Zholia Parsi of Afghanistan and Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov of Tajikistan are set to receive the 2024 Martin Ennals Award in recognition of their work in deeply repressive environments.
On November 21, the Jury of the Martin Ennals Award (MEA) will honour two human rights activists working in tense contexts in central Asia: Zholia Parsi, from Afghanistan and Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov, from Tajikistan.
'We are very proud to honour these two exceptional laureates. They have paid too big a price for justice and equality to be respected in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and the international community must support their efforts instead of battling geostrategic interests in the region.'Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury
Zholia Parsi is a teacher from Kabul, Afghanistan. Following the Taliban takeover in 2021, she lost her career and saw her daughters being deprived of their education. This led her to start the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) to protest the establishment of a gender apartheid regime that stomped on the fundamental rights and freedoms of Afghan women.
SMAW grew in Kabul and beyond, reaching 180 members and mobilising communities to resist the Taliban’s policies. Parsi was arrested in the street by armed Taliban in September 2023 and was only released after three months of torture and ill-treatment under their custody, which only strengthened her resolve to resist Taliban oppression.
Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov is a human rights lawyer from Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) and the Director of the Lawyers’ Association of Pamir (LAP). He is serving a 16-year prison sentence after what is widely considered an unfair trial in retaliation for advocating for the rights of the Pamiri minority in the GBAO.
Kholiqnazarov played a key role in seeking accountability for the killing of youth leader Gulbiddin Ziyobekov in November 2021, whose death led to mass protests in the regional capital of Khorog, which were repressed by security services. He was picked to join the Commission 44, a coalition of local officials and civil society representatives established to investigate Ziyobekov’s death and the unrest that followed.
On 28 May 2022, Kholiqnazarov was arrested with two other members of Commission 44 and charged with ‘participation in a criminal association’, amid a widespread crackdown on local informal leadership and residents of the GBAO.
30 years alongside human rights defenders
The MEA was established in 1994 to recognise, promote and protect human rights defenders at risk or working in under-reported contexts. Laureates are honoured at an annual a public ceremony in Geneva co-hosted by municipal authorities City of Geneva.
'Geneva has a long tradition of hosting international diplomacy and promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms. The City of Geneva is proud to co-host the Martin Ennals Award and shed light, on this 30th anniversary, on the impressive resilience of two human rights defenders and the hope they bring for peace and equality.'Alfonso Gomez, Administrative Councillor of the City of Geneva.
The 2024 MEA’s public eremony will take place on November 21th, register here.
ISHR is one of the ten human rights organisations that sit on the MEA jury, alongside Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, HURIDOCS, Bread for the World, Human Rights First, World Organisation Against Torture, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), and Front Line Defenders.
It's difficult to encapsulate such a complex year in a word, but "interconnected" is one that comes to mind when reflecting on 2020. We are proud to have remained deeply interconnected with defenders and to have supported, protected and amplified their work at the national, regional and international levels. With them, the "essential workers" of our times, we strive for a 2021 full of freedom, equality, dignity and justice.
