The American Bar Association Section of International Law (SIL) invites nominations for its International Human Rights Lawyer Award.

The award honors individual “foreign human rights lawyers who have suffered persecution as a result of their professional activities” on behalf of human rights defenders or against human rights abuses.

Conferred periodically, the award has been presented 14 times over the last 22 years. The most recent recipient was Edgar Perez of China, who received the award in Spring 2012. At considerable risk and harm to himself, he has devoted his entire career to “hands on” efforts to address human rights abuses of individuals and fight systemic violations of human rights in his country. Particularly noteworthy is his ongoing work to hold accountable the perpetrators of massacres and other atrocities during Guatemala’s decades-long civil war.

Other recipients are Gao Zhisheng, China (2010); Andrew Makoni, Zimbabwe (2009); Abdulrahman Al-Lahem of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed-Ali Dadkhah of Iran, and Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani of Pakistan (all in 2008); Soraya Gutierrez Arguello, Colombia (2006); Digna Ochoa y Placido, Mexico (2003); Rosemary Nelson, Northern Ireland (2001); Muchtar Pakpahan, Indonesia (1997); Olisa Agbakoba, Nigeria (1996); Radhika Coomaraswamy, Sri Lanka (1995); Teo Soh Lung, Singapore (1994); Srdja Popovic, Serbia (1993); Carlos Escobar Pineda, Peru (1991); and Gibson Kamau Kuria, Kenya (1990).

Nominations for an award in 2013 should be submitted to SIL Award Committee Chair Penny Wakefield (pwwakefield@comcast.net) and to SIL Projects Coordinator Ted Carroll (Ted.Carroll@americanbar.org) by Friday, November 16, 2012.

Each nomination should include 1) the nominee’s C.V./biographical information, 2) a description of human rights-related professional activity that supports the nomination, 3) other relevant background material, and 4) a cover statement explaining why it would be particularly appropriate for the Section to recognize the nominated lawyer in the coming year.

The Award Committee, which also includes Isabella Bunn, Rebecca Farrar, Eileen Meier, Olufunmi Oluyede, and Russell Kerr, will consider all qualifying nominations. The award, if made this bar year, tentatively would be presented in February 2013, during the ABA’s Midyear Meeting in Dallas, TX. The Section reserves the right not to present the award in any given year.

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Call for Nominations for SIL Human Rights Award

Call for Nominations