Global Citizenship for Human Rights - Human Rights Heroes

  MARINO CORDOBA BERRIO Marino Cordoba is a community leader fighting for the rights of the Afro–Colombians, as well as other marginalised groups.   He is from the Riosucio region in north-western Colombia, a jungle region with high biodiversity. Much of area has long been under the control of paramilitary groups who are linked to powerful economic interests. The land rights of local communities have often been violated, notably for logging and mining. Starting in the early 1990’s Cordoba fought for the recognition of the local communities’ land rights. As a trade union organizer, he also worked with the banana workers union to secure better salaries, health services and respect for union work. Marino was one of the key leaders behind the constitutional changes in 1991 that recognized Afro-Colombians as one of the minority communities. This led to law 70 in 1993 that gave Afro-Colombians rights over their collective land, natural resources, minerals, and their environm...

  NARGES MOHAMMADI Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian human rights activist . She is former vice-president and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC). She was elected as President of the Executive Committee of the National Council of Peace in Iran, a broad coalition against war and for the promotion of human rights. She has campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in Iran, and was awarded the Per Anger Prize by the Swedish government for her human rights work in 2011. Mohammadi was born 21 April 1972 in Zanjan, Iran. She attended Imam Khomeini International University, receiving a degree in physics, and became a professional engineer. During her university career, she wrote articles supporting women's rights in the student newspaper and was arrested at two meetings of the political student group Tashakkol Daaneshjuyi Roshangaraan ("Enlightened Student Group"). Mohammadi was first arrested in 1998 for her criticisms of the Iranian govern...

  HINA JILANI Pioneering lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner; a leading activist in Pakistan's women's movement and international champion of human rights. A renowned lawyer and civil society activist, Hina Jilani has dedicated her life to fighting for human rights and democracy in Pakistan and around the world.   Jilani commenced practising law in 1979, while Pakistan was under martial law and she was   appointed   Advocate   of   the   High   Court   of   Pakistan   in   1981,   seven   years after   completing   her   law   studies. After qualifying as a lawyer, Hina Jilani established Pakistan’s first all-women law firm in 1981, followed by Pakistan’s first legal aid centre in 1986. A prominent lawyer and civil society activist for the last three decades, Jilani specializes in human rights litigation and the human rights of women, children, minorities, and prisoners. Cases   she ...

  DENIS MUKWEGE Denis Mukwege (born 1 March 1955) is a Congolese gynecologist and Pentecostal pastor. He founded and works in Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where he specializes in the treatment of women who have been raped by armed rebels.   In 2018, Mukwege and Iraqi Yazidi human rights activist Nadia Murad were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".   Denis Mukwege was born in Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His father was a Pentecostal minister. Mukwege decided to study medicine after seeing the complications that women in the Congo experienced during childbirth who had no access to specialist healthcare, and he wanted to heal the sick people for whom his father prayed. Mukwege received the opportunity to study medicine in Bujumbura at the University of Burundi and graduated with a medical degree in 1983. After graduating with a medical degree , Mukwege worked as...