Human Rights Watch wins UN Prize

Author: Bernd Hölzner

Human Rights Watch has won the 2008 United Nations Prize for Human Rights. The award will be bestowed in New York on 10 December 2008 -- the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- in recognition of the vital role played by the human rights movement in trying to end abuses over the past 60 years. Says Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch: "The prize will help us and our allies in our campaigns to stop the killings in Darfur, to end the use of cluster bombs worldwide, to shut down Guantanamo without effectively moving it onshore, to free child soldiers from military servitude, and to protect civilians during armed conflict".

The United Nations Prize is given every five years to individuals and organizations in recognition of outstanding achievements in human rights. Among this year's winner are former UN high commissioner for human rights Louise Arbour; Dr. Denis Mukwege who works with victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and posthumously former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Human Rights Watch investigates, reports on and seeks to curb human rights abuses in more than 80 countries. Some 280 professionals work for the NGO which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Human Rights Watch is a leading member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. Watch the video taken from the DLD talk on "Inconvenient Stories" with Ken Roth and Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher here (highlights here):

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Tags: human rights watch· kara swisher· kenneth roth· nobel peace prize· prize for human rights· united nations

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