Aminatou Haidar - Awards and Recognition

Awards and Recognition

Haidar has won several international awards in recognition of her human rights work. In December 2005, she won the V Juan María Bandrés Award of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR). Due to her imprisonment, she could not receive the award until May 2006. In 2007, she was awarded the Solidar Silver Rose Award, a European network of NGOs. The annual award acknowledges "the outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations who are active in the fight for social justice." In 2008, Haidar won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award of the US-based Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. In addition to the prize (which includes a financial component), the RFK Memorial Center offers to partner with recipients in their work. US Senator Edward Kennedy stated that "all who care about democracy, human rights, and the rule of law for the people of the Western Sahara are inspired by her extraordinary courage, dedication and skilled work on their behalf." Haidar was also awarded the 2009 Civil Courage Prize of the Train Foundation. Prize founder John Train stated, "A healthy society relies on civil courage, and we hope that by recognizing it in people like Aminatou Haidar, we can encourage others to follow in her footsteps and defend peacefully their civil rights."

In 2010, 40 members of the European Parliament nominated Haidar for the organization's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. EP member Willy Meyer Pleite denounced a campaign of letters by Morocco protesting the possible awarding of the prize to Haidar. The prize was eventually awarded to Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Fariñas.

Haidar has also been named an honorary citizen or otherwise decorated by numerous Spanish and Italian institutions. In October 2006,she was named "Honorary Citizen" by the town council of Naples for her activity on defending human rights. In May 2008, she was awarded a Special Prize by the city council of Castelldefels, Spain. In January 2010, the Italian municipality of Sesto Fiorentino appointed Haidar as "Honorary Citizen" of the village, for her "non-violent struggle for liberty and human rights for her people". Days later, another Italian municipality, Campi Bisenzio, decided by a majority to grant her the "Honorary Citizenship". In February, it was the Tuscan town of Signa who decided to confer Haidar the honorary citizenship. In March, the town of Leganés, Spain, awarded her its Dolores Ibárruri Prize. On 13 April, the comune of Pontedera gave her honorary citizenship. On 30 July, another ten towns from the Italian province of Lucca gave honorary citizenship to Haidar. One of them, Stazzema, also gave her the "Gold Medal of Resistance". A further 20 Italian towns later declared Aminatou Haidar an "Honorary Citizen". On 27 July 2011, Haidar was made an honorary citizen of the Italian commune of Montespertoli as a "concrete gesture of condemnation of the violence being perpetrated by the Moroccan authorities". The city council of San Fernando de Henares, Spain, awarded her its Jesús Andrés López Gallardo prize. In 10 November 2011, she was awarded the René Cassin Human Rights Prize, given by the Justice department of the Basque Country government; the prize came with an award of 16,550 euros.