The Human Rights Tulip () is an annual prize awarded by the

Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; BZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations, foreign policy, international development, international trade, diaspora and matters dealing with the European Union, NATO and the Benelux Un ...

to a human rights defender or organisation who promotes and supports human rights in innovative ways. The Human Rights Tulip was established in 2007 and presented for the first time on 10 December 2008 and designed by the artist duo Adelheid and Huub Kortekaas. The prize consists of a statuette and support worth €100.000 to assist the winning individual or organization to further develop and scale up their innovation. The procedure of awarding the Human Rights Tulip starts with an open nominating procedure. The winner is selected by the Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs on the basis of public voting and the advice of an independent jury. In October 2013, The Netherlands Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans decided to retain the award but to seek greater awareness for it. In June 2014, the foreign ministry appointed the international development organisation

Hivos Hivos (, Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation) is an international cooperation organization, with its global office in The Hague, The Netherlands. Hivos provides support to civil society organizations working in Africa, Latin America, th ...

to run the selection process for the award. This partnership continued in 2015, when the shortlist of six candidates was composed of three gaining the most votes in a public voting process, and three more selected by the Foreign Ministry and Hivos.

Award winners

The 2008 prize winner was Justine Masika Bihamba from

Goma Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

province in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Her organisation, Women's Synergy for the Victims of Sexual Violence (Synergie des femmes pour les Victimes des violences Sexuelles – SFVS) has since 2002 been fighting the massive use of sexual violence in the armed conflict in the east of the DRC. The 2009 prize winner was

Shadi Sadr Shadi Sadr (; born 1974) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide. She has received a n ...

from Tehran,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, a women's rights activist and campaigner against

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. Stoning appears t ...

as an execution method. The 2010 prize winner was Bertha Oliva from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, for her long struggle for the rights of relatives of people who were

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the intent of placing ...

in Honduras between 1979 and 1989. The 2011 prize winner was

Ni Yulan Ni Yulan (, born 24 March 1960) is a civil rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China. She has established herself in defending Weiquan movement, human rights in China by providing legal aid to persecuted groups such as Persecution of Fa ...

, a human rights lawyer from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The 2012 prize winner was Marimuthu Bharathan, a

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

human rights defender from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, although he could not receive the award in person due to his being denied a passport by the Government of India. The 2013 prize winner was Aahung, a human rights organization from Pakistan working to further

sexual and reproductive health and rights Sexual and reproductive health and rights or ''SRHR'' is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and Human reproduction, reproduction. It is the recognition of every person’s right to make fully informed and self-determined decisions ...

. The 2014 prize winner was Mideast Youth, which creates online platforms for discussion of human rights issues in parts of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The award was presented to Esra'a Al Shafei, the organisation's founder and director. The 2015 prize went to IRA-Mauritania, an organisation challenging

slavery in Mauritania Slavery has been called "deeply rooted" in the structure of the northwest African country of Mauritania and estimated to be "closely tied" to the ethnic composition of the country, although it has also been estimated that "Widespread slavery was ...

. The 2016 prize went to Nighat Dad, a

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i activist who supports the right of women to access the internet and use it free of harassment. The 2017 prize went to Graciela Pérez Rodriguez, a Mexican human rights activist, who defends the rights of family members of disappeared persons in Mexico. The 2018 prize went to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein Zeid bin Ra'ad bin Zeid al-Hussein (; born 26 January 1964) is a Jordanian former diplomat who is the Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the president and CEO of the ...

. The 2020 prize went to the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

activist and founder of

Right Side NGO Right Side NGO () is the first transgender rights organization in Armenia and the first trans-led organization in the South Caucasus region. Right Side NGO was founded in 2016 as a non-governmental organization and is headquartered in Yerevan. I ...

(Իրավունքի Կողմ), Lilit Martirosyan. The 2021 prize went to the

Ugandan Demographic features of the population of Uganda include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others. Population According to the total population was in , comp ...

human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo for his work against the anti-gay law in his country and the criminalising of torture.

Nominees

2014

In 2014, 30 candidates have been nominated for the prize: Ladislaus Kiiza Rwakafuuzi, Elena Klimova, Audrey Mbugua, Meng Lin, Mideast Youth platform, Chidi Odinkalu, Sahil,

Sima Samar Sima Samar (; born 3 February 1957) is a Hazara human rights advocate, activist and medical doctor within national and international forums, who served as Vice President of Afghanistan in the interim Government of Hamid Karzai & Minister for Wo ...

, SHEILD,

Terre des hommes Terre des hommes (; ), also capitalized as Terre des Hommes, is an international children's rights charitable humanitarian umbrella organization under the aegis of the International Federation of Terre des Hommes (TDHIF), with independent organ ...

, Under The Same Sun,

WADI Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet (ephemerality, ephemeral) Stream bed, riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portion ...

, YASunidos, Leyla Yunus, Margarita Zamora Tobar, Abounaddara, ASL19, CADHAC, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Centre for Civil Society and Democracy in Syria, Colectiva Feminista para el Desarallo Local,

Committee Against Torture The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is a treaty body of human rights experts that monitors implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture by state parties. The committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies. A ...

Mazen Darwish Mazen Darwish () is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate. He is the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. News organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, have described him as one of Syria's most ...

, Droit et Justice,

Euromaidan Euromaidan ( ; , , ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv. The p ...

SOS, Foro de Jovenes con Liderazgo, Hasht-e Subh,

International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI; formerly the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, ICHRI) is an American non-government organization that aims to promote human rights in Iran. The group started in late 2007 when several human ...

Rasul Jafarov Rasul Jafarov (; born August 17, 1984) is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in Azerbaijan. In April 2015, he was sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment. He was considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. He ...

, and Jan Sahas.

2020

In 2020, 13 candidates were nominated for the prize: Lilit Martirosyan (Europe), The Belarus Helsinki Committee (Europe), Human Rights Centre ZMINA (Europe), Victor Domingo Zambrano Gonzales (Latin America), Georgina Orellano (Latin America), Carlos Fernando Charmorro Barrios (Latin America), Francisco José de Roux Rengifo (Latin America), zk´at Red de Sanadoras del Feminismo Comunitario Territorial (Latin America), Parveena Ahangar (Asia), Quanzhang Wang and Wenzu Li (Asia), the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (Middle East and North Africa), the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (Middle East and North Africa), and the Sudanese Professionals Association (Sub-Saharan Africa).

References

External links

Human Rights Tulip
Netherlands Government webpage
''Human Rights Tulip''
Innovating Justice Forum
''Human Rights Tulip''
, HiiL
Photograph of the Tulip statuette (Aahung website)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Rights Tulip Human rights awards Awards established in 2007 2007 establishments in the Netherlands