Brussels, 27/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 2011 was attributed by the EP Conference of Presidents, on Thursday 27 October, to five militants of the Arab people who played a part in the Arab Spring. The prize goes to: Asmaa Mahfouz (Egypt), Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi (Libya), Razan Zaitouneh (Syria), Ali Farzat (Syria) and, posthumously, to Mohamed Bouazizi (Tunisia). They were awarded the prize in “recognition and support of their drive for freedom and human rights”.
“These individuals contributed to historic changes in the Arab world and this award reaffirms Parliament's solidarity and firm support for their struggle for freedom, democracy and the end of authoritarian regimes”, said Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, who will award the prize on 14 December, in Strasbourg. “Their award is a symbol for all those working for dignity, democracy and fundamental rights in the Arab world and beyond”, he added.
José Ignacio Salafranca, of the EPP Group, trusts the prize will be a support on the road to consolidating real democracy in Arab Spring countries. Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA, France) also spoke of the “European Parliament's commitment in favour of revising its neighbourhood policy towards the southern countries and also its need to draw lessons from the past”.
The video films and messages on social networks of the human rights activist, Asmaa Mahfouz, helped to motivate Egyptians in claiming their rights. Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi spent 31 years in Libyan prisons after an attempted coup d'état against Colonel Gaddafi. Now a member of the National Transitional Council, he is working to achieve freedom and regain humanity, and to set democratic values in place in the post-Gaddafi world. A human rights lawyer, Razan Zaitouneh, created the Human Rights Information Link (SHRIL) blog, which reports on current atrocities in Syria, committed by the army and police. Caricatures, holding the Bashar al-Assad regime up to ridicule, by Syrian political satirist, Ali Fazat, have helped to inspire the country's revolution. In August, Fazat was beaten by security forces who broke his hands as a “warning”, and confiscated his drawings. Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest at incessant humiliation and badgering by the Tunisian authorities. The act caused great public sympathy and anger in Tunisia, as well as in Egypt and Libya.
The candidature of the above individuals was jointly presented by the EPP, S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA Groups. The two other finalists were a Belarusian civic rights activist and journalist, Dzmitry Bandarenka, nominated by the ECR Group, and the Colombian community of peace of San José de Apartadó (GUE/NGL Group). (CG/transl.jl)