The Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation was established in 1986 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Dominique de Menil to promote the protection of human rights throughout the world. From 1986-1994, the foundation periodically gave a $100,000 prize to one or more organizations or individuals for their outstanding commitment, at the risk of their lives, to opposing human rights violations.
Yuri Orlov, Soviet Union.
Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, Guatemala.
Presented at The Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas.
Keynote speaker: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Cape Town.
Yuri Orlov, Soviet physicist and dissident, founded the Moscow Helsinki Committee in May 1976. His outspoken criticism of the Communist Party and his human rights activism led to his expulsion from the party in 1956 and his arrest in 1977. After seven years in a strict regimen labor camp, he moved to the United States where he continued to speak out for human rights.
Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) was created in June 1984 by relatives of the disappeared in Guatemala to determine the fate of missing family members by making inquiries of the government, filing habeas corpus petitions, and denouncing disappearances in local and international forums. By denouncing executions, kidnappings, and torture, they placed themselves at the same risks.
1986 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter's 1986 "Presentation of the Awards" speech »
La Vicara de la Solidaridad, Chile.
Presented at The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
Keynote speaker: former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez founded in 1987 La Vicarade la Solidaridad to provide legal assistance to the families of victims of human rights abuses. La Vicara also collected and disseminated information about specific human rights violations, sponsored nonpolitical civic programs for human rights education, and provided food and monetary assistance to those in need.
1987 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s 1987 State of Human Rights Address »
The Sisulu Family, South Africa.
Presented at The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
Keynote speaker: Andrew Young, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Walter and Albertina Sisulu and their seven children came to symbolize the fight against apartheid and the suffering it imposed on South Africa. Walter, as secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC), and Albertina, as a leading member of the South African women's movement, struggled constantly for the recognition of human rights for all South Africans. All members of the Sisulu family were imprisoned, exiled, or otherwise harassed for more than two decades for their work for justice in South Africa.
1988 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s 1988 State of Human Rights Address »
AI Haq (Law in the Service of Man), West Bank.
B'Tselem/'The lsraeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Israel.
Presented at The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
Keynote speaker: former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Al-Haq, the West Bank affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists, is a Palestinian human rights organization based in Ramallah. It was founded in 1979 to promote respect for internationally recognized standards of human tights, humanitarian law, and justice in the Occupied Territories.
B'Tselem was founded in February 1989 by a group of Israeli lawyers, intellectuals, physicians, journalists, and Knesset members to collect and disseminate data on human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The organization also educates the Israeli public about international human rights standards and the impact of human rights violations on Israeli society and democracy.
1989 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s The 1989 State of Human Rights Address »
The Consejo de Comunidades Etnicas Runujel Junam, Guatemala.
The Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of Sri Lanka.
Presented at New York University, New York City.
Keynote speaker: New York University President John Brademas.
The Consejo de Comunidades Etnicas Runujel Junam was formed by a group of Mayan Indian peasants with the assistance of schoolteacher Amilcar Mendez Urizar in July 1988 to monitor and defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. The group's objectives included disbanding the massive civilian patrol system, educating the rural populace about human rights, and seeking legal redress for victims of abuse.
The Civil Rights Movement (CRM) of Sri Lanka was founded in 1971 to address human rights violations that occurred in the aftermath of a militant insurgency, including prolonged detention, deaths in custody, unfair trial procedures, suspension of trade union rights, and censorship. The group built upon this work, examining existing and proposed laws against international human rights standards.
1990 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s 1990 State of Human Rights Address »
The University of Central America in San Salvador in honor of six Jesuit priests who were murdered.
Presented at The Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas.
Keynote speaker: Nelson Mandela.
Father Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J., Father Ignacio Martin Bar, S.J., Father Segundo Montes Mozo, S.J., Father Juan Ramn Moreno Pardo, S.J.,Father Amando Lpez Quintana, S.J., Father Joaquin Lpez y Lpez, S.J.
Six Jesuit priests were slain on November 16, 1989, in El Salvador by the Salvadoran military. Their assassinations were in retaliation for their outspoken commitment to human rights and social change in El Salvador. The award was given to the University of Central America in San Salvador in honor of their sacrifices.
1991 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s 1991 State of Human Rights Address »
The Haitian Refugee Center, Miami, Florida.
The Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, Colorado.
Presented at the Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.
Keynote speaker: former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
The Haitian Refugee Center was created in 1980 to protect the civil and constitutional rights of Haitians who continue to seek refuge in the United States after fleeing repressive government policies and human rights abuses in Haiti. The Center has used class actions and precedent-setting litigation to ensure protection of the basic rights of Haitian refugees, often on behalf of refugees unable to obtain representation in immigration matters.
The Native American Rights Fund was founded in 1970 by a group of Native Americans and other persons who recognized the need for a national advocacy group that specialized in Indian law and provided legal representation to Indian people. The Fund focuses on the preservation of tribal existence, protection of tribal natural resources, promotion of human rights, government accountability to Native Americans, and the development of Indian law.
Read President Carter’s 1992 State of Human Rights Address »
The Carter Menil Human Rights Foundation did not bestow the award in the year of 1993.
The Institute of Applied Social Science (FAFO), Norway.
Presented by Mrs. Dominique de Menil and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Accepted by the Honorable Terje Rød-Larsen
On September 13, 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a declaration of principles that intends to enable Palestinians and Israelis to live a common economic goal. That turning point, symbolized by the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat, culminated 18 months of unconventional secret talks staged in Oslo hotels and country homes. Five Norwegians created an atmosphere of informality in which negotiators could come to know and trust each other.
1994 Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation Program »
Read President Carter’s 1994 State of Human Rights Address »
Please sign up below for important news about the work of The Carter Center and special event invitations.
Jimmy CarterOur commitment to Human Rights must be absolute. The powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced. The world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. People are craving and now demanding their place in the sun - not just for the benefit of their own physical conditions, but for basic human rights. Because we are free, we never can be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere.
