Women finalists for top human rights prize

A Y E MENI l a w y e r w ho exposed secret prisons and torture, a Mexican champion f ighting femicide a nd a S out h A f r ic a n women’s r ig ht s act iv ist were nominated on Tuesday for a top human rights prize.

This marks the first time that the Martin Ennals Award jur y has presented three women finalists to be in the running for the prestigious award.

T h e wi n n e r wi l l b e announced in Geneva on February 19 next year.

Among the finalists for the award – often referred to as the Nobel Prize for human rights – is 42-year-old Yemeni law yer Huda A l-Sara ri, who has worked with a range of r ig ht s orga nisat ions to expose a net work of secret prisons run by foreign gover nments i n Yemen si nce 2015.

That year, the Saudis intervened in Yemen at the head of a military coalition against Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who had seized control of the capital Sanaa.

Since then, tens of thousands have died in the conflict, most of them civilians, and millions more have been driven to the brink of famine, according to humanitarian organisations.

Al-Sarari has in recent years unveiled the existence of several secret detention centres where “the worst violations of human rights were committed: torture, disappearances or even extrajudicial executions”, the award organisers said in a statement.

She “collected evidence on more than 250 cases of abuse taking place within the prisons and succeeded in convincing international organisat ions such a s A mnest y Inter nat iona l a nd Human Rights Watch to ta ke up the cause”, t hey said.

The lawyer was hailed for pushing on with her pursuit of justice despite threats and d e f a ma t i o n c a mp a i g n s against her and her family.

Fighting femicide

Another finalist is Norma L e de z ma, a 5 3 -y e a r- ol d Mex ic a n hu ma n r i g ht s activ ist who began working t o f i g h t f e m i c i d e a n d support t he families of v ict i ms a f ter her daug hter, Paloma, disappeared on her way home f rom school i n Chihuahua.

Mexico has the most femicides of any country in Latin

A mer i c a , a c c o r d i n g Amnesty International.

There are more than nine such murders in the country every day, according to UN Women.

L edez ma i s one of t he founders and the director of Justicia Para Nuestras Hijas, a loc a l or ga n i s at ion t hat offers legal counsel and support to ongoing cases, and is i nvolved w it h a ra nge of ot her v ic t i ms’ a s si st a nce organisations.

She has supported over 200 investigations into cases of femicide and disappearances, on behalf of both male and female victims, and is also responsible for the creation of a Special Prosecutor for Women Victims of Violence in Chihuahua.

“In spite of having received numerous death threats, she t o continues with her human r i ghts work,” organisers said.

The third finalist is Sizani Ngubane, a 73- year- ol d South African activist for women’s and indigenous people’s rights.

She began her career as an activist with the ANC, before going on to found the Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), which works against genderbased violence and for women’s r ig hts to la nd, educat i o n , p r o p e r t y a n d inheritance.

The Geneva-based Martin Ennals Foundation is named after the first secretary-general of Amnesty International, who died in 1991.

The prize is judged by 10 leading rights groups, including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch.