted every five years to outstanding human rights activists. Past recipients include Amnesty International, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jimmy Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nelson Mandela. The awards ceremony always occurs of International Human Rights Day, which is December 10. The next honor will be bestowed in 2013.

Brockmann was one of five members of the selection committee. He stated, "As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we acknowledge the tireless work and invaluable contribution of these individuals and organizations that have fought to see the rights and freedoms embodied in this historic document become a reality for people in all corners of the world. These awardees constitute symbols of persistence, valour and tenacity in their resistance to public and private authorities that violate human rights. They constitute a moral force to put an end to systematic human rights violations."

According to a United Nations news release, Clark is "a veteran human rights defender and rule of law advocate, played a key role in the civil rights and peace movements in the U.S., and more recently has spoken out against abuses committed in the name of counter-terrorism."

The IAC, which Clark founded in 1992, is a watchdog organization staffed entirely by volunteers. Its function is to work as a defender in the anti-war movement in the United States, and offer support to countries and individuals who feels threatened by American war activities. It also works to combat racism and class struggles within the United States. Human Rights Watch is an organization that has served as an information clearinghouse and documented hundreds of human rights violations since 1978.