The 2010 Per Anger Prize goes to Elena Urlaeva with the following motivation:
“In a menacing environment she gave voice to freedom of expression and association in Uzbekistan, unselfishly, by peaceful means and with great personal courage risking her own life and health in the struggle for human rights.” Elena Urlaeva is a leading figure in the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan. The country broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991 and has since been ruled with a rod of iron by president Islam Karimov.
Opponents are systematically forced into exile, imprisoned and threatened. One such opponent is Elena Urlaeva, who for more than 10 years has fought for the rights of the individual. For this she has been committed to hospital and forced to take strong psychoactive drugs. She has put her own safety at risk and has been subjected to several attacks in her struggle for human rights. The situation has been particularly serious since the massacre of opponents in Andizjan in 2005, when hundreds of demonstrators were killed by the regime. The exact number is still not known, as no outside investigation has yet been allowed.
In the days following the massacre and at palpable risk to herself, Elena Urlaeva organized further demonstrations to support persecuted journalists and attempt, in vain, to attract more international attention to the country’s situation. On several occasions she has been attacked in the street, most recently in April 2009 when she and her five-year-old son were threatened at knifepoint by unknown men, who asked why she was still in the country.
In 2007 Elena Urlaeva wrote to the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, describing how the authorities prevented opposition demonstrations with violence. When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Uzbekistan in 2010, Elena Urlaeva’s home was under guard and she was prevented from carrying out the demonstrations she had planned alongside the Human Rights Alliance. She is being awarded the Prize for her long and fearless struggle. The Per Anger Prize jury hopes and trusts that this Prize will highlight an acute struggle for human rights in Uzbekistan and Central Asia.
