Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya receives the Sakharov Prize for Human Rights during the award ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels on December 16, 2020. JOHN THYS / POOL / AFP
The Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds, which documents war crimes in the conflict in Ukraine, was awarded a Norwegian award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom, on Thursday.
Founded during the Maidan revolution that led to the downfall of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Truth Hounds has assembled a team of experts investigating atrocities since the outbreak of hostilities in Crimea and Donbass in 2014.
Fight impunity
Seeing it “a force to be reckoned with“, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee for the Defense of Human Rights awarded her “for his work documenting war crimes and potential crimes against humanity“. “Their often dangerous work is fueled by a desire to seek justice for victims and their families.noted committee chair Berit Lindeman in a statement. “This year’s award illustrates how grassroots activism feeds evidence into the international justice system to fight impunity and ensure war crimes are punished“, did she say.
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The Sakharov Prize for Freedom, not to be confused with the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, was established in 1980 with the support of Soviet dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov. It crowns, at irregular intervals, human rights defenders, all from the former Soviet sphere.
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