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Ludovic Trarieux Historical account The Prize 2000 The Prize 2002 The Prize 2003 The Prize 2004 The Prize 2005 Le Livre d'Or

The "LUDOVIC-TRARIEUX  INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE "

"The award given by Lawyers to a Lawyer"

"The most prestigious Prize awarded to a lawyer in Europe"

Nelson Mandela, first Prize winner in 1985

The Ludovic -Trarieux award was created in 1984, in Bordeaux by President Bertrand FAVREAU, and according to the Regulations was awarded every two years to a lawyer, regardless of nationality or Bar, who, by his work, will have illustrated his activity or his suffering, the defence of human rights, of defence rights, the supremacy of law, the struggle against racism and intolerance in any form, after consulting humanitarian associations and NGO.

It is awarded in memory of the French lawyer, Ludovic TRARIEUX, who in 1898, a hundred years ago, in the midst of the Dreyfus Affair, in France, founded the "French League for the Defence of Human Rights and the Citizen ", which is at the basis of all leagues set up in the world and on the same model since then.

 Evoking the reasons of his commitment to the DREYFUS cause, Ludovic TRARIEUX said:

" IT WAS

NOT ONLY

THE SINGLE CAUSE OF A MAN

WHICH WAS TO BE DEFENDED,

BUT BEHIND THIS CAUSE,

LAW, JUSTICE,

HUMANITY ".

The first " LUDOVIC TRARIEUX PRIZE " was awarded on March 29^th 1985 to Nelson MANDELA, then in jail.
It was officially handed over to his daughter, Zenani Mandela Dlamini, on April 27^th 1985. Archives

On February 11^th 1990, Nelson MANDELA was released. Since then, it has been decided to award the Prize every two years in conjunction with the HRIBB and the UAE " Human Rights" Committee (since 2001 the EUROPEAN BAR HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE (IDHAE)

Since year 2003, the Prize is awarded every year in partnership with HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE OF THE BAR OF PARIS and the European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE).

The following is the list of prize-winners :

1984-1985		Nelson MANDELA  (South Africa)
1986		Not awarded
1988		Not awarded
1990		Not awarded
1992		Augusto ZÚÑIGA PAZ  (Peru)
1994		Jadranka CIGELJ  (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
1996	divided equally between	Nejib HOSNI (Tunisia) and Dalila MEZIANE  (Algeria).
1998		ZHOU Guoqiang  (China)
2000		Esber YAGMURDERELI  (Turkey)
2002		Mehrangiz KAR  (Iran)
2003	divided equally between	Digna OCHOA # and   Bárbara ZAMORA (Mexico). # (exceptionnaly post mortem)
2004		Aktham NAISSE  (Syrie)
2005		Henri BURIN des ROZIERS (Brazil)
2006		Parvez IMROZ (India)

Following the Prize award to Nelson Mandela in 1985 and the decision in 1990, after he has been released, the Prize to be awarded every 2 years, the next winner in 1992 was the Peruvian lawyer Augusto ZÚÑIGA PAZ, who has dedicated his life working for the support of the Human Rights in the COMISEDH (Comision de Derechos Humanos ) and because of that he had also lost his left arm in an explosion.

In 1994 the Prize winner was Jadranka CIGELJ, a Bosnian Catholic , who due to her activities she was among the "group" of the intellectuals who were detained, violated and tortured by the other Party in the civil war in Former-Yugoslavia.

After Nelson MANDELA, in 1985, Najib HOSNI was the second prize-winner. While in detention. Nejib HOSNI was released by special presidential pardon by President Ben ALI on December 14th 1996, three months after the ceremony award in Bordeaux where the prize had been handed over to his representative, Dr Helen JAFFE, President of AVRE.

The fifth Prize was awarded on May 25^th 1998, to the Chinese lawyer ZHOU Guoqiang. After Nelson MANDELA and Nejib HOSNI, ZHOU Guoqiang was the third prizewinner not able to come to France in order to receive his Prize, as stipulated by the rules of the Prize. Because of the risks to his family and to himself, and notably that of being forced into exile, like many other Chinese dissidents prevented from going back to China if he left the territory to come and receive his Prize in France, ZHOU Guoqiang had no other choice but to mandate Mr. LIU Qing, Chairman of HUMAN RIGHTS in CHINA, who has been living in exile in New York since 1991, to go and receive the Prize in his name. Thus, the reward was given to him by M. Robert BADINTER on Friday 2nd October 1998 in the amphitheater of the National school of Judiciary (Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature) in Bordeaux and on that occasion Mr LIU Qing read the speech written by ZHOU Guoqiang for the Ceremony award.

Ugur Yagmurdereli reading the speech of his father. Photo BAP

The sixth "LUDOVIC-TRARIEUX INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE" was awarded on March 2^th 2000, to the Turkish blind writer, lawyer, and human right activist, Esber Yagmurdereli, jailed since June 1998, for having expressed his views on the Kurdish issue.The Prize was given to the Prize winner's son, Mr. Ugur Yagmurdereli, on 29^th September2000. Esber Yagmurdereli' son Ugur Yagmurdereli received the prize on behalf of his father and read his father's message and received the prize.(Click to see speeches.)

On May 23 2002, the jury of " Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize " awarded the Prize 2002 to the iranian lawyer Mehrangiz KAR, a human rights lawyer, writer, essayist, and former editor of the now-banned Zan literary review whose work as an activist for women's rights often put her in conflict with Iranian authorities.

The Award was given on October 24 2002, by the First Judge of the French Court of Cassation Mr Guy CANIVET during a Ceremony in the House of Lawyers in Paris in presence of 200 lawyers from France and main countries of Europe .( Ceremony award of the 2002 Prize to Mehrangiz Kar)

On June 13, 2003 the 21 European lawyers members of the Jury of the "LUDOVIC-TRARIEUX INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE 2003" meeting in Brussels Court's House, awarded the eighth " Ludovic-Trarieux " 2003 jointly to . Digna Ochoa y Plácido (post mortem) and to Bárbara Zamora Lopez.

The Jury called the Mexican authorities to ensure an effective, independent and thorough investigation into the killing of Digna Ochoa and expressed deep concern for the safety of Barbara Zamora and urged to give her immediately an appropriate protection. The Prize was presented on October 3rd , 2003, in the Main Hall of the National School of the Judiciary of France in Bordeaux to Jesus Ochoa y plácido, brither of Digna Ochoa and to Bárbara Zamora by Jean Cruyplants, Chairman of the Brussels Bar Association. More : The Ceremony Award 2003.

The 21 European lawyers members of the Jury* of the "LUDOVIC-TRARIEUX INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE " meeting in Paris House of Lawyers, on on April 26^th 2004 awarded the nineth " Ludovic-Trarieux " Prize to Aktham Naisse (written also Nu'aysa), 53 year old, a human rights defender and lawyer, chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria (CDF), and Vice President of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, because of his struggle for human rights in Syria At the risk of his own liberty. Aktham Naisse presented the Prize in Brussels on October 8th from the hands of Court of Cassation highest Judge, Premier President Michel Lahousse in the main hearing room of the Court in the Law Courts' of Brussels (Belgium). Following an international campaign, the Supreme State Security Court dropped the charges against Aktham Naisse on April, 26, 2005.

On May 23rd, 2005 the Jury of the "LUDOVIC-TRARIEUX INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE » meeting in Paris Bar House awarded the tenth « Ludovic-Trarieux » Prize, created in 1984 (first prize winner Nelson Mandela then in jail) and awarded every year to a lawyer, to Henri Burin des Roziers, 75 years old, a lawyer and a Dominican. Since 1977, he lives and works in Brazil as a lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission, the body that advocates the human rights of the rural workers The Prize was presented on October 27th 2005, in Paris to Henri Burin des Roziers .( Presentation of the 2005 Award to Henri Burin des Roziers)

Parvez IMROZ (India) : Ludovic Trarieux Prize 2006

And to learn more : "The Ludovic Trarieux Prize on the Web"