BRUNO KREISKY AWARDS FOR SERVICES TO HUMAN RIGHTS

The Bruno Kreisky Human Rights Prize was awarded on 20 May 2019 to the Egyptian activist Amal Fathy.
Fathy was held in custody by the authorities for months after she documented how she was sexually harassed in a Facebook video last May. The member of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), which documents cases of torture, abductions and extrajudicial killings, was accused of publishing an "indecent video" in this context. During the trial, Fathy defended the video as truthful and argued that sexual harassment is widespread in Egypt. Three days after her conditional release, a two-year prison sentence was imposed on Fathy on 30 December, meaning she could be arrested again at any time.
Amal Fathy has been unanimously selected by the international jury as this year's award winner. She received the award "for her outstanding services to securing human rights".

In addition to the Human Rights Award, other prizes are awarded to the organisation "Shalom Alaikum - Jewish Aid for Refugees" and to the project "KNOW YOUR RIGHTS", which make an important contribution to safeguarding human rights in Austria.

"Shalom Alaikum" helps families who have fled to Vienna and accompanies them over the long term, based on the fate of their own Jewish families after the Nazi seizure of power in Austria in March 1938, when one country after another closed its borders to Jewish refugees.

"KENNE DEINE RECHTE" is a project of the Human Rights Advisory Council of the City of Graz, which aims to awaken and promote young people's interest in human rights. The participants, aged between 14 and 24, publish articles, interviews, videos and photo series on the platform www.kennedeinerechte.at.

The Bruno Kreisky Prize for services to human rights is awarded by a foundation that was established in 1976 to mark the 65th birthday of the then Austrian Federal Chancellor and is endowed with 700,000 euros. The prize was first awarded in 1979. Previous winners include the anti-apartheid campaigner, Nobel Peace Prize winner and President Nelson Mandela from South Africa, the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the South Korean opponent of the regime and later President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung and the former Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Franz König. The Turkish author Asli Erdogan was honoured in 2017.

The great writer and historian Doron Rabinovic gave the laudatory speech for SHALOM ALEIKUM.
The journalist and author Corinna Milborn, who was to be the laudator for KENNE DEINE RECHTE, was represented by Gertraud Borea d'Olmo, Secretary General of the Kreisky Forum.