Yemeni lawyer Hoda Al-Sarari won the Wednesday Martin Ennals Award in 2020, which is considered one of the most prestigious human rights awards in the world, in honor of her efforts to reveal the existence of secret prisons and torture in her country.
The award, founded in 1993 and considered by many to be a "Noble for Human Rights", is awarded by ten of the most prominent human rights organizations, including Amnesty International (Amnesty International), Human Rights Watch, the World Organization Against Torture and the International Commission of Jurists.
Sarari, 42, said in a statement that receiving the award "means everything to me. This gives me great strength and encourages me to continue the struggle for justice."
"I am confident that the award will play a very important role in shedding light on the fate of victims of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture in Yemen," she added.
And in Yemen, where an armed conflict has been taking place since 2015, between Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led military alliance in support of the internationally recognized government. Al-Sarari has documented "disappearances that occurred in secret prisons run by foreign governments in Yemen, where thousands of men and boys suffer from arbitrary detention," according to a statement of those in charge of the award.
The statement indicated that the Yemeni lawyer collected evidence of more than 250 cases of ill-treatment in these prisons.
The prize money, in addition to its large moral value, is fifty thousand Swiss francs ($ 50,850).
According to the statement, the lawyer "despite the threats, defamation campaigns and sacrifices that she and her family have suffered, she continues to fight alongside the families of the missing."
For the first time in its history, three women - alongside the Saras - were nominated by Mexican Norma Lidizma, who fights the murders of women, and South African activist Cisani Ngobani, who advocates for the rights of women and indigenous people.
"It is very difficult to be a defender of human rights in Yemen, and it is more difficult for women. In a society that is dominated by men, I have to prove myself ten times more than men," the statement quoted Sarari as saying.
"We congratulate Hoda for her work, not only in the context of the current civil war in Yemen, but also in a country where women are still fighting to enjoy their civil and political rights," said jury chair Hans Thulen.
A Yemeni lawyer wins one of the most prestigious human rights awards in the world
2020-02-21T02:08:29.398Z
Source: aljazeera