Global Citizenship for Human Rights - Human Rights Heroes

  NATASA KANDIC (b. 1946) Nataša Kandić is a Serbian human rights activist and coordinator of the RECOM Reconciliation Network, founder and ex-executive director of the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), an organization campaigning for human rights and reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia, focusing on the Serbian role in the conflict. Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) was formed in 1992. Natasha Kandic was born in 1946 in Kragujevac, in Yugoslavia (now Serbia). After finishing her studies in Sociology, she became a dissident under Tito and a human rights activist after his death. Natasha Kandic is considered the Simon Wiesenthal of the Balkans because she has systematically investigated the crimes committed during the war that followed the 1992 break-up of Yugoslavia, thereby enabling the Serbs responsible to be brought to justice. She was won numerous international awards and in 2003 she was defined a “European hero” by Time Magazine and in 2005 she was declared honorary citi...

  BENAZIR BHUTTO (1953-2007) Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who became the first woman leader of a Muslim nation in modern history. She served two terms as prime minister of Pakistan, in 1988–90 and in 1993–96. Benazir Bhutto was born born June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Pakistan to a prominent political family. She was the eldest child of former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After completing her early education in Pakistan, at age 16 she left her homeland to study at Harvard’s Radcliffe College. After completing her undergraduate degree at Radcliffe she studied at England’s Oxford University, where she was awarded a second degree in 1977. Later that year she returned to Pakistan, where her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had been elected Prime Minister, but days after her arrival, the military seized power and her father was imprisoned. In 1979 he was hanged by the military government of General Zia Ul Haq. After her father’s execution in 1979 during the rule of the mi...

  NELSON MANDELA   (1918-2013) Nelson Mandela, one of the most recognizable human rights symbols of the twentieth century, is a man whose dedication to the liberties of his people inspires human rights advocates throughout the world. A symbol of hope for many, Mandela is also a former winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. He was the son of a tribal chief. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. As the first in his family to receive a formal education, h e attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names. Mandel...

  MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1929-1968) Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the twentieth century’s best-known advocates for nonviolent social change. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. Though they undoubtedly tried, King’s parents couldn’t shield him completely from racism. Martin Sr. fought against racial prejudice, not just because his race suffered, but because he considered racism and segregation to be an affront to God's will. He strongly discouraged any sense of class superiority in his children which left a lasting impression on Martin Jr. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. Always a strong worker for civil right...