Yemeni lawyer Huda al-Sarari has been awarded the renowned Martin Ennals Human Rights Award. The jury praised the 42-year-old in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday for the “rare courage” with which she investigated and revealed the existence of secret prisons in the civil war country. Thousands of men and boys were detained, tortured and murdered in these detention centers set up by foreign governments.
According to the jury, Sarari had collected evidence of more than 250 cases of human rights violations in secret prisons. In a written statement, the award winner stated that the award encouraged her to continue her „struggle for justice“.
Getting involved in human rights in your home country is an „extreme“ challenge. Doing this as a woman makes the task even more difficult, the lawyer emphasized.
Common prize of ten NGOs
The Martin Ennals award is considered a kind of „Nobel Prize for Human Rights“. The award is jointly awarded by ten major human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International League for Human Rights and the World Organization Against Torture.
In Yemen there has been a war between the forces of President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi, supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab countries, and the Shiite Houthi rebels behind which Iran stands. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the conflict. Most victims are civilians, according to aid organizations.
