Zholia Parsi, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan, and imprisoned Tajik lawyer Manouchehr Kholiqnazarov have been declared co-winners of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award.
“Two outstanding human rights defenders who have made it their life mission to protect human rights in Afghanistan and in Tajikistan will receive the Martin Ennals Award 2024 on November 21th, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Martin Ennals Award,” reads a statement released by organizers on November 19.
“The two 2024 Laureates, Zholia Parsi (Afghanistan) and Manouchehr Kholiqnazarov (Tajikistan) have shown exceptional courage and determination to bring human rights at the forefront despite evolving in deeply repressive environments,” the statement says.
“We are very proud to honor these two exceptional Laureates. They have paid too big a price for justice and equality to be respected in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and the international community must support their efforts instead of battling geostrategic interests in the region, “said Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury.
The jury consisted of 10 leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Zholia Parsi is a teacher from Kabul, Afghanistan. Having lost her career and seeing her daughters deprived of their education with Taliban takeover in August 2021, she founded the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) to protest the return of policies and practices against women rights and fundamental freedoms.
She displayed remarkable leadership and resilience in organizing numerous public protests despite the risks involved.
She was arrested in the street by armed Taliban in September 2023, and detained along with her son. She was released after three months of torture and ill-treatment under their custody, which further strengthened her resolve to resist Taliban oppression and repression.
Manouchehr Kholiqnazarov is the director of the Lawyers Association of Pamir, one of the few civil society organizations active in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).
After mass protests erupted in the region in November 2021 following the extrajudicial killing of local resident Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, Kholiqnazarov joined the Commission 44 organization — in which members of law enforcement agencies and local civil society representatives joined to investigate the reasons behind the unrest.
But in May 2022, the Tajik authorities renewed their crackdown on protests in the region, leading to the arrest of Kholiqnazarov and a dozen other members of Commission 44. In December 2022, the Supreme Court sentenced Kholiqnazarov to 16 years in prison after finding him guilty of being part of a criminal organization and of participating in the activities of a banned organization engaged in extremist activities.
In early November of 2023, a group of seven international rights organizations called on Dushanbe for the second time since April to immediately and unconditionally release lawyer Manouchehr Kholiqnazarov.
The Martin Ennals Award is an annual prize for human rights defenders. Finalists and the Laureate are selected by a Jury of ten of the world’s leading human rights NGOs. The Award provides protection and support to human rights defenders who are at risk.
