Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award
The Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award Fund was established in 1980 by the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, with support and consent from Andrei Sakharov himself. The first award was awarded to Charta 77 in 1984. Former laureates are among these:
- Evgeny Zhovtis and Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
- Svetlana Gannusjkina from Memorial Human Rights Center
- Aliaksandr Bialiatski from Human Rights Center, "Viasna", Belarus
- Elisa Musajeva from Chechnya
- Amor Masovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Sergei Kovaljov from Russia
– It is an honour to award the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who has been in front in the fight against Viktor Orbans regime in Hungary. With this award we want to recognize the important work the Hungarian Helsinki Committee does to promote human rights and democracy in Hungary today, says Bjørn Engesland, Secretary General in the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
The developments in Central Europe the last years has been moving towarsds a more authoritarian tendency, where the situation for basic human rights and democracy have come under stronger pressure. The developments occur in countries that once where counted as stable democracies.
– On behalf of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, I thank you for awarding us the 2019 Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award. We are honored and moved by your support. 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell and the democratic changes took place in Central Europe, the idea of universal human rights is under attack and human rights are at risk — in Hungary, as in many other places, says Márta Pardavi, who heads the Budapest based organization together with András Kristóf Kádár.
She tells that the organization has a lot of work to do, more than before the authoritarian developments in Hungary started.
We see that since Hungary’s illiberal turn, there is an ever-greater need to defend human rights and also an evergreater need for human rights defenders. The victims of abuse by state authorities, our fellow citizens harassed for expressing their opinion, the inmates in prisons, the refugees seeking asylum, marginalised citizens refused protection, and the rule of law itself, they all need us. Therefore we are here to stay and to go on doing our job — even better than before.
Márta Pardavi, leader of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee
– We see that since Hungary’s illiberal turn, there is an ever-greater need to defend human rights and also an evergreater need for human rights defenders. The victims of abuse by state authorities, our fellow citizens harassed for expressing their opinion, the inmates in prisons, the refugees seeking asylum, marginalised citizens refused protection, and the rule of law itself, they all need us. Therefore we are here to stay and to go on doing our job — even better than before, says Pardavi.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee was established in 1989, and has since that been working to promote respect for human rights in addition to inform and report on human rights violations and offering free legal aid. The organization is headed by Márta Pardavi og András Kristóf Kádár and has a staff of 24. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee fights for the basic human rights in an environment of more smear campaigns and harassment, especially towards organizations that are helping refugees and asylum seekers.
The award ceremony will be in Oslo at the 18th of November.