The Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights was an annual

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

prize founded by the

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n People's Congress in late 1988, in "indebtedness and gratitude for

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

and in appreciation for his role in firmly establishing the principle of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

, his persistent struggle, his distinctive inspiration and continuous instigation for the consolidation of human liberty and for issuing the Great Green Document in the era of the masses, for the purpose of bestowing tribute upon symbolic figures of struggle and faith in the values of freedom to all humans, nations, groups and individuals".About us
Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2011. Gaddafi made an initial grant of ten million

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

to the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-based foundation North-South XXI which later administered the prize donation. The sum of the prize money was US $250,000 (in case of several recipients the prize money was shared). The prize was given by an international committee, chaired by former

President of Algeria The president of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (, ) is the head of state and chief executive of Algeria, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Algerian People's National Armed Forces. The current president is Abdelmadjid Tebbo ...

Ahmed Ben Bella Ahmed Ben Bella (; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of ...

. Gaddafi himself had no say in choosing the recipient. The prize was discontinued in 2011, after Gaddafi's overthrow and

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

during the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. All figures are from the United Nations Demographic Yearbooks ...

. Criticism of the organization includes Swiss TV's report claiming that "the Gaddafi prize for Human Rights is an instrument for propaganda for the dictator", while other groups have said that it promoted "

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

and anti-Western hatred".

List of recipients

Postage stamps issue

The Libyan state-owned

General Posts and Telecommunications Company The General Posts and Telecommunications Company (GPTC) is the state-owned organisation responsible for overseeing all postal and telecommunication services in Libya. This includes fixed telephony, satellite communications, mobile telephony (in ...

(GPTC) dedicated a

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the ...

issue to ''Ghadafi Prize for Human Rights'' in 1994 (date of issue December 31). The issue consists of a minisheet with sixteen stamps. Each horizontal strip of four stamps is dedicated to a particular subject: *

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

Intifada Intifada () is an Arabic word for a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It can also be used to refer to a civilian uprising against oppression.Ute Meinel''Die Intifada im Ölscheichtum Bahrain: Hintergründe des Aufbegehrens von 19 ...

in Palestine

References

External links

List of recipients of the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights
AlGaddafi.org {{Muammar Gaddafi Human rights awards Muammar Gaddafi Awards established in 1988 Awards disestablished in 2011 Libyan awards