History
Thorolf Rafto was well known for his political activism in Eastern Europe, especially in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. During a visit to Prague in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from universities for political reasons, Rafto was arrested and brutally beaten up by the communist security police. Inflicted injuries dramatically weakened his health. On 4 November 1986 Thorolf Rafto died. However, his friends and colleagues agreed to establish a foundation that would continue the Rafto’s work on a promotion of freedom of speech and political expression in Eastern Europe. It was also decided to introduce a prize for human right activists.
Nevertheless, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the consequential democratization of Eastern European states made to reconsider the status of the foundation. Meanwhile it has opened new possibilities to work with other geographical regions in a promotion of human rights. Already in 1990, the Rafto Prize was awarded to a Burmese democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi that in the following year 1991 has received the Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
For the first years, the foundation was based at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. From 1997, the Rafto foundation was relocated to the Human Rights House of Bergen, Norway. The Human Right House was established in a memory of Thorolf Rafto’s son, Egil Rafto and officially was opened in 1999 by Aung San Suu Kyis youngest son, Kim Aris. Beside the Rafto Foundation, several organisations have permanent offices in the house, such as Amnesty International, AFS Intercultural Learning, Médecins Sans Frontières, Norwegian Church Aid's Youth, while other groups use the house for seminars, meetings and social events.
Read more about this topic: Rafto Foundation For Human Rights
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