On Monday 3 March 2014, the Homo Homini Award was presented at the Prague Crossroads to the lawyer from Dagestan, Sapijat Magomedova, for her personal courage in defending human rights violations. The young woman risks her life each day by trying to find right in unclear cases of violence that occur in Russia’s Dagestan, which immediately after Chechnya is considered the most turbulent part of the North Caucasus Region. The award was traditionally granted at the opening ceremony of the One World International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights.
”I can not say I am not afraid, but it is a healthy sense of fear. Terror can either mobilize or paralyze. I dare say that it mobilizes my strengths,” said laureate Sapijat Magomedova in an interview for the Swedish organization Civil Rights Defenders.
Sapijat Magomedova (35) represents clients in very sensitive cases that other lawyers refuse for fear of their safety. Four years ago she was physically attacked by the police when she tried to visit her client. This attack has still not been investigated. Moreover, she represents victims of sexual violence, which is taboo in a region where brides are still abducted and child marriages continue to be arranged. She has even led some of her cases to the European Court of Human Rights and she is not afraid of publicly commenting on cases of human rights violation in Dagestan.
The award was presented by Director of People in Need Šimon Pánek. During the evening, a speech was also given by Edward Lucas, the editor of the weekly Economist, who has been dealing with the situation in Russia and Eastern Europe for years.
The People in Need organization awards the Homo Homini Award each year to individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to the promotion of human rights, democracy and non-violent solutions to political conflicts. The award was first granted in 1994. Among its recipients from previous years are Azerbaijan lawyer Intigam Alijev, Kyrgyz defender of the unjustly prosecuted Azimžan Askarov, Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo (later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize), Iranian students Majid Tavakoli and Abdullah Momeni or Belarusian dissident Ales Bjaljacki. Unfortunately, a number of award recipients remain behind bars in their countries for political reasons.
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Source: People in Need
