Darfur Survival Campaign
Staff Lawyer of the Amel Center, PHR’s Partner in Darfur, Awarded Major Human Rights Prize
On January 30, it was announced that the Olof Palme Prize was awarded jointly to Mossaad Mohamed Ali Mossaad, a lawyer who runs the Amel Center for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Darfur, Sudan, and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Mossaad and Annan were awarded the prize for their work to promote human rights, peace and security. The annual Olof Palme Prize, named after the slain Swedish Prime Minister, is awarded to people whose work "carries on his spirit." Physicians for Human Rights has worked in partnership with the Amel Center, most recently completing an extensive training program on how to effectively document evidence of sexual violence and torture for use as evidence in legal prosecutions.
Mossaad, a 38-year-old lawyer, has worked at the Amel Center's Nyala (Darfur) office since 2000, where he has provided free legal assistance to the victims of the genocide in Darfur – from survivors of rape and sexual assault to those who have lived through torture, forced migration and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments such as arbitrary detention, amputation and flogging.
In its decision to award the Prize to Mossaad, the Prize's Board noted his long-standing dedication to the most vulnerable people of Darfur. "For over ten years, [he] has been an outspoken and courageous critic of crimes against human rights that were inflicted on the most exposed people."
Mossaad has courageously continued this vital work, despite having being detained by the government. Recently, he has been ordered to report to district police offices for questioning about his work.
Established in 1987, the year after Palme's murder, the Olof Palme Prize has been awarded to such notable individuals as Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, playwright and Czech President Václav Havel, and Hans Blix, Swedish diplomat and head of the UN's Weapons Inspection Commission from 2000-2003. Mr. Annan and Mr. Mossaad will share the $75,000 awarded with the Prize.
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