Nomination for the Andrei Sakharov prize, 2012
On 13th September 2012, 42 European MPs nominated Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza to receive the 2012 international edition of the Andrei Sakharov prize of the European Parliament for Freedom of Thought.
Created in 1988, this award is given annually to individuals or organizations that “endeavor to defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.” It is given each year around December 10th, the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Past winners of this award include, among others, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Sakharov Prize is named in honor of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist, who was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975.
Members of European Parliament Willy Meyer, Rosa Estaràs, Santiago Fisas, María Muñiz, Ana Miranda and 37 other MEPs nominated Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and two other renown Rwanda political prisoners, Deogratias Mushayidi and Bernard Ntaganda for the international Sakharov Prize edition 2012.
The MEPs justified their choice to nominate the three Rwandan opposition leaders by the fact that these political prisoners “tried to end the cycle of violence by promoting dialogue and reconciliation.” For the MEPs who nominated her, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is “a symbolic example of peaceful combat for the defense of citizens’ fundamental rights.”
Victoire Ingibire Umuhoza prize for Democracy and Peace
This award was created by the International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace March 12, 2011 , in honor of Madame Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. This award embodies Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza’s courage and leadership in her peaceful and democratic conflict resolution struggle.
This prize named “Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Prize for Democracy and Peace” was inaugurated for the first time in Montreal , Canada on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of International Women’s Day .
This prize, awarded annually reward any person or entity, which has distinguished itself in the promotion of democracy, peace , women’s leadership and in the defense of human rights, especially in the African Great Lakes Region.
“I do not deserve this honor from you, to be given a recognition that bears the name of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. For many people , she is the new Mandela.
Should we accept to see her imprisoned for 27 years like Nelson Mandela ? Will the democratic world give consent that this wonderful woman remains in jail simplly for defending democracy and reconciliation values?”
– Mr. Pere Sampol i Mas, Spanish Senator, 2014 winner of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza Prize for Peace and Democracy.
