 | Hauwa Ibrahim |
Hauwa Ibrahim, a Nigerian human rights lawyer who is currently at Yale as a World Fellow, was among three joint winners of the European Parliament's top human rights award, the 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
A top defender of women's rights in Nigeria, Ibrahim has successfully challenged numerous charges and convictions under strict Islamic Sharia law in her country. A firm proponent of the rule of law, she has argued that Sharia law requires the courts to respect the procedural and substantive rights guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.
Ibrahim's professional accomplishments also include election as the first female national publicity secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association in 2000 and authorship of the first draft of the constitution for the Pan African Lawyers Union in 2002. Ibrahim, age 38, has served as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program, the European Union and the non-governmental organization Lawyers without Borders.
"Ibrahim has been defending women who face being stoned to death for adultery and young people who face amputation for theft under Islamic Sharia law," said the European Parliament's announcement of the award.
The Sakharov Prize, named after a former Soviet dissident, recognizes achievement in the field of human rights, protecting minorities, defense of international cooperation or the development of democracy, and the rule of law. Winners are chosen by the presidents of all the political groups in the European Parliament. First presented in 1988, the prize is awarded annually to the person or group that the assembly considers has contributed significantly to human rights. Former recipients include Czech reformer Alexander Dubcek, South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Ibrahim will share this year's 50,000-euro prize with the Cuban protest group "Damas de Blanco" (Women in White) and Reporters Without Borders, an organization that campaigns worldwide for freedom of the press.
The Yale World Fellows Program brings 16 to 18 highly accomplished men and women from a diversity of backgrounds and nations to the University each year. The purpose of the program is to build a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding at Yale. World Fellows spend a rigorous semester exploring critical issues through a program that offers individualized academic enrichment and leadership training with the full resources of Yale at their disposal.
T H I S
World Fellow Ibrahim honored for
her human rights work in Nigeria
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