The Light of Truth Award is a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

which is presented nearly annually by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

aiming for the promotion of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...

and

for the

Tibetan people The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans l ...

. The award is presented since 1995 by the fourteenth

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

, Tenzin Gyatso, to the recipients personally. The prize consists of a humble Tibetan

butter lamp Butter lamps or butterlamps (; ) are a common feature of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries throughout the Himalayas. The lamps traditionally burn clarified yak butter, but now often use vegetable oil or vanaspati ghee. The butter l ...

that serves as a symbol of the extraordinary light that every recipient brought to

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

. In 2005 the ICT received an award itself, the ''

Geuzenpenning The Geuzenpenning ('Beggar Medal') is a Dutch award given to persons or organizations who have fought for democracy and against dictatorship, racism and discrimination. It has been awarded annually since 1987 in the city of Vlaardingen. The Geuzen ...

'', a human rights award from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The Light of Truth Award is granted to persons and organizations that have publicly contributed substantially to the rise of and battle for human rights and democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people. In 2001, the award was presented to the entire people of India, and accepted for them by president R. Venkataraman.

Recipients

* 1995: A. M. Rosenthal * 1996:

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

, Lavinia Currier, and Michael Currier * 1997: Charlie Rose, and

Claiborne Pell Claiborne de Borda Pell (November 22, 1918 – January 1, 2009) was an American politician and writer who served as a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island for six terms from 1961 to 1997. He was the sponsor of the 1972 bill that reformed the Basic ...

* 1998:

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

, and

Melissa Mathison Melissa Marie Mathison (June 3, 1950 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and television screenwriter and an activist for the Tibetan independence movement. She was best known for writing the screenplays for the films ''The Black Stallion'' ...

* 1999:

Hugh Edward Richardson Hugh Edward Richardson (22 December 1905 – 3 December 2000) was an Indian Civil Service officer, British diplomat and Tibetologist. His academic work focused on the history of the Tibetan empire, and in particular on epigraphy. He was am ...

, and Danielle Mitterrand * 2000: Richard C. Blum * 2001: The people of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, taken delivery of by R. Venkataraman * 2002: Heinrich Harrer, and Petra Kelly * 2003: Benjamin A. Gilman, Michele Bohana, and

Robert Thurman Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at ...

* 2004:

Otto Graf Lambsdorff Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff (20 December 1926 – 5 December 2009), was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Early life and education Lambsdorff was bo ...

, Irmtraut Wäger, and

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

* 2005: Elie Wiesel, Carl Gershman, and Lowell Thomas, Jr. * 2006: Hergé Foundation, and Desmond Tutu * 2009: Julia Taft, and

Wang Lixiong Wang Lixiong (, born 2 May 1953) is a Chinese writer and scholar, best known for his political prophecy fiction, ''Yellow Peril'', and for his writings on Tibet and provocative analysis of China's western region of Xinjiang. Wang is regarded as ...

* 2011: George Patterson * 2013: Robert Ford, International Commission of Jurists, Sigrid Joss-Arnd, Christian Schwarz-Schilling, Theo van BovenLamp for the Path Teachings in Fribourg
, Dalai Lama website, 14 April 2013

References

*ICT
Recipients and description
*ICT
Light of Truth award to Patterson
March 25, 2011 *Geuzenverzet
recipients of de Geuzenpenning
{{in lang, nl *Canada Tibet Committee
'' 4. Light of Truth award to India''
December 17, 2002 Tibet Human rights awards