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The United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted by United Nations General Assembly in 1966. They are intended to "honour and commend people and organizations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other United Nations human rights instruments".
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who,individually or with others,acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists,environmentalists,whistleblowers,trade unionists,lawyers,teachers,housing campaigners,participants in direct action,or just individuals acting alone. They can defend rights as part of their jobs or in a voluntary capacity. As a result of their activities,human rights defenders (HRDs) are often subjected to reprisals including smears,surveillance,harassment,false charges,arbitrary detention,restrictions on the right to freedom of association,physical attack,and even murder. In 2020,at least 331 HRDs were murdered in 25 countries. The international community and some national governments have attempted to respond to this violence through various protections,but violence against HRDs continues to rise. Women human rights defenders and environmental human rights defenders face greater repression and risks than human rights defenders working on other issues.
Martin Scheinin is an international law scholar who served as the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism in 2005–2011. He was selected for this position after serving for eight years (1997–2004) as member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee,the independent expert body monitoring states' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. While on the committee,he was known as a defendant of the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and opponent of capital punishment,as well as the drafter of the committee's General Comment No. 29 on states of emergency.
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The Office,originally established in 1991 under the 1990 Paris Charter as the Office for Free Elections,is still best known for its role in observing elections although its name changed in 1992 to reflect the broadening of its role by the Helsinki Summit.
The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was adopted without a vote by the United Nations General Assembly in the 48/104 resolution of 20 December 1993. Contained within it is the recognition of "the urgent need for the universal application to women of the rights and principles with regard to equality,security,liberty,integrity and dignity of all human beings". It recalls and embodies the same rights and principles as those enshrined in such instruments as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,and Articles 1 and 2 provide the most widely used definition of violence against women.
Frank La Rue is a Guatemalan labor and human rights law expert and served as UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression,from August 2008 to August 2014. Along with American human rights attorneys Anna Gallagher and Wallie Mason,Mr. La Rue is the founder of the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH) and has been involved in the promotion of human rights for over 25 years. He was nominated for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize by Mairead Corrigan,Northern Irish peace activist and 1976 laureate. Mr La Rue was previously the executive director of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Europe. He has also served as Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO.
Chandra Kalindi Roy-Henriksen is a scholar of indigenous rights and the former chair of the Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch/Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (IPDB/SPFII),an entity that describes its main function as supporting the work of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Agnès Callamard is a French human rights activist who is the Secretary General of Amnesty International. She was previously the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,summary,or arbitrary executions appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council,and the former Director of the Columbia University Global Freedom of Expression project.
Farida Shaheed is a Pakistani sociologist and feminist human rights activist. In 2012,she was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights,while she held that role in the field of education from 2022. She heads the Shirkat Gah women's resource centre in Pakistan,and is known for her extensive work on gender and class analysis,both in Pakistan and more globally.
Michel Forst is a French national actively involved in the defence of human rights. Former Secretary General of the French national human rights institution,he was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders from June 2014 to March 2020.
JoséFrancisco CalíTzay is a Guatemalan attorney and diplomat,and the UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples since 2020.
Karima Bennoune is an Algerian-American who is the Louis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. She was the Homer G. Angelo and Ann Berryhill Endowed Chair in International Law and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law when she taught at the UC Davis School of Law. She was also United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights from October 2015 to October 2021.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines in 2018 as part of its "Whole-of-Nation approach" to respond to and raise awareness about ongoing communist armed conflicts in the Philippines,after the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte formally terminated peace talks between the Philippine government and the New People's Army in November 2017.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a special rapporteur appointed by the United Nations after a 2001 mandate of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. JoséFrancisco CalíTzay was appointed to the post in 2020,succeeding Victoria Tauli-Corpuz who had been in post since 2014,following James Anaya.
Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) is a global,registered non-profit Indigenous Peoples organization that works to protect the defenders of Indigenous peoples' rights as well as uniting and amplifying the call for justice and respect for them.
Paula Gaviria Betancur is a Colombian lawyer who was appointed to be a Presidential advisor and a United Nations Special Rapporteur. In each case her expertise was in displaced people.
Astrid Jovanna Puentes Riaño is a Colombian-born Mexican law professor. She has led the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) to support the people who live in La Oroya,"one of the most polluted places on Earth". In 2024 she became the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to a healthy environment.
Gina Paola Romero Rodriguez is a Colombian activist who co-founded the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy. In 2024 she became the United Nations special rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
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