In March 2007, the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jorge Taiana, announced the establishment of the  Emilio F. Mignone International Human Rights Prize.

The Prize, the first of this kind to be awarded by a developing country, was created as a way for Argentina to give recognition to foreign institutions and/or individuals residing abroad that are making or have made an outstanding contribution towards the promotion and/or protection of human rights in their own countries, not only in the fight against impunity in cases involving systematic mass violations of human rights, but also in other issues (discrimination, social, economic and cultural rights, etc). The life and work of the founder of the Centre for Legal and Social Studies  (CELS), Emilio F. Mignone, will guide the prioritization and selection criteria.

For Mr. Emilio Mignone’s biographical information in English, click here.

In Argentina, the President awards the  Azucena Villaflor  Prize every year to national persons or organizations in the field of human rights. On the other hand, the Emilio Mignone Prize is also awarded annually and honours persons or institutions engaged in the promotion and/or protection of human rights abroad.

In its first edition in 2007, the Emilio Mignone Prize was awarded to the  Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos y Mártires de la Liberación Nacional de Bolivia (ASOFAMD), an organization from Bolivia deeply committed to the fight against enforced disappearances. In 2008, it was awarded to the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, a Colombian organization with a vast experience in the promotion of human rights.

I.- Awarding ceremony
 
The Prize is awarded every year at the  San Martín Palace in Buenos Aires, site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, at a ceremony to be attended by Argentine Government officials. To this end, the awardee or a representative of the selected organization will be invited to visit the country for a week. Several activities, conferences and meetings involving CELS and universities will be organized during such visit for the sharing of experiences. CELS will also coordinate visits to NGOs and human rights organizations of Argentina. Likewise, meetings with the Human Rights Congressional Committees, national authorities and press will be arranged during the visit.

II.- Awarding process
 
Possible candidates will be proposed through the Argentine Embassies throughout the world, from persons and organizations in the countries that host them, based on information gathered in consultations with local human rights organizations.

Nominations of candidates (with background documentation) must be sent by June 30th.

Recognized national or international human rights organizations and international organizations may also put forward nominations.

Format: all nominations must contain the following details:

-  Country of residence or seat of the proposed foreign individual or organization
-  Name of the nominated individual or organization;
- General and contact details (activity, address, phone number, e-mail)
- In case of organizations, the name of the main representative and of Board, Executive  commitee or Council members;
- Reasons for the nomination, historical summary, objectives and background of the candidate (institution or individual). This item should not exceed 3 pages (A4 size).
- Annex:  Any additional information deemed important may be included as an annex.

Selection Committee

All nominations received will be evaluated by an ad-hoc Committee formed by a representative of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights; a representative of CELS; the Director General for Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and a member of the Mignone family.

The ad-hoc committee will agree on a list of three candidates to be submitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for a final decision by October 1st 2009.

Send to:

Nominations must be sent to the following e-mail addresses: dighu@mrecic.gov.ar, scc@mrecic.gov.ar and xab@mrecic.gov.ar.

In all cases, the receipt of the nominations will be confirmed by e-mail. Additional material may be sent by post to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina to the following address:

Dirección de Derechos Humanos
Esmeralda 1212 piso 8 oficina 804
(1007) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Argentina