The sixth Stockholm Human Rights Award was delivered by the Swedish Bar Association’s secretary general Anne Ramberg at a solemn ceremony in Berwaldhallen, Stockholm. This year, the award was presented to Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem. At the award ceremony, about 600 participants from the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, the legal profession and the academia were assembled.

“It is commendable that B'Tselem has so tirelessly fought to uphold human rights in an environment where its criticism has not always been welcome”, said Anne Ramberg.

Hagai El-Ad, verksamhetschef, och Salma a-Debʿi, fältresearcher, tog emot Stockholm Human Rights Award för B'Tselems räkning ur Anne Rambergs hand.
Executive director Hagai El-Ad and field researcher Salma a-Debʿi accepted the Stockholm Human Rights Award on behalf of B'Tselem from Anne Ramberg.

“Almost everyone in our region divides the world between Jews and Arabs – there is us and them. What is most striking about the broader human rights community is that we divide the world differently. ‘Us’ is the people committed to our values, the people working to advance those values. And in some ways there is no ‘them’, because even people who don’t agree with us, even people who are violently working against those values, they, too, enjoy these rights”, said Jessica Montell, past executive director of B'Tselem.

“I am thankful and deeply moved by this honor that is given to B'Tselem, and our staff in our office in Jerusalem and our field researchers in the West Bank and Gaza are also very moved. It’s a strong message in support of human rights back in Palestine and Israel that makes us a stronger organization”, said Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B'Tselem.

B'Tselems förra verksamhetschef Jessica Montell fick ett särskilt diplom.
B'Tselem’s past executive director, Jessica Montell, was presented with a special diploma.

Created in 1989, B'Tselem’s objective is to promote respect for, and ensure protection of, universal human rights standards for residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, while educating the public and policymakers and creating a human rights culture in Israel. It recognizes that all Israelis and Palestinians have equal rights that must be respected by both Israeli and Palestinian authorities.

ILAC:s generalsekreterare Christian Åhlund presenterade deltagarna i paneldiskussionen.
ILAC”s executive director, Christian Åhlund, introduced the participants in the Q&A session.

Under ledning av Mark Ellis, generalsekreterare i International Bar Association, IBA, samtalade Hagai El-Ad och Jessica Montell från B'Tselem om utvecklingen för de mänskliga rättigheterna i Israel och Palestina.
Hagai El-Ad and Jessica Montell of B'Tselem were interviewed about the development of human rights in Israel and Palestine by Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association (IBA).

B'Tselems verksamhetschef Hagai El-Ad har bedrivit forskarstudier i astrofysik vid Harvard-universitetet.
B'Tselem”s executive director Hagai El-Ad was previously a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jessica Montell var verksamhetschef för B'Tselem i tolv år.
Jessica Montell was B'Tselem”s executive director for twelve years.

Mark Ellis är verksamhetschef för IBA.
Mark Ellis is the executive director of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Sångaren Peter Jöback med pianisten Martin Östergren underhöll de inbjudna gästerna från bland annat diplomatkåren, domstolarna, advokatkåren och universiteten.
Singer Peter Jöback and pianist Martin Östergren entertained the invited guests from the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, the legal profession and the academia. 

Över 600 personer samlades i Berwaldhallen för att delta i prisceremonin.
More than 600 participants gathered in Berwaldhallen for the award ceremony.