Katrine CamilleriMalta’s Jesuit Refugee Service is one of three organisations shortlisted for the annual Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.
Run by lawyer Katrine Camilleri, the voluntary organisation was chosen with the B’Tselem Israeli Information Center for Human Rights and Azerbaijani activist Anar Mammadli.
The nominations were unveiled in Prague on Tuesday. The prize rewards outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.
It is awarded by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and Charta 77 Foundation.
The selection panel was made up of six independent experts and chaired by Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
It drew its shortlist from 56 candidatures who fulfilled the criteria for the prize, which consists of €60,000, a trophy and diploma.
The Jesuit Refugee Service Malta is the Maltese branch of the global Jesuit Refugee Service, a non-governmental organisation working to protect the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants through legal advice, psychosocial support and humanitarian assistance, as well as strategic litigation and advocacy.
Much of its work focuses on detention centres, where staff and volunteers identify the protection needs of detainees, provide information about asylum and immigration procedures, assess their social, psychosocial and medical needs, and obtain the release of children, pregnant women and vulnerable people.
B’Tselem is the leading Israeli organisation for the promotion of human rights in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, with Israeli and Palestinian members.
Anar Mammadli is a prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender who has made an extensive contribution towards defending the right to free elections. He was arrested in December 2013 accused of abuse of power and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
The prize winner will be announced at 12.30pm on the first day of the autumn plenary session on September 29.