Malala receives highest Amnesty International award

The News Wednesday, September 18, 2013 From Print Edition ISLAMABAD: Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by militants last year, has received Amnesty International’s highest honour.Malala will share the 2013 Ambassador of Conscience Award with American singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte, the London-based NGO announced on Tuesday. The award, which recognizes “individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights throughout their life by example,” will be handed out on Tuesday in Dublin, Ireland, a private news channel reported. “Our two new ambassadors of conscience are different from each other in many ways, but they share a dedication to the fight for human rights everywhere and for all,” said Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International. Malala said she was honored to receive the award.“I am truly honored to receive this award and would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that there are many millions of children like me across the world who fight every single day for their right to go to school. I hope that by working together we will one day realize our dream of education for every child, in every corner of the world,” the 16-year-old girl said. Meanwhile, Malala Yousafzai and US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden have been nominated for the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.Malala is backed by the three main political groups in parliament, making her a favourite for the award. Snowden, the US contractor who revealed widespread spying by the United States on friends and foes alike and who has sought asylum in Russia, has been nominated by the Greens and a far left group. A parliament statement Tuesday also named the Standing Man group, activists behind the Taksim Square protests in Istanbul in June which upset the accepted view that Turkey was on the smooth path to lasting political stability.