Human Rights First Calls for Nominations for 2022 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Human Rights First announced a call for nominations for the 2022 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award. Nominations are due by April 10.

“For more than thirty years, the Baldwin Medal of Liberty has provided recognition and support for courageous human rights activists around the world,” said Human Rights First President and CEO Mike Breen. “We are proud to issue this prestigious award, and we encourage supporters of human rights to nominate deserving individuals or organizations.”

Named in honor of the principal founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and the International League for Human Rights, the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award was established in 1989 and is presented in alternating years by Human Rights First to international human rights advocates and by the ACLU to advocates in the United States. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the first Baldwin Award.

This year’s award will honor an individual or organization outside of the United States that has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to human rights advocacy in areas such as the protection of refugees; human rights accountability; countering extremism, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia; or technology and human rights, among other topics.

Previous winners of the Baldwin Medal of Liberty include human rights lawyer Albert Ho, whose work has included representing pro-democracy protestors challenging crackdowns by the Hong Kong government and advocating for human rights lawyers in mainland China (Hong Kong, 2020); the Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, an independent Yemeni group that investigates human rights violations by all parties to the country’s conflict and provides legal support to victims (Yemen, 2018); and anti-slavery activist Janvier Murairi Bakihanaye, whose work has helped rural Congolese communities assert their legal rights and promoted due diligence guidelines in the mining industry (Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2016).

A distinguished jury will select this year’s winner, who will receive a $30,000 prize and a trip to the United States to engage in advocacy, subject to public health-related travel restrictions. Where applicable, the prize may be subject to U.S. tax withholding.

An individual or an organization can make nominations. Nominees will be judged based on the following criteria:

• The nominee’s work is unique or particularly distinctive;
• The nominee’s work has been effective in advancing human rights in a country other than the United States;
• The nominee faces risk or insecurity as a result of their work; and
• The nominee would benefit significantly from receiving the Baldwin Award in the form of enhanced protection or any other way.

The nomination form can be found here.  More about the award and a full list of past winners can be accessed here.

For any questions about the award or the nomination process, please contact Human Rights First at [email protected].