Brussels, 13/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The political groups of the EP presented, on Wednesday, their candidates for the Sakharov Prize 2006, during a joint meeting of foreign affairs and development committees, with the sub-committee on human rights. The two committees must come to an agreement, on 25 September, on three candidates, and, in October, the Conference of Presidents will select the winner.
The candidates are: - Ingrid Betancourt, held hostage by the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia since 2002 (presented by French Socialist Marie-Arlette Carlotti on behalf of a group of MEPs); - all those who fight for the over 3,000 hostages in Colombia (Greens/EFA); - the Fulda-Mosocho project to eradicate genital mutilation in the Mosocho region, Kenya (German Liberal Alexander Alvaro on behalf of a group of MEPs); - Vladimir Kozlov, who is fighting the russification of the Republic of Maris (Toomas Ilves, Estonian Socialist, on behalf of a group of MEPs); - Bishop Erwin Krauter, a missionary fighting for indigenous minorities in Brazil and Amazonia (Austrian Social Democrat Herbert Bösch, on behalf of a group of MEPs); Somaluy Mam, Cambodian activist fighting for human rights and against child prostitution (ALDE); - Alexander Milinkevich, leader of the Belarussian opposition (EPP-ED and UEN); - Ghassan Tueni, Lebanese journalist and diplomat ((PES and GUE/NGL); - Mesfin-Wolde-Mariam, who combats violence and famine in Ethiopia and is threatened with the death penalty (Portuguese Socialist Ana Gomes on behalf of a group of MEPs); and the Women in Black of Belgrade, a Serbian pacifist organisation (Jelko Kacin, ALDE, Slovenia, on behalf of a group of MEPs).