The Stockholm Human Rights Award 2012 was presented to Thomas Hammarberg and European Roma Rights Centre in Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, on November 26.
This year’s award, the fourth ever, was given in honour of Raoul Wallenberg. The laureates were Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights 2006–2011, and European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), an organization based in Budapest working to improve the situation of the Roma population in Europe. The laureates were given the award for their hard and persistent work to strengthen the position of the Roma.
Dezideriu Gergely and Thomas Hammarberg.
The award was presented by Anne Ramberg, secretary general of the Swedish Bar Association. She described the Roma as a vulnerable minority in Europe, often exposed to discrimination and violence. The Roma population is the largest minority group in Europe, 10–12 million people with no territory of their own and no protection from any state.
– The Roma are subject to discrimination and are attacked even in countries that consider themselves to be champions of democracy. They often live on the edge of their communities. This has turned into a vicious circle that must be broken. To do so, we need many people with the courage to change the pattern, Anne Ramberg said.
Anne Ramberg och Thomas Hammarberg
The award ceremony was followed by a panel discussion on how the discrimination of the Roma can be countered. On the panel were Thomas Hammarberg, the secretary general and the development manager of the ERRC Dezideriu Gergely and Ailsa Spindler,as well as the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman and former Swedish judge in the European Court of Human Rights, Elisabet Fura.
Ailsa Spindler and Dezideriu Gergely.
The audience and the laureates were also given the opportunity to enjoy music performed by musicians from the Swedish Symphony Orchestra and the pianist Love Derwinger, and by Lise & Gertrud, “Two voices and a cello”.
Lise & Gertrud