Kyrgyz human rights defender Aziza Abdirasulova has been awarded the Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Prize, the organization’s media department reported.
The award recognizes her efforts «to protect fundamental human rights, with a particular focus on the rights of prisoners, freedom from torture, and the right to peaceful assembly.»
«Aziza Abdirasulova, one of the first independent human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan to systematically document torture and arbitrary detention, preserved and brought these facts to public attention when it would have been easier to remain silent. At a time when attention is focused on global geopolitical shifts and crises, she reminds us that the Raoul Wallenberg Prize brings the spotlight back to human rights defenders,» the statement reads.
Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, used his position to save tens of thousands of Jews from the Holocaust. In 2014, the Council of Europe established the prize in his name. It is awarded for outstanding humanitarian achievements by an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization.
