The Human Rights Tulip ( nl, Mensenrechtentulp) is an annual prize awarded by the

Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; BZ) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations of the Netherlands, foreign relations, foreign policy, internation ...

to a human rights defender or organisation who promotes and supports human rights in innovative ways. The Human Rights Tulip was established in 2007 and presented for the first time on 10 December 2008 and designed by the artist duo Adelheid and Huub Kortekaas. The prize consists of a statuette and support worth €100.000 to assist the winning individual or organization to further develop and scale up their innovation. The procedure of awarding the Human Rights Tulip starts with an open nominating procedure. The winner is selected by the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs on the basis of public voting and the advice of an independent jury. In October 2013, The Netherlands Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans decided to retain the award but to seek greater awareness for it. In June 2014, the foreign ministry appointed the international development organisation Hivos to run the selection process for the award. This partnership continued in 2015, when the shortlist of six candidates was composed of three gaining the most votes in a public voting process, and three more selected by the Foreign Ministry and Hivos.

Award winners

The 2008 prize winner was Justine Masika Bihamba from

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

North Kivu North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the s ...

province in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Her organisation, Women's Synergy for the Victims of Sexual Violence (Synergie des femmes pour les Victimes des violences Sexuelles – SFVS) has since 2002 been fighting the massive use of sexual violence in the armed conflict in the east of the DRC. The 2009 prize winner was

Shadi Sadr Shadi Sadr ( fa, شادی صدر; born 1974) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide. S ...

from Tehran,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, a women's rights activist and campaigner against

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

as an execution method. The 2010 prize winner was Bertha Oliva from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, for her long struggle for the rights of relatives of people who were

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

in Honduras between 1979 and 1989. The 2011 prize winner was Ni Yulan, a human rights lawyer from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The 2012 prize winner was Marimuthu Bharathan, a

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

human rights defender from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, although he could not receive the award in person due to his being denied a passport by the Government of India. The 2013 prize winner was Aahung, a human rights organization from Pakistan working to further

sexual and reproductive health and rights Sexual and reproductive health and rights or ''SRHR'' is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction. It is a combination of four fields that in some contexts are more or less distinct from each other, but less so or not at ...

. The 2014 prize winner was

Mideast Youth Majal is a regional not-for-profit organization focused on "amplifying voices of dissent" throughout the Middle East and North Africa via digital media. Founded in Bahrain, the organization "creates platforms and web applications that promote free ...

, which creates online platforms for discussion of human rights issues in parts of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. The award was presented to Esra'a Al Shafei, the organisation's founder and director. The 2015 prize went to IRA-Mauritania, an organisation challenging

slavery in Mauritania Slavery has been called "deeply rooted" in the structure of the northwestern African country of Mauritania, and "closely tied" to the ethnic composition of the country, despite the ending of slavery across other African countries and colonial owne ...

. The 2016 prize went to

Nighat Dad Nighat Dad ( ur, ; born ) is a Pakistani lawyer and Internet activist who runs the not-for-profit organisation Digital Rights Foundation. Her work in the field of IT security has earned her many international awards. Early life and education D ...

, a

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

i activist who supports the right of women to access the internet and use it free of harassment. The 2017 prize went to Graciela Pérez Rodriguez, a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

human rights activist, who defends the rights of family members of disappeared persons in Mexico. The 2018 prize went to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nat ...

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. The 2020 prize went to the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

activist and founder of Right Side NGO (Իրավունքի Կողմ), Lilit Martirosyan. The 2021 prize went to the

Ugandan }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo for his work against the anti-gay law in his country and the criminalising of torture.

Nominees

2014

In 2014, 30 candidates have been nominated for the prize: Ladislaus Kiiza Rwakafuuzi, Elena Klimova, Audrey Mbugua, Meng Lin, Mideast Youth platform, Chidi Odinkalu, Sahil,

Sima Samar Sima Samar ( fa, سیما سمر; born 3 February 1957) is an Afghan woman and human rights advocate, activist and social worker within national and international forums, who served as Minister of Women's Affairs of Afghanistan from December 2 ...

, SHEILD,

Terre des hommes Terre des hommes, also Terre des Hommes (''Land of People'' or ''Land of Men''), is an international children's rights charitable humanitarian umbrella organization under the aegis of the International Federation of Terre des Hommes (TDHIF), wit ...

Under The Same Sun Under The Same Sun (UTSS) is a Christian charitable organization that promotes the wellbeing of persons with albinism Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and ...

WADI Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

, YASunidos,

Leyla Yunus Leyla Islam qizi Yunusova (née Vəliyeva; born 21 December 1955, in Baku), better known as Leyla Yunus, is an Azerbaijani human rights activist who serves as the director of Institute of Peace and Democracy, a human rights organisation. She is ...

, Margarita Zamora Tobar,

Abounaddara Abounaddara (translated as "the man with glasses") is a Syrian video art collective best known for its documentation of life in Syria. The collective's members are self-taught and anonymous. At the start of the Syrian popular uprising, Abounadd ...

, ASL19, CADHAC,

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, Centre for Civil Society and Democracy in Syria, Colectiva Feminista para el Desarallo Local,

Committee Against Torture The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is a treaty body of human rights experts that monitors implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture by state parties. The Committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies. Al ...

Mazen Darwish Mazen Darwish ( ar, مازن درويش) is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate. He is the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. News organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, have described him ...

, Droit et Justice, Euromaidan SOS, Foro de Jovenes con Liderazgo, Hasht-e Subh, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran,

Rasul Jafarov Rasul Jafarov ( az, Rəsul Ağahəsən oğlu Cəfərov; born August 17, 1984) is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in Azerbaijan. In April 2015, he was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment. He was considered a prisoner o ...

, and Jan Sahas.

2020

In 2020, 13 candidates have been nominated for the prize: Lilit Martirosyan (Europe), The Belarus Helsinki Committee (Europe), Human Rights Centre ZMINA (Europe), Victor Domingo Zambrano Gonzales (Latin America), Georgina Orellano (Latin America), Carlos Fernando Charmorro Barrios (Latin America), Francisco José de Roux Rengifo (Latin America), zk´at Red de Sanadoras del Feminismo Comunitario Territorial (Latin America), Parveena Ahangar (Asia), Quanzhang Wang and Wenzu Li (Asia), the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (Middle East and North Africa), the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (Middle East and North Africa), and the Sudanese Professionals Association (Sub-Saharan Africa).

References

External links

Human Rights Tulip
Netherlands Government webpage
''Human Rights Tulip''
Innovating Justice Forum
''Human Rights Tulip''
HiiL
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website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Human Rights Tulip Human rights awards Awards established in 2007 2007 establishments in the Netherlands