Benazir wins UN human rights award posthumously

NEW YORK: The UN General Assembly on Wednesday announced it would give its 2008 human rights awards posthumously to Pakistan’s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and Dorothy Stang, a French Catholic nun.
Other winners are Louise Arbour of Canada, the former UN high commissioner for human rights; US lawyer Ramsey Clark; Carolyn Gomes of the Jamaicans For Justice group; and Denis Mukwege of Congo and the New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2008 was announced by assembly president, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann. It is awarded every five years.
The UN said the award is given to individuals and organisations in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Previous recipients have included Nelson Mandela, Amnesty International, Jimmy Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
“As we mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we acknowledge the tireless work and invaluable contribution of these individuals and organizations that have fought to see the rights and freedoms embodied in this historic document become a reality for people in all corners of the world,” d’Escoto Brockmann said.
The assembly will hold a plenary session to hand out the awards on December 10 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the declaration. – DPA
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