Roy W Brown
Encyclopedia
Roy W. Brown is a British-born engineer
, humanist
and human rights
activist. He was president
of the International Humanist and Ethical Union
(IHEU) from 2003 to 2006 and is main representative of IHEU at the United Nations
, Geneva
.
on 2 November 1937. He was educated at the Martin School, East Finchley and Haberdashers' Aske's School
and the University of London
where he read Engineering
. He trained as an engineer
with ITT
in London
where he worked on the development of electronic systems, and the UK Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Orford Ness
and Aldermaston
where he was part of the team developing monitoring systems for the international Test Ban Treaty
. He emigrate
d to Canada
in 1963 where he worked for four years with Canadian Marconi in Montreal
on the design of airborne radar and navigation systems.
He returned to the UK in 1967 as Chief Designer for Racal
Research in Tewkesbury
, pioneers in the field of Computer Aided Design.
which incorporated cost and resource management, and became the world's first commercially successful relational database
system.
By the early 1980s, Artemis systems were in use in over 30 countries providing management information for some of the worlds largest civil, aerospace, nuclear and military projects, including the construction of off-shore oil platforms, aircraft development, the construction of five military cities in the Middle East, the maintenance of the US navy fleets at Long Beach
and Norfolk Naval Yard, aerospace projects, nuclear power plant maintenance, and production scheduling in the UK and US automobile industries.
From 1978 until 1982, as the business grew, Metier developed Artemis systems for other platforms including Hewlett Packard and IBM mainframes. From 1980 Metier embarked on an ambitious programme to develop their own RISC-based computer hardware and a complete software rewrite, to be called Artemis 2.
By 1985 when the partners sold the company to the Lockheed Corporation, one of their biggest customers, Metier had 700 employees (of whom 70 were shareholders) and offices in 21 countries.
in 1984 where with his wife Diana he founded the World Population Foundation
(WPF) to promote family planning: a major factor in improving the quality of life of women and families, and solving the problems of human development and rapid population growth in developing countries.
By 1993 WPF had become one of the leading population advocacy organisations in Europe, and in 1994 played an important role in the Dutch delegation to the International Conference on Population and Development
, (ICPD), held in Cairo.
In 1996, WPF became a founding member of Eurongo, the European network of NGOs working in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development, an organisation first proposed in 1991 by Brown, Sjaak Bavelaar (at that time Executive Director of WPF), and Ann Allport of CARE International.
WPF played a significant role in persuading the Dutch government to treble its funding for population assistance in 1998, becoming the largest single donor to the UN Population Fund. In 1999 WPF became more widely known when it was chosen by the UN to host the Hague Forum on Population and Development.
WPF continued to grow under the direction of Executive Director Wouter Meijer and by 2004 when he retired, had projects in 16 countries and had opened offices in Pakistan and Viet Nam, employing around 60 staff worldwide.
In 1998 Brown handed over the chairmanship of WPF to Nicolaas Biegman, former Dutch ambassador to the UN, but has remained on the board since that time.
in 1987.
On 1999, together with Christine Magistretti, Charles Riolo and Frederick Naville, Brown became a founding member of the board of the International Foundation for Population and Development based in Lausanne Switzerland. Working with their partner organisation, the Centre for the Study of Social Change, CSSC, in Mumbai, India, IFPD created the WIN program, opening 20 clinics providing primary health care for mothers and their children, and family planning, skills training and literacy classes for young women and girls in the slums around Bandra East. As of 2010, WIN was providing services to a population of over 80,000 people.
, the National Secular Society
and the Council for Secular Humanism
, but only became active in the Humanist movement after attending the 14th World Humanist Congress in Mumbai in 1999. He became a member of the IHEU Committee for Growth and Development later the same year and chair of the Committee in 2000. He was elected a vice-president of IHEU in 2001, and president in 2003. He served as president until 2006.
Prior to the 50th anniversary of the foundation of IHEU, Brown acted as co-ordinator of the project to update its founding document, the Amsterdam Declaration. The Amsterdam Declaration 2002 was adopted unanimously that year by the 15th World Humanist Congress and the IHEU General Assembly as "the official defining statement of World Humanism".
As president of IHEU Brown initiated a process of decentralisation with the appointment of a number of regional representatives to work closely with the more than 100 IHEU member organisations in over 40 countries. In 2004 in Kampala Uganda he inaugurated the launch of the African Humanist Alliance, uniting Humanist, secular and freethought organisations around Africa.
and its successor, the Human Rights Council
. Brown has prepared written submissions and spoken at the plenary sessions of the Commission and Council on issues as diverse as Female Genital Mutilation, the plight of the Dalits in India, slavery in North Africa, witchcraft and witch hunts in Africa, freedom of expression, the concept of defamation of religion, the incompatibility of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam with the Universal Declaration
, and the role of the Holy See
in attempting to cover up the child abuse scandal and its failure to honour its obligations under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child
.
with a declaration to be known as the Berlin Declaration
that was to make reference to Europe’s “Christian roots”. The declaration was to be signed by all 27 heads of government of the European Union and would become the preamble to the proposed new European Constitution.
Brown proposed a campaign to challenge this potentially divisive idea which promised to neglect not only other faiths but Humanism
, secularism
and Europe’s debt to the Enlightenment
.
IHEU agreed to work on a joint campaign, “A Vision for Europe”, with the European Humanist Federation
and the international NGO Catholics for a Free Choice to create an alternative to the Berlin Declaration, be called “the Brussels Declaration” to set out Europe’s common heritage based on the values of the Enlightenment. Brown was appointed co-ordinator of the campaign.
The drafting process ran from October 2006 until January 2007 and involved hundreds of conversations and some 15 preliminary drafts. The Brussels Declaration was presented to the representative of the European presidency at the European Parliament on 27 February 2007, one month before the date of the anniversary celebrations, and addressed to all 27 heads of government with a plea that the values set out in the Brussels Declaration be incorporated into the Berlin Declaration.
The campaign was successful.
When the Berlin Declaration
was promulgated on 27 March 2007, three heads of government refused to sign because the declaration contained no reference to God, religion or Europe’s supposed Christian heritage, and the declaration was eventually signed only by Angela Merkel as president of the European Council, Hans-Gert Pottering, president of the European Parliament, and Jose Maunuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. The declaration was then incorporated as the Preamble into the daft of the European Constitution.
One of the reasons for the success of the campaign was that rather than attempt to obtain a million or more signatures from ordinary citizens the campaign enlisted the support of 1000 leading Europeans including elder statesmen, religious leaders and Nobel laureates, all with considerable influence in their respective countries.
One not entirely unexpected result of the campaign was that a furious Pope Benedict XVI declared that “Europe has lost its soul” and demanded an invitation to address the European parliament. When the invitation was eventually received however the Pope declined, stating that the Parliament had become “too secular”.
2006, the Free Press Prize of the Danish Free Press Society, together with the Norwegian
-Pakistan
i comedienne Shabana Rehman
. The prize announcement stated that "Roy Brown has been a tireless advocate of free speech as part and parcel of human rights. He has thus made an invaluable contribution to the defence of the open society and freedom of expression."
In 2008, Brown received the IHEU Distinguished Service to Humanism award for, among other things, his work representing the IHEU at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist. He was president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the International Humanist and Ethical Union
International Humanist and Ethical Union
The International Humanist and Ethical Union is an umbrella organisation embracing humanist, atheist, rationalist, secular, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations worldwide. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, the IHEU is a democratic union of more than 100 member organizations in 40...
(IHEU) from 2003 to 2006 and is main representative of IHEU at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Early years
Roy Brown was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 2 November 1937. He was educated at the Martin School, East Finchley and Haberdashers' Aske's School
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School is a British independent school for boys aged 4–19. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Haileybury Group....
and the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
where he read Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. He trained as an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
with ITT
ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where he worked on the development of electronic systems, and the UK Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Orford Ness
Orford Ness
Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Wier Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the mainland by the River Alde, and was formed by longshore...
and Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
where he was part of the team developing monitoring systems for the international Test Ban Treaty
Test Ban Treaty
Test Ban Treaty may refer to:* Partial Test Ban Treaty, adopted in 1963* Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, adopted in 1996...
. He emigrate
Emigrate
Emigrate is a heavy metal band based in New York, led by Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead guitarist of the German band Rammstein.-History:Kruspe started the band in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording...
d to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1963 where he worked for four years with Canadian Marconi in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on the design of airborne radar and navigation systems.
He returned to the UK in 1967 as Chief Designer for Racal
Racal
Racal Electronics plc was once the third-largest British electronics firm. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including: as voice and data recorders; point of sale terminals; laboratory instruments;...
Research in Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
, pioneers in the field of Computer Aided Design.
Metier Management Systems
In 1976, with three colleagues: Richard (Dick) Evans, Robin Lodge and James Miller, Brown founded Metier Management Systems in London, the first company to develop and market mini-computer-based systems for the management of large scale projects. Their first product, Apollo, launched in 1977, was the first Project Management System to run on a minicomputer but was limited to network planning and scheduling. It was joined in 1978 by a sister product, ArtemisArtemis (software)
Artemis is the brand name of a family of software based project planning and management tools.-Origins:Artemis originated as the Artemis Project Management System developed by Metier Management Systems in 1978, a sister product to Apollo, Metier's first PERT network scheduling system launched in 1977...
which incorporated cost and resource management, and became the world's first commercially successful relational database
Relational database
A relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...
system.
By the early 1980s, Artemis systems were in use in over 30 countries providing management information for some of the worlds largest civil, aerospace, nuclear and military projects, including the construction of off-shore oil platforms, aircraft development, the construction of five military cities in the Middle East, the maintenance of the US navy fleets at Long Beach
Long Beach Naval Shipyard
thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...
and Norfolk Naval Yard, aerospace projects, nuclear power plant maintenance, and production scheduling in the UK and US automobile industries.
From 1978 until 1982, as the business grew, Metier developed Artemis systems for other platforms including Hewlett Packard and IBM mainframes. From 1980 Metier embarked on an ambitious programme to develop their own RISC-based computer hardware and a complete software rewrite, to be called Artemis 2.
By 1985 when the partners sold the company to the Lockheed Corporation, one of their biggest customers, Metier had 700 employees (of whom 70 were shareholders) and offices in 21 countries.
World Population Foundation
Brown moved to the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 1984 where with his wife Diana he founded the World Population Foundation
World Population Foundation
The World Population Foundation was founded in 1987 in the Netherlands by Diana and Roy W Brown. Their purpose was to create an organisation to draw attention to the effects of high birth rates and rapid population growth on maternal and infant mortality, communities and the environment, and to...
(WPF) to promote family planning: a major factor in improving the quality of life of women and families, and solving the problems of human development and rapid population growth in developing countries.
By 1993 WPF had become one of the leading population advocacy organisations in Europe, and in 1994 played an important role in the Dutch delegation to the International Conference on Population and Development
International Conference on Population and Development
The United Nations coordinated an International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt from 5–13 September 1994. Its resulting Program of Action is the steering document for the United Nations Population Fund ....
, (ICPD), held in Cairo.
In 1996, WPF became a founding member of Eurongo, the European network of NGOs working in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development, an organisation first proposed in 1991 by Brown, Sjaak Bavelaar (at that time Executive Director of WPF), and Ann Allport of CARE International.
WPF played a significant role in persuading the Dutch government to treble its funding for population assistance in 1998, becoming the largest single donor to the UN Population Fund. In 1999 WPF became more widely known when it was chosen by the UN to host the Hague Forum on Population and Development.
WPF continued to grow under the direction of Executive Director Wouter Meijer and by 2004 when he retired, had projects in 16 countries and had opened offices in Pakistan and Viet Nam, employing around 60 staff worldwide.
In 1998 Brown handed over the chairmanship of WPF to Nicolaas Biegman, former Dutch ambassador to the UN, but has remained on the board since that time.
International Foundation for Population and Development
The family moved to SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1987.
On 1999, together with Christine Magistretti, Charles Riolo and Frederick Naville, Brown became a founding member of the board of the International Foundation for Population and Development based in Lausanne Switzerland. Working with their partner organisation, the Centre for the Study of Social Change, CSSC, in Mumbai, India, IFPD created the WIN program, opening 20 clinics providing primary health care for mothers and their children, and family planning, skills training and literacy classes for young women and girls in the slums around Bandra East. As of 2010, WIN was providing services to a population of over 80,000 people.
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Brown was brought up as a Methodist but became a Humanist when he met his second wife Diana in 1970. He became a life member of the British Humanist AssociationBritish Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association is an organisation of the United Kingdom which promotes Humanism and represents "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious beliefs." The BHA is committed to secularism, human rights, democracy, egalitarianism and mutual respect...
, the National Secular Society
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...
and the Council for Secular Humanism
Council for Secular Humanism
The Council for Secular Humanism is a secular humanist organization headquartered in Amherst, New York. In 1980 CODESH issued A Secular Humanist Declaration, an argument for and statement of belief in Democratic Secular Humanism...
, but only became active in the Humanist movement after attending the 14th World Humanist Congress in Mumbai in 1999. He became a member of the IHEU Committee for Growth and Development later the same year and chair of the Committee in 2000. He was elected a vice-president of IHEU in 2001, and president in 2003. He served as president until 2006.
Prior to the 50th anniversary of the foundation of IHEU, Brown acted as co-ordinator of the project to update its founding document, the Amsterdam Declaration. The Amsterdam Declaration 2002 was adopted unanimously that year by the 15th World Humanist Congress and the IHEU General Assembly as "the official defining statement of World Humanism".
As president of IHEU Brown initiated a process of decentralisation with the appointment of a number of regional representatives to work closely with the more than 100 IHEU member organisations in over 40 countries. In 2004 in Kampala Uganda he inaugurated the launch of the African Humanist Alliance, uniting Humanist, secular and freethought organisations around Africa.
Human Rights at the UN
Since 2004 Brown has also served as IHEU Main Representative at the UN, Geneva, where he has worked at the UN Commission on Human RightsUnited Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006...
and its successor, the Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
. Brown has prepared written submissions and spoken at the plenary sessions of the Commission and Council on issues as diverse as Female Genital Mutilation, the plight of the Dalits in India, slavery in North Africa, witchcraft and witch hunts in Africa, freedom of expression, the concept of defamation of religion, the incompatibility of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam with the Universal Declaration
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
, and the role of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
in attempting to cover up the child abuse scandal and its failure to honour its obligations under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
.
A Vision for Europe
In 2006 the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
with a declaration to be known as the Berlin Declaration
Berlin Declaration
Berlin Declaration may refer to one of the following declarations:*The Berlin Declaration on the Uniqueness of Christ and Jewish Evangelism in Europe Today is a theological declaration issued by the World Evangelical Alliance in 2008...
that was to make reference to Europe’s “Christian roots”. The declaration was to be signed by all 27 heads of government of the European Union and would become the preamble to the proposed new European Constitution.
Brown proposed a campaign to challenge this potentially divisive idea which promised to neglect not only other faiths but Humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
and Europe’s debt to the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
.
IHEU agreed to work on a joint campaign, “A Vision for Europe”, with the European Humanist Federation
European Humanist Federation
The European Humanist Federation-Fédération Humaniste Européenne is an international association that federates numerous European humanist associations. It also has individual members. The members of its administrative board are elected for three-year terms by the general assembly of the member...
and the international NGO Catholics for a Free Choice to create an alternative to the Berlin Declaration, be called “the Brussels Declaration” to set out Europe’s common heritage based on the values of the Enlightenment. Brown was appointed co-ordinator of the campaign.
The drafting process ran from October 2006 until January 2007 and involved hundreds of conversations and some 15 preliminary drafts. The Brussels Declaration was presented to the representative of the European presidency at the European Parliament on 27 February 2007, one month before the date of the anniversary celebrations, and addressed to all 27 heads of government with a plea that the values set out in the Brussels Declaration be incorporated into the Berlin Declaration.
The campaign was successful.
When the Berlin Declaration
Berlin Declaration
Berlin Declaration may refer to one of the following declarations:*The Berlin Declaration on the Uniqueness of Christ and Jewish Evangelism in Europe Today is a theological declaration issued by the World Evangelical Alliance in 2008...
was promulgated on 27 March 2007, three heads of government refused to sign because the declaration contained no reference to God, religion or Europe’s supposed Christian heritage, and the declaration was eventually signed only by Angela Merkel as president of the European Council, Hans-Gert Pottering, president of the European Parliament, and Jose Maunuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. The declaration was then incorporated as the Preamble into the daft of the European Constitution.
One of the reasons for the success of the campaign was that rather than attempt to obtain a million or more signatures from ordinary citizens the campaign enlisted the support of 1000 leading Europeans including elder statesmen, religious leaders and Nobel laureates, all with considerable influence in their respective countries.
One not entirely unexpected result of the campaign was that a furious Pope Benedict XVI declared that “Europe has lost its soul” and demanded an invitation to address the European parliament. When the invitation was eventually received however the Pope declined, stating that the Parliament had become “too secular”.
Awards
1999, with his wife Diana, Council for Secular Humanism “Distinguished Humanists” award2006, the Free Press Prize of the Danish Free Press Society, together with the Norwegian
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...
-Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i comedienne Shabana Rehman
Shabana Rehman
Shabana Rehman Gaarder is a Norwegian stand-up comedian, writer and columnist.-Brutalized by adolescence boyfriend:...
. The prize announcement stated that "Roy Brown has been a tireless advocate of free speech as part and parcel of human rights. He has thus made an invaluable contribution to the defence of the open society and freedom of expression."
In 2008, Brown received the IHEU Distinguished Service to Humanism award for, among other things, his work representing the IHEU at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.