The twelfth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to leading Venezuelan political figure and rights defender María Corina Machado.
The 60,000-euro prize was presented at a special ceremony on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg.
Ms Machado is a co-founder and former leader of Venezuelan vote-monitoring and citizens’ rights group Súmate, a former member of Venezuela’s National Assembly and currently the National Co-ordinator of the Vente Venezuela political movement. Barred from running in Venezuela’s recent Presidential election, she went into hiding in August 2024, declaring that she feared for her life, her freedom, and that of her fellow citizens.
Opening the award ceremony, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos pointed out that today, 6 of the 11 previous winners of the Havel Prize are in prison, and urged their immediate release. “These individuals committed only one ‘crime’ – they simply wanted to make their voices heard, to share their vision of a just and free society.”
Making the award to Corina Machado’s daughter Ana, the President underlined that the Council of Europe “stands alongside those who risk their lives to make our societies more democratic and just”.
Corina Machado herself, addressing the Assembly remotely from Venezuela, said she was “deeply moved, honoured and grateful” to be the first Latin American to win the distinction. “I want to dedicate this recognition to the millions of Venezuelans who, every day, embody Havel’s values and ideas – some without even realising it.” Her movement had demonstrated “the victory of democrats over dictatorship” in Venezuela’s recent elections, she said, declaring: “Today our struggle continues, because the truth persists until it prevails.”
The two other shortlisted nominees were Azerbaijani human rights defender and activist Akif Gurbanov, who is currently in pre-trial detention in Baku, and Georgian feminist activist and human rights lawyer Babutsa Pataraia, who was present at the ceremony.
As part of the ceremony, the Assembly was also addressed by Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was being held in detention in Russia when he was awarded the Havel Prize in 2022. He was released in August of this year as part of a prisoner exchange.
The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded each year by PACE, in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation, “to honour outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond”. It consists of a sum of 60,000 euros, a trophy and a diploma.
Since its creation, the Prize has been awarded in turn to Osman Kavala (2023), Vladimir Kara-Murza (2022), Maria Kalesnikava (2021), Loujain Alhathloul (2020), jointly to Ilham Tohti and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (2019), Oyub Titiev (2018), Murat Arslan (2017), Nadia Murad (2016), Ludmilla Alexeeva (2015), Anar Mammadli (2014) and Ales Bialiatski (2013).
Individuals or non-governmental institutions active in the defence of human rights can be nominated for the Prize.
The Selection Panel of the Prize is composed of the President of the Assembly (or a person designated by him/her) and six independent persons (who cannot be current members of the Assembly) with recognised moral standing in the field of human rights.
The Panel will examine the nominations, submit a shortlist of three nominees to the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly for information and, subsequently, designate the Prizewinner for the year in question.
Three Panel members are appointed by the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly and three Panel members by the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation. The six independent experts are appointed for a two-year period, renewable twice.
The Panel is chaired by the President of the Assembly or the person designated by him/her.
The Prize is awarded at a ceremony which takes place in Strasbourg on the Monday of the Autumn Session of the Parliamentary Assembly, usually in late September or early October.
The name of the Prizewinner is announced by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly.
The former Czech First Lady, Dagmar Havlová, is invited to honour the ceremony with her presence.
The Václav Havel Library will organise, at a later date, an international conference in Prague in honour of the Prizewinner.
2023: Justyna Wydrzynska and Yevgeniy Zakharov
2022: Rainbow Coalition and 5 AM Coalition
2021: Reporters Sans Frontières and Germain Rukuki
2020: The nuns of the Drupka Order and Julienne Lusenge
2018: Rosa María Payá and Nabeel Rajab
2017: The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Father Georg Sporschill
2016: Gordana Igrić and the International Institute of Human Rights/René Cassin Foundation
2015: Women for Afghan Women and The Youth Initiative for Human Rights
2014: The B’Tselem Israeli Information Center for Human Rights and Malta’s Jesuit Refugee Service
2013: The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and the Rights Defence Network from China