Tag Archives: Women of Courage

Does Publicity Help or Hurt Human Rights Activists?

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Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ann Njogu, Michelle Obama

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama present the 2010 International Women of Courage Award to Ann Njogu of Kenya.

Last week, I was busy writing about the newest Human Rights Report and the annual Women of Courage awards. And one of the lively discussions that always arises in my office at this time is whether publicity helps or hurts human rights activists.

On the one hand, there is the argument that “putting a spotlight” on human rights abuses and the people who fight them actually helps.

In her remarks March 10 at the Women of Courage awards ceremony, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised women activists everywhere who have endured isolation, intimidation, violence and imprisonment and even faced death in their efforts to advance freedom and equal rights for everyone. Clinton said the stories of these women “deserve to be heard.” By publicly honoring them, the message is sent that although these activists “may work in lonely circumstances, they are not alone.”

Ann Njogu of Kenya, one of the Women of Courage awardees, gave a rather impassioned speech at an event sponsored by American Women for International Understanding (AWIU), a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization.

“Should this award mean nothing for those who oppress us, it means so much for the children, the elderly men, the women who find themselves in paralyzing poverty, poor leadership, bad governance, corruption that would otherwise have realized their fullest potential,” Njogu said. She said activists who win awards are a symbol for many others who labor in obscurity but who can feel “vindicated” by international recognition. She also added that such honors send “very strong signals to our respective governments that they must change and include human rights and virtues and standards in all they do and in the various institutions of governance.”

Inspiring words indeed. But on the other hand, a U.S. Foreign Service officer who has experience in the field told me that such awards often give activists a false sense of security. “They [the awardees] often end up in the same prisons as activists who don’t get awards,” the officer told me. And that, I can tell you, is one of the worst fears among the people who work at America.gov: That by telling the inspiring stories of brave human rights activists, we actually hurt them.

It’s a hard choice to make. What are your views?

Have You Got a Little Courage?

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First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton present the 2010 International Women of Courage Award to Jestina Mukoko of Zimbabwe.

First lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton present the 2010 International Women of Courage Award to Jestina Mukoko of Zimbabwe.

Ever since the State Department first instituted the Women of Courage Awards in 2007, I’ve been writing stories about the ladies who have been selected for the awards as well as some of the nominees. And I must say, their stories never fail to awe and humble me. Many of these women have endured harassment, jail and worse, and yet they remain over many years dedicated and passionate about their causes.

Many of us will never have to face the kinds of obstacles these women face to enjoy freedom, nor will we have to fight for our human rights. In fact, an amazing number of people in free societies would find it difficult to name even a few of the 30 human rights described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – after all, it’s not a topic taught in most schools.

The human rights activists I heard speak at the 2010 Washington Human Rights Summit, however, all warned of the dangers of ignorance. At the summit, Maria Leissner, Sweden’s Ambassador for Democracy, said “democracy depends on human rights to evolve” but that there’s been a “backlash against freedom” in the last few years around the world. “This is about power,” she said.

It takes courage to push back against the powerful who would deprive people of their human rights – but it doesn’t take courage of superhero portions. Thanks to my work, I’ve run across a lot of ordinary citizens who are doing their bit to protect human rights. Nazanin Boniadi, for example, found time from her busy career to educate people about human rights. “Knowledge is power,” she told me in an interview, “and the more people who know their rights, the more people who can defend those rights.” Last year she and a group of Iranian expatriates put together the “United for Neda” video on YouTube to support freedom in Iran.

You don’t have to be a beautiful actress to share the message about human rights and democracy. The Democracy Video Challenge contest invites people from all around the world to join in the process of spreading the word about what democracy means. My favorite winner from 2009 was the video by Lukasz Szozda of Poland.

But some of the most amazing human rights activists – although they probably don’t think of themselves that way – were the volunteers I talked to at the Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (ASTT) in Baltimore and Washington. They had the guts to donate at least a little of their time to help people who have suffered the worst of human rights abuses. Having heard some of the horrifying stories of the torture survivors, I wondered how the volunteers coped with all the tragedy they encountered. One volunteer – Prisca Okeahialam of Nigeria – told me: “I would tell people not to be daunted by what they see,” she said. “I look at where I want to see the person at the end of the day. And that’s what gives me the strength to do what I do.”