Viasna received the UN Human Rights Prize for 2023

On December 15, 2023, the Human Rights Prize for 2023 was awarded at the United Nations. This year, five winners received it: Viasna Human Rights Center; Julienne Lusenge, a human rights defender from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the Oman Center for Human Rights Studies from Jordan; Julio Pereyra, an activist and public figure from Uruguay; the global coalition of civil society organizations, indigenous peoples, social movements, and local communities for the "universal recognition of the right for a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment." 

The award winners were selected by a special committee from over 400 nominations received from Member States, the UN system, and civil society. 

The 2023 Award ceremony was held at the UN headquarters in New York as part of the events dedicated to Human Rights Day. Secretary General António Guterres spoke at the award ceremony and noted that today human rights are under threat all over the world, and human rights defenders are "lights in the darkness."

"They [human rights defenders] are changing lives: fighting, educating, and holding power to account, to make human rights a living, breathing reality. This is deeply dangerous work. Last year, almost 450 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists were killed. Forty percent more than the previous year.Thirty-three vanished without a trace – a staggering three hundred percent increase from 2021. In this context, today’s Human Rights Prize is all the more important. This prize has recognized the achievements of human rights defenders since 1968," the UN Secretary General said.

Alena Masliukova, a Viasna human rights activist, attended the ceremony. In her speech, she noted that it is a great honor for the human rights center and all Belarusian human rights defenders. She drew attention to the fact that this is another reason to continue the work and do it consistently and honestly: in Belarus, the political persecution of people and torture in places of detention continue, and human rights have no value for the state. Alena expressed hope that the time will come when the UN Universal Declaration and Human Rights will be studied in Belarusian schools. After the speech, representatives of various countries expressed solidarity with Belarus and expressed gratitude to Viasna for many years of work. 

"Recently, Viasna has received many well-deserved awards," Alena commented the UN award. "The organization continues to defend human rights in extremely difficult conditions. But awards of this level show how profound the work of human rights defenders is. This prize is awarded every five years, and it so happened that Viasna received it in the anniversary year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But human rights are not just a list of certain rights and freedoms enshrined in this document. It is daily work ensuring that everyone knows about them and is armed with a mechanism to protect them. I was struck by other human rights activists I met: Julienne Lusenge from the Congo, who has been fighting for women's rights for 40 years: it is clear that she still has much fervour. And Julio Pereyra from Uruguay, who helps asocial people, defends the rights of children from these groups, and also fights against drugs in his country.”

Established by the General Assembly in 1966 (A/RES/21/2217), the prize was first awarded in 1968, on what is now known as Human Rights Day, December 10. It is awarded every five years for "outstanding achievements in the field of human rights." Previous recipients have included Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Denis Mukwege, Eleanor Roosevelt, Malala Yousafzai, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Viasna was nominated by the Right Lifestyle Foundation. The nomination was supported by colleagues of Viasna from Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and FIDH.

Recall that at the moment, five Viasna team members remain behind bars: chairman Ales Bialiatski, deputy chairman Valiantsin Stefanovich, lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich, volunteer service coordinator Marfa Rabkova, and volunteer Andrei Chapiuk. 

The latest news about our imprisoned colleagues can be found here: freeviasna.org