Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
Encyclopedia
The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in a memory of Thorolf Rafto, a professor of Economic History
at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promotion of freedom of political expression and enterprise. The work of the foundation consists of different educational and informative projects, including the annual award of the Rafto Prize in November. The foundation is based in Bergen, Norway
and run by a small team of professionals and volunteers.
In 2004, Rebiya Kadeer
was awarded the Rafto Prize for her efforts to bring to the end social and economic marginalisation of the Uyghur people
of Xinjiang
. In a promotion of the human rights of the Uyghur people, the Rafto Foundation published a book, “In Our World of Good and Evil”, (2006) and assisted in a production of a documentary, “On a tightrope
” (2006).
In 2000, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Rafto Prize for his tireless fight for democracy and human rights in Korea
. Since that time, the Rafto Foundation provides a significant contribution to the annual international conferences held in Bergen, Norway. The foundation supported also a production of a documentary film, “YODOK Stories
” about Yodok concentration camp
in North Korea
.
In 1999, Gennady Grushevoy
was awarded the Rafto Prize for his brave work for democracy and human rights under the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus. Together with the Norwegian film company Piraya Film
, a documentary film, “Belarussian Waltz”, was released in 2007. The film tells the incredible story of a Belurussian painter and performance artist, Alexander Pushkin, and his brave challenges to President Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime.
In 1994, Leyla Zana
, the Kurdish Parliamentarian, became the Rafto Prize laureate for her struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish
people in Turkey
and the neighbouring countries. In her struggle for freedom, Leyla Zana
has become a symbol of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. The Rafto Foundation took an active role in establishing the EU Turkey Civic Commission and series of conferences in Brussels
, on the Kurdish minority rights.
In 1990, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
was awarded the Rafto Prize for her peaceful struggle under a military dictatorship. Since 1990 Burma has become one of the main follow up projects of the Rafto Foundation. A close work with the Burmese
community in Norway made the Rafto Foundation to take an initiative in setting up of the Norwegian Burma Committee, which at the moment is based in Oslo
and runs independently from the Rafto Foundation.
was well known for his political activism in Eastern Europe
, especially in Hungary
, the Czech Republic and Poland
. During a visit to Prague
in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from universities for political reasons, Rafto was arrested and brutally beaten up by the communist security police. Inflicted injuries dramatically weakened his health. On 4 November 1986 Thorolf Rafto
died. However, his friends and colleagues agreed to establish a foundation that would continue the Rafto’s work on a promotion of freedom of speech and political expression in Eastern Europe
. It was also decided to introduce a prize for human right activists.
Nevertheless, the fall of the Iron Curtain
and the consequential democratization of Eastern European states made to reconsider the status of the foundation. Meanwhile it has opened new possibilities to work with other geographical regions in a promotion of human rights. Already in 1990, the Rafto Prize was awarded to a Burmese democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi that in the following year 1991 has received the Nobel Peace Prize
for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
For the first years, the foundation was based at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. From 1997, the Rafto foundation was relocated to the Human Rights House of Bergen, Norway
. The Human Right House was established in a memory of Thorolf Rafto’s son, Egil Rafto and officially was opened in 1999 by Aung San Suu Kyis youngest son, Kim Aris. Beside the Rafto Foundation, several organisations have permanent offices in the house, such as Amnesty International
, AFS Intercultural Learning, Médecins Sans Frontières
, Norwegian Church Aid's Youth, while other groups use the house for seminars, meetings and social events.
. Among the invited speakers were the 2007 Rafto Prize laureates, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
.
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promotion of freedom of political expression and enterprise. The work of the foundation consists of different educational and informative projects, including the annual award of the Rafto Prize in November. The foundation is based in Bergen, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and run by a small team of professionals and volunteers.
Work
The work of the Rafto Foundation is done by a small team of professionals and volunteers. The major emphasis is made on the support of previous laureates as well as educational projects, informative events and lobby initiatives.In 2004, Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang Autonomus Region of the People's Republic of China...
was awarded the Rafto Prize for her efforts to bring to the end social and economic marginalisation of the Uyghur people
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
. In a promotion of the human rights of the Uyghur people, the Rafto Foundation published a book, “In Our World of Good and Evil”, (2006) and assisted in a production of a documentary, “On a tightrope
On a Tightrope
On a Tightrope is an award-winning documentary film by Petr Lom, co-produced by Piraya Film and Lom Films, in cooperation with the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights....
” (2006).
In 2000, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Rafto Prize for his tireless fight for democracy and human rights in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. Since that time, the Rafto Foundation provides a significant contribution to the annual international conferences held in Bergen, Norway. The foundation supported also a production of a documentary film, “YODOK Stories
Yodok Stories
Yodok Stories is a documentary film directed by Pole Andrzej Fidyk and produced by Torstein Grude. Today, more than 200,000 men, women and children face torture, starvation and murder in North Korea's concentration camps...
” about Yodok concentration camp
Yodok concentration camp
Yodok concentration camp is a political prison camp in North Korea. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 15.-Location:...
in North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
.
In 1999, Gennady Grushevoy
Gennady Grushevoy
Gennady Grushevoy is Professor of philosophy at the Belarusian State University since 1973. Elected member of the Belarus Parliament in 1990. Chairman of the board of Children of Chernobyl since its foundation in 1989. Recipient of Rafto Prize .-References:* . Rafto Foundation for Human Rights...
was awarded the Rafto Prize for his brave work for democracy and human rights under the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus. Together with the Norwegian film company Piraya Film
Piraya film
Piraya Film is an independent production company based in Stavanger, Norway. The company was founded in 1999 by filmmakers Torstein Grude and Trond Kvist with the aim of making creative high end documentaries for release in the market worldwide....
, a documentary film, “Belarussian Waltz”, was released in 2007. The film tells the incredible story of a Belurussian painter and performance artist, Alexander Pushkin, and his brave challenges to President Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime.
In 1994, Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...
, the Kurdish Parliamentarian, became the Rafto Prize laureate for her struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
people in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and the neighbouring countries. In her struggle for freedom, Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana
Leyla Zana , is a Kurdish politician, who was imprisoned for 10 years for her political actions which were claimed to be against the unity of Turkey. When she was a member of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, she was banned from joining any political party for five years with the Constitutional...
has become a symbol of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. The Rafto Foundation took an active role in establishing the EU Turkey Civic Commission and series of conferences in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, on the Kurdish minority rights.
In 1990, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
was awarded the Rafto Prize for her peaceful struggle under a military dictatorship. Since 1990 Burma has become one of the main follow up projects of the Rafto Foundation. A close work with the Burmese
Bamar
The Bamar are the dominant ethnic group of Burma , constituting approximately two-thirds of the population. The Bamar live primarily in the Irrawaddy basin, and speak the Burmese language, which is also the official language of Burma. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with general...
community in Norway made the Rafto Foundation to take an initiative in setting up of the Norwegian Burma Committee, which at the moment is based in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
and runs independently from the Rafto Foundation.
History
Thorolf RaftoThorolf Rafto
Thorolf Rafto was a human rights activist and professor in Economic History at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. During a visit to Prague in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from the universities for political reasons, Rafto was beaten up by the communist security...
was well known for his political activism in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, especially in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the Czech Republic and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. During a visit to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from universities for political reasons, Rafto was arrested and brutally beaten up by the communist security police. Inflicted injuries dramatically weakened his health. On 4 November 1986 Thorolf Rafto
Thorolf Rafto
Thorolf Rafto was a human rights activist and professor in Economic History at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. During a visit to Prague in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from the universities for political reasons, Rafto was beaten up by the communist security...
died. However, his friends and colleagues agreed to establish a foundation that would continue the Rafto’s work on a promotion of freedom of speech and political expression in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. It was also decided to introduce a prize for human right activists.
Nevertheless, the fall of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
and the consequential democratization of Eastern European states made to reconsider the status of the foundation. Meanwhile it has opened new possibilities to work with other geographical regions in a promotion of human rights. Already in 1990, the Rafto Prize was awarded to a Burmese democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi that in the following year 1991 has received the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
For the first years, the foundation was based at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. From 1997, the Rafto foundation was relocated to the Human Rights House of Bergen, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The Human Right House was established in a memory of Thorolf Rafto’s son, Egil Rafto and officially was opened in 1999 by Aung San Suu Kyis youngest son, Kim Aris. Beside the Rafto Foundation, several organisations have permanent offices in the house, such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, AFS Intercultural Learning, Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
, Norwegian Church Aid's Youth, while other groups use the house for seminars, meetings and social events.
Education
Educational projects are given a high priority too. The house seeks to be a centre of Human Rights expertise, which can serve as a focal point in the local network and take on a coordinating role between the local and the international network. In August, 2008 the Rafto Foundation organised an exhibition and a roundtable on Poverty and Human Rights (with the example of Dalits) for the Summer Research School of the University of BergenUniversity of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
. Among the invited speakers were the 2007 Rafto Prize laureates, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights is an Indian non-party based secular platform with offices in 14 states of the country. The objectives of NCDHR are the following: to hold the State accountable for all Human Rights violations committed against Dalits; to sensitize civil society by raising...
.