Bilawal receives UN’s top human rights award for Benazir
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 11 : An emotion-filled Bilawal Bhutto Zardari received the top UN human rights prize awarded posthumously to his mother, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, for her outstanding contribution to promoting democracy and fundamental freedoms. “As a son, I was overwhelmed, with sadness and joy,” Chairman Bilawal, who is the PPP chairman, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York after the impressive award ceremony in the gold-and-blue hall of the General Assembly.
The plaque was handed over to Chairman Bilawal by the 192-member assembly president, Miquel d’Escoto Brochmann, who conducted the proceedings before a large number of diplomats, human rights activists and senior UN officials.
“I’m extremely happy,” Bilawal said. “Thank you for the honour done to my other.”
The UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights, awarded every five years, was presented at a General Assembly ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The winners are former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour; United States ex-Attorney-General Ramsey Clark; Executive Director and co-founder of Jamaicans for Justice Carolyn Gomes; Denis Mukwege, co-founder of the General Referral Hospital of Panzi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Human Rights Watch, represented by its executive director Kenneth Roth;
Ms. Bhutto; and Dorothy Stang of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was murdered in Brazil three years ago.
They join a distinguished roster of previous laureates that includes apartheid fighter and former South African President Nelson Mandela, US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, former US first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, former US President Jimmy Carter, and Amnesty International.
The prize was first awarded on 10 December 1968 on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR.
“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,” Assembly President Miguel Escoto said.
“These awardees constitute symbols of persistence, valour and tenacity in their resistance to public and private authorities that violate human rights. They constitute a moral force to put an end to systematic human rights violations”. The award ceremony marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The recipients of the prize were selected by a Committee comprised of the President of the General Assembly (Chairperson), the President of the Economic and Social Council, the President of the Human Rights Council, the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council.
The committee met in New York with the assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 21 November 2008 to select the awardees from among 189 nominations received in accordance with the established rules.
Ms. Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27 as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi.
The plaque was handed over to Chairman Bilawal by the 192-member assembly president, Miquel d’Escoto Brochmann, who conducted the proceedings before a large number of diplomats, human rights activists and senior UN officials.
“I’m extremely happy,” Bilawal said. “Thank you for the honour done to my other.”
The UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights, awarded every five years, was presented at a General Assembly ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The winners are former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour; United States ex-Attorney-General Ramsey Clark; Executive Director and co-founder of Jamaicans for Justice Carolyn Gomes; Denis Mukwege, co-founder of the General Referral Hospital of Panzi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Human Rights Watch, represented by its executive director Kenneth Roth;
Ms. Bhutto; and Dorothy Stang of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was murdered in Brazil three years ago.
They join a distinguished roster of previous laureates that includes apartheid fighter and former South African President Nelson Mandela, US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, former US first Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, former US President Jimmy Carter, and Amnesty International.
The prize was first awarded on 10 December 1968 on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR.
“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,” Assembly President Miguel Escoto said.
“These awardees constitute symbols of persistence, valour and tenacity in their resistance to public and private authorities that violate human rights. They constitute a moral force to put an end to systematic human rights violations”. The award ceremony marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The recipients of the prize were selected by a Committee comprised of the President of the General Assembly (Chairperson), the President of the Economic and Social Council, the President of the Human Rights Council, the Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council.
The committee met in New York with the assistance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 21 November 2008 to select the awardees from among 189 nominations received in accordance with the established rules.
Ms. Bhutto was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27 as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi.