We are extremely pleased to forward this news.
The Right Livelihood Awards, often called „Alternative Nobel Prizes“,
go to four prizewinners this year.
They will share the prize money of 2,000,000 Swedish Kronen (approximately 230,000 Euro).
The jury honors Paul Walker (USA) for his untiring work to free the world of chemical weapons; Raji Sourani (Palestine) for his unwavering commitment to human rights and the rule of law under extremely difficult circumstances. The Jury
also
honours Denis Mukwege (Democratic Republic of Congo) for his „long-standing work to heal women who have survived sexual acts of violence during war and for his courage in naming the causes and those responsible“; the Jury honours Hans R. Herren/Biovision Foundation (Switzerland)
„because he has cleared the way, with scientific expertise and pioneering practical work, to secure a healthy, secure and sustained supply of food.“
This is the first time that a Right Livelihood Award goes to a Palestinian.
More details on Raji Sourani follow:
Defending human rights under the occcupation
Raji Sourani was born in Gaza on 28 December 1953. He studied law at Beirut and Alexandria universities, receiving his degree from the latter in 1977. After his studies, he founded his own law firm and very soon found himself almost wholly dedicated to working on human rights cases. He is widely recognised for his effective defence of Palestinians before Israeli Military Courts.
Sourani’s dedicated work towards justice for victims of human rights violations posed a challenge to the Israeli administration. In 1979, he was imprisoned by Israel for his political activities, and was tortured during his three-year sentence in Gaza prison. Three more imprisonments in 1985 and 1986 followed. While held in administrative detention in 1988, Sourani was declared an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience. From 1977 to 1990, he was prohibited from leaving Palestine. Throughout this period, he was constantly harassed, and his office and houses were subject to dozens of raids. Further, he was prevented from visiting prisons or working on any cases from 1986 to 1987.
Raji Sourani was concerned that the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords did not contain a single word about human rights. His subsequent criticism of the new Palestinian Authority’s formation of State Security Courts and its use of several of the same suppressive laws applied by Israeli authorities led to him becoming the Palestinian Authority’s first ever political prisoner in 1995. He says: “I had thought that struggling against the occupation was the most difficult thing but I discovered that I was naïve. Struggling against your own authority for respect for democracy, the rule of law, and human rights is much more complicated and difficult.”
After his release, Sourani founded the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), where he continues to serve as Director. PCHR soon became the key human rights organisation in Palestine, carrying out essential work monitoring and documenting human rights violations, and providing legal assistance to victims of these violations. PCHR also organises workshops, conferences and trainings in the Gaza Strip, and its weekly reports and press releases are an invaluable source of information for civil society groups operating in the area.
Innovative use of universal jurisdiction
When all attempts for national remedies fail, Raji Sourani is innovative in using the concept of universal jurisdiction – a legal principle that allows states or international courts to claim criminal jurisdiction over someone accused of serious crimes outside their territory – to bring cases against high ranking Israeli officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In partnership with lawyers in European countries, Sourani has brought cases under universal jurisdiction in the UK and Spain against alleged Israeli war criminals. Whilst trials have yet to materialise, these cases have had a significant measure of success: for example, due to Sourani’s efforts, a London Chief Magistrate issued an arrest warrant against a retired Israeli Major General, Doron Almog, for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Fearing arrest, Almog returned immediately to Tel Aviv after his plane landed in London on 11 September 2005.
Working for peace in Palestine
Raji Sourani believes in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and has maintained good relationships with Israeli lawyers, academics and human rights activists since the 1980s, facilitating their visits to refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. Sourani regrets Israel’s closing of the Gaza Strip, which he believes is a deliberate effort to prevent dialogue and exchanges between Israelis and Gazans.
Today, Sourani prioritises reconciliation between the West Bank and Gaza, and believes that his role vis-à-vis the peace process is to enhance democracy and the rule of law in the Palestinian context.
Promoting human rights and empowering human rights defenders in the Middle East
Raji Sourani has been able to inspire, motivate and empower human rights defenders across the Middle East both by example and through concrete programmes, interventions and trainings. Since April 2012, he has served as President of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR).
Under Sourani’s leadership, the AOHR lobbied the Arab League in 2004 to make amendments to the Arab Charter for Human Rights to bring it in line with international human rights standards, achieving partial success. Currently, the AOHR is engaged in discussions with the League regarding reforms. In addition, Sourani facilitated the Arab League Fact Finding Mission to Gaza after “Operation Cast Lead” in 2009.
Raji Sourani believes that his duty is to continue to promote the rule of law in the Arab world, and ensure that the spaces that have opened up for human rights work, thanks to the “Arab Spring”, are fully utilised. To this end, the PCHR has established close working relationships with civil society organisations and provided practical and theoretical knowledge to human rights defenders from Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Libya, with the aim of strengthening civil society in those countries. Following these trainings, two new human rights NGOs were established in Yemen. Sourani was also part of the first team of human rights monitors who went to Libya after the fall of Colonel Qadaffi, where he was able to persuade the new Libyan government to investigate the disappearances of human rights defenders.
International work
For the past 25 years, Raji Sourani has actively worked with the UN and its various Special Rapporteurs, the EU, the Quartet on the Middle East, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), making oral and written submissions on the human rights situation in Palestine. In all these bodies, the PCHR’s material is considered to be credible and impartial. PCHR is currently lobbying the Palestinian Authority to sign the Rome Statute of the ICC, so that it will be able to bring cases of human rights violations in Palestine before the Court.
Honours
Raji Sourani was awarded the Robert F Kennedy Memorial Award for Human Rights jointly with Israeli lawyer Avigdor Feldman in 1991. He has also received several other awards throughout his career including the Human Rights Prize awarded by the French Republic (1996), the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights (2002) and the International Service Human Rights Award (2003).
It is noteworthy that Felicia Langer (Right Livelihood Award 1990) defended Sourani before the Israeli military courts when he was imprisoned for his human rights work in the 1980s.
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Empfehlenswerte Webseiten
www.pacbi.org – Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel
www.imemc.org – International Middle East Media Centre
www.palsolidarity.org – International Solidarity Movement
www.ochaopt.org – Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org – Jewish Voice for Peace
www.btselem.org – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
www.kibush.co.il – Israeli Website mit Nachrichten und Kommentaren über die Besatzung