ARTUZ receives HRD award

Teachers on trial

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), led by Obert Masaraure, who has been arrested and detained for bravely fighting for the rights of marginalised rural teachers, will today receive a human rights award from Front Line Human Rights Defenders in Dublin.

Front Line Defenders give annual awards to rights activists. This year’s winners are: Liah Ghazanfar Jawad, Afghanistan; WHRD, Belarus; Ameira Osman Hamid, Sudan; Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe; and
Javier Barajas and María del Tránsito Piña, Mexico.

“These courageous human rights defenders demonstrate daily that those who work for the rights of the most vulnerable continue to make a huge difference even on some of the most profound current human rights crisis,” Andrew Anderson, Front Line Defenders executive director, says.

“In light of the trends of severe conflict, violence, and repression seen over the last year, it is important to celebrate the resilience and determination of these HRDs, working; in Afghanistan, Belarus, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Mexico.”

The ceremony will take place on 27 May 2022 at 08:30am at the Epic Immigration Museum in Dublin, and will be livestreamed on Front Line Defenders YouTube channel.

The Patrons for the 2022 Award are: Senator Róisín Garvey, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Gary Gannon TD, Cormac Devlin TD, Ivana Bacik TD, and Sean Crowe TD.

The annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk was established in 2005 to honour the work of human rights defenders courageously making outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, often at great personal risk.

The award focuses international attention on the work and struggles of Human Rights Defenders, providing a greater national and international platform to speak about and advocate for the human rights issues they are defending.

Front Line Defenders established the award in 2005, recognising one winner annually. In 2018, the organisation expanded the award to recognise five winners from around the world. Masaraure has bravely led rural teachers to fight for their rights and better working conditions.

Newshawks