On 23 June 2022, Al-Haq proudly received Bruno Kreisky’s Prize for Human Rights 2022. On 23 March 2022, Al-Haq[1] organisation was selected by an independent jury of experts for the award of the prestigious Bruno Kreisky Prize[2] for Human Rights 2022. Established in 1976, to honour the legacy and achievements of the late Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bruno Kreisky, the Prize for Human Rights is awarded every two years to individuals, institutions and human rights projects for their outstanding services to the development and protection of international human rights humanitarian aid while also serving as “a symbol against massive restrictions of human rights”.
In accepting the award, Al-Haq expresses its deepest gratitude to the Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Human Rights for their timely and laudable recognition of the indispensable role that Palestinian civil society organisations play in promoting and protecting the human rights of the Palestinian people, and the rule of law in Palestine. Al-Haq’s Board of Directors and staff would like to express their deepest appreciation to the jury and the Bruno Kreisky Foundation for the selection of Al-Haq to be awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights 2022. The award ceremony was held in Vienna on 23rd of June 2022 and was awarded to Al-Haq by the Lebanese author Elias Khoury.
The selection of Al-Haq to receive the illustrious Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Human Rights award for 2022, is recognized by Al-Haq as an expression of solidarity, especially in light of the latest unprecedented attacks on Palestinian civil society and human rights organisations, and a contribution to the enhancement of shared human rights values globally. In light of the award, Al-Haq affirms its unwavering commitment to continue its advocacy for the realisation of the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people as a whole, documenting human rights violations, and to bring to an end Israel’s prolonged occupation, apartheid regime and prevailing impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The board member of Al-Haq Dr. Munir Nuseibah who attended the awarding ceremony during the event stated that “against the context of the shirking space that human rights defenders and organizations face in Palestine, the Bruno Kreisky Foundation demonstrated that voices of justice cannot be silenced and that individuals and groups struggling for the human rights cause will find supporters despite all challenges faced.”
For its outstanding work, Al-Haq had previously been awarded the Fayez A. Sayegh Memorial Award, the Rothko Chapel Award for Commitment to Truth and Freedom, The Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Prize, the Geuzenpenning Prize for Human Rights Defenders, the Welfare Association’s NGO Achievement Award, The Danish PL Foundation Human Rights Award, the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, the Human Rights and Business Award and the Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award.
Al-Haq extends its warmest congradulations to the other organizations and human rights defenders awarded the Bruno Kreisky's 2022 award; Maria Kalesnikava, Martin Hochegger, and Asylum Coordination Austria.
Read Al-Haq's speech at the awarding ceremony in full here.
[1] Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the OPT, it has special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Al-Haq documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in the OPT, irrespective of the identity of the perpetrator, and seeks to end such breaches by way of advocacy before national and international mechanisms and by holding the violators accountable.
[2] The Bruno Kreisky Foundation for Human Rights is a biennial award created in October 1976 and given to individuals, institutions and human rights projects for outstanding services to the development and protection of international human rights and extraordinary achievements in the area of humanitarian aid. The prize winners are chosen both by the board of trustees of the Bruno Kreisky Foundation and by an international jury.