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Recommendation 1462 (2000)
Council of Europe Human Rights Prize
1. In 1980 the Committee of Ministers adopted Resolution (80) 1 containing regulations on a European human rights prize. Under the terms of these regulations, the purpose of the prize is to reward individual or group activities which have made an exceptional contribution to the cause of human rights. It is an honorary prize awarded, in principle, every three years.
2. The prize was awarded for the first time in 1980, then every three years
until 1998. The successive winners were the following: the International
Commission of Jurists in 1980, the medical section of Amnesty International in
1983, Mr Raul Alfonsín jointly with Mr Broda in 1986, Mr Lech Walesa jointly
with the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights in 1989, Mr F.
Ermacora jointly with Médecins sans frontières in 1992, Mr S. Kovalyov jointly
with Mr R. Wallenberg in 1995, and the Turkish Human Rights Foundation jointly
with Ms Chiara Lubich (Focolari Movement, Italy) and the Committee on the
Administration of Justice (CAJ, Northern Ireland) in 1998. The next prize is
due to be awarded in 2001.
3. In spite of the quality of the prize-winners, the Human Rights Prize has
so far failed to bring the Council of Europe any significant media fallout.
This has prompted the Assembly to consider the reasons for such lack of
interest and what changes might be made to the regulations on the prize to
enhance its contribution to awareness of the Council of Europe's efforts in the
human rights field.
4. The Assembly notes, first of all, that the very name of the prize gives
no indication that it is awarded by the Council of Europe, and considers that
this should be made clear.
5. It further notes that one of the prize-winners, Mr Alfonsín, is not
European and that another, Mr Wallenberg, is presumed dead. Bearing in mind in
particular that the Council of Europe's membership has doubled since the
inception of the prize, it suggests that in future nominations should be
limited to living Europeans.
6. The regulations do not specify the procedure for submitting nominations.
Some have been proposed by a single person, or even by the nominee in person.
The Assembly considers that provision should be made for nominations to be
submitted by a certain number of people, and that some information should be
given to assist in appreciating the exceptional nature of the contribution to
human rights. Furthermore, a nomination form should be used giving the name of
the nominee, the names of the persons nominating the candidate, the names of
those supporting the candidature and details of the candidate's exceptional
contribution to human rights.
7. It has become accepted practice since the third attribution of the prize
to bestow it jointly on two, or even three, candidates. This prevents attention
from focusing on a single prestigious prize-winner, thereby diluting interest
in the prize. It would be preferable to have a single winner.
8. Finally, the Assembly considers that a prize that included a sufficiently
substantial sum of money would attract more attention.
9. Accordingly, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers make the following amendments to its Resolution (80) 1 containing regulations on a European human rights prize:
9.1. change the
name of the prize to “the Council of Europe Human Rights Prize”;
9.2. restrict candidatures to living Europeans or European
non-governmental organisations, and award the prize to a single winner, either
an individual or a non-governmental organisation;
9.3. provide for each nomination to be submitted by at least five persons
or legal entities, not including the nominee in person;
9.4. require a description of the exceptional nature of the candidate's
contribution to human rights;
9.5. couple the award with a cash prize of 20 000
euros.
10. It further recommends that the Committee of Ministers award the prize in
2002, after revision of the regulations in the light of the above.