Chadian Woman Lawyer Receives Highest Award Of Human Rights Movement For International Criminal Justice Work
11 April 2002
Today, Jacqueline Moudeina, the lawyer for the victims of the former dictator of Chad, Hissene Habre, receives the 2002
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. She took enormous risks by filing complaints in Chad against a number of
Habre's accomplices, many of whom are still in positions of power. She also is one of the lawyers in the case against
Habre 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 Lo, 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).
Background
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.
Ends
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