2024 Magnitsky Human Rights Awards honor rights defenders worldwide

London — 

“It wasn’t my prime to beryllium nether fire,” Yulia Navalnaya said astatine the yearly Magnitsky Human Rights Awards held Thursday nighttime successful London. “It happened that my hubby was killed by Vladimir Putin portion helium was successful a Russian prison. And aft that, helium [Putin] labeled maine arsenic a terrorist.”

Navalnaya was presented with an grant for her “Courage Under Fire.”

Her husband, Alexey Navalny, the person of Russia’s absorption movement, was killed successful the “Polar Wolf” penal colony supra the Arctic Circle successful February. Navalnaya has taken up his mantle, dedicating herself to advocating for ideology successful Russia.

The Magnitsky awards ceremonial is held each twelvemonth by William Browder, who astatine 1 clip was the largest overseas capitalist successful Russia. That changed erstwhile authorities successful Moscow went aft him for income taxes helium had already paid but corrupt Russian taxation officials had stolen.

His lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, past 37 years old, was arrested for investigating the lawsuit and yet was killed successful prison. The awards are portion of his legacy.

“It’s a large grant to beryllium present among friends, and it’s a large grant to person this grant named aft Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who became a awesome of the unit and corruption of Vladimir Putin’s regime,” Navalnaya said.

“Sadly, the fig of names and symbols of this authorities person increased. It’s important to marque the database shorter, not longer. It’s not me, but Vladimir Putin, who is simply a terrorist, and we are conscionable mean people, warring to unrecorded mean lives successful mean antiauthoritarian countries.”

After Magnitsky’s decease successful 2009, Browder, a British citizen, dedicated himself to this fight, earning a knighthood for his efforts this June.

Knowing the Kremlin would ne'er enactment against those liable for Magnitsky’s death, Browder decided to prosecute justness successful the United States. The effect was the Magnitsky Act, a U.S. instrumentality passed successful 2012 that authorizes the U.S. authorities to enforce sanctions connected quality rights abusers and corrupt officials.

Under that law, Washington placed visa bans and plus freezes connected those deemed liable for the fraud carried retired against Browder and for Magnitsky’s consequent torture and decease aft helium investigated it.

The Magnitsky Act has gone global, with 35 countries having adopted akin legislation. More than 1,000 sanctions person been meted retired successful Magnitsky’s sanction astir the satellite for quality rights abuses and corruption.

“It has go the golden modular of however you spell astir punishing radical who bash unspeakable things, and determination is simply a agelong database of radical who person been sanctioned nether Global Magnitsky, and a batch of radical are present frightened of being sanctioned,” Browder told Voice of America.

“I tin ideate determination are immoderate radical who mightiness person done thing successful the past but don’t present due to the fact that they don’t privation their assets frozen astir the world,” helium added.

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, who wrote the archetypal Magnitsky legislation, was besides honored Thursday nighttime successful London for his beingness of service.

“America’s spot is successful our values. America’s overseas argumentation needs to beryllium embodied with our values,” helium told VOA. “America needs to enactment astatine the forefront to marque it wide we’re not going to enactment up with autocratic regimes that effort to instrumentality distant the rights of people.”

Cardin referenced different celebrated Russian absorption leader, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was precocious released from prison.

“He was poisoned doubly by Mr. Putin’s radical successful Russia and returned there. His beingness was decidedly astatine risk, but helium realizes helium tin marque a difference. So my main connection is, don’t springiness up hope,” Cardin said.

Kara-Murza has not stopped campaigning since his merchandise from situation successful August and was astatine the awards ceremonial successful London. When asked if helium had a connection for the incoming U.S. administration, helium said helium really had 1 for each antiauthoritarian countries.

“Stand connected your values, due to the fact that it is precise important that these nations not lone profess and speech astir ideology and instrumentality and respect of quality rights but enactment connected these values,” Kara-Murza told VOA.

“We cognize from past that democracies enactment astir efficaciously erstwhile they are moving unneurotic and lasting connected values, and 1 of the astir vivid examples of this was the situation speech that liberated maine from the hellhole of Vladimir Putin’s modern-day gulag. But let’s not hide that truthful galore are near behind,” helium said.

Kara-Murza added that democracies not lone person the close but besides the work to intervene successful quality rights crises specified arsenic the increasing repression and governmental imprisonment successful Russia.

Brandon Silver, manager of argumentation and projects astatine the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, was portion of the thrust to escaped Kara-Murza. He was honored astatine Thursday’s awards ceremonial for that, arsenic good arsenic his enactment connected behalf of different governmental prisoners, from Gaza to Tehran.

He stressed that adjacent if Russia’s warfare connected Ukraine ends soon, the plight of Russian governmental prisoners indispensable not beryllium forgotten.

“Once these projected bid negotiations travel about, we indispensable not hide astir the merchandise of these prisoners who are going to beryllium the aboriginal of a post-Putin Russia,” Silver told VOA.

The absorption of Thursday night’s awards ceremonial successful London moved beyond Russia, but it besides deed precise adjacent to home.

Among those honored was Gubad Ibadoghlu, who taught astatine the London School of Economics and was arrested successful Azerbaijan. According to his daughter, Zhala Bayramova, Ibadoghlu was arrested connected bogus charges for investigating corruption and illicit wealth transfers from Azerbaijan to the U.K.

Bayramova received an grant for her enactment to unafraid her father’s merchandise from prison. His wellness failing, Ibadoghlu remains nether location arrest.

Zahra Joya from Afghanistan, whose begetter disguised her arsenic a small lad during Afghanistan’s archetypal Taliban authorities truthful she could sneak into schools and study, had to fly the state erstwhile the Taliban returned to powerfulness successful 2021. From exile, she runs Rukhshana Media, dedicated to telling the stories of Afghan women.

“Receiving this grant is profoundly meaningful,” she said astatine Thursday’s awards ceremony. “It is not conscionable designation for me. It represents the struggles, sacrifices and challenges faced by quality rights defenders everywhere.”

Remarking connected the scope of Thursday night’s awards, Browder told VOA: “What it says is that determination are a batch of atrocious things going connected successful the world, but erstwhile you travel to an lawsuit similar this, it besides says determination are a batch of heroes retired determination who are lasting up. Oftentimes they consciousness alone, but erstwhile they are successful the institution of each different they don’t consciousness truthful alone,” helium said.

Browder was echoed by galore of those who received awards Thursday, arsenic good arsenic those who received them successful the past. They said that contempt the galore losses they person collectively suffered, the Magnitsky grant recipients person go a assemblage of spot and optimism.