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Human Rights First to Present Prestigious Baldwin Medal of Liberty to Congolese Human Rights Organization ASADHO
Washington, DC – Human Rights First will present the prestigious Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty and the accompanying $25,000 prize to a Congolese human rights organization, the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO) on Wednesday June 23rd in Washington. Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights, will make the award.
The $500,000 endowment for the award was established in 1989 in honor of Roger Baldwin, a founder of the ACLU and the International League for Human Rights and a key player in the U.S. civil rights and international human rights movements. A distinguished panel of judges, including international representatives, is convened every two years to select a winner and the recipients are brought to the United States to receive the award while having the opportunity to meet with U.S. policy makers and the media.
In February the judges' panel unanimously recommended that the 2004 Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty be awarded to ASADHO for its outstanding contribution to human rights throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Board of Human Rights First approved the decision in March.
ASADHO was established in what was then Zaire in 1991. Throughout years of conflict it alone has maintained a country-wide involvement in monitoring human rights violations and other activities aimed at human rights promotion and protection, often in extremely risky conditions. It has denounced rebel groups as well as the government for violations, inviting persecution from all sides. Among its many achievements, ASADHO has succeeded in closing the notorious Military Court and in helping persuade the UN to appoint a Special Rapporteur for human rights in Zaire in 1994. The conflict in the DRC has resulted in as many as 3.3 million deaths since 1998 and awarding the Baldwin to ASADHO would draw much needed international attention to this ongoing tragedy. Human Rights First has worked closely with ASADHO, most recently through the work of its International Justice Program.
The Baldwin Award is given in alternate years by the ACLU to a U.S. based defender of civil rights and by Human Rights First to an international human rights organization or activist. Recent winners have included the Organisation Guinéenne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights.
For more information contact Martina Pomeroy, PomeroyM@HumanRightsFirst.org, (212) 845-5237.
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