Paris-based press freedom organisation Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has been named one of the three joint winners of this year's Sakharov Prize for the freedom of thought. RSF shares the award with the Ladies in White, a group of wives of jailed Cuban dissidents, and Nigerian human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim, who represents women who face being stoned to death for adultery and people facing amputation for theft under Islamic Sharia law.
RSF expressed delight at being one of the three joint winners of the prize announced on Wednesday, and said it dedicated the award "to the 110 journalists throughout the world who are currently in prison." RSF secretary-general Robert Ménard said, "We are extremely pleased by the news. This award will encourage us to continue on the same road and to do even more, and we hope it will help us in our daily struggle for the defence of press freedom throughout the world."
The Sakharov Prize is awarded annually since 1988 by the European Parliament to individuals or organisations that have made a significant contribution to the defence of human rights. The decision to award all three nominees as winners came after the European Parliament could not reach a clear verdict on the winner. The decision to call it a draw was taken by the parliament's group presidents, who announced that the 50,000 sum of cash for the prize will be divided between the three.
The prize-giving ceremony will be held in Strasbourg in December, with parliament president Josep Borrell handing out the cheques. This is the second time in a row that a press freedom organisation has been awarded the prize last year's winner was the Belarus Association of Journalists.
Ménard said, "We thank the European parliamentarians who gave us their support, especially Jean-Marie Cavada, who backed RSF's candidacy from the outset. We also thank our correspondents, without whom we would be unable to keep abreast of press freedom violations so effectively."
The European Parliament had said in its nomination statement, "RSF draws its inspiration from Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone has 'the right to freedom of opinion and expression' and also the right to 'seek, receive and impart' information and ideas. This has been restated by several charters and declarations around the world covering Africa and the Americas. In Europe this right is included in the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms."
RSF's initiatives are being carried out on five continents through its national branches (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland) and its offices in Abidjan, Bangkok, New York, Tokyo and Washington. It also works in close cooperation with local and regional press freedom organisations and with members of the RSF Network, who represent Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Myanmar ("Burma"), Cuba, Eritrea, Peru, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Russia, Tunisia and the Ukraine.
The RSF secretary-general said, "We are also moved to have been co-recipients of this award at the same time as Cuba’s Ladies in White, as one of its members is the wife of our Cuban correspondent, Ricardo González, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence."
