2017 Right Livelihood Awards Honour Inspiring Changemakers and Champions of Justice
The Laureates of this year's Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize', have been announced today in Stockholm, Sweden:
This year's honorary award goes to Robert Bilott (USA) "for exposing a decades-long history of chemical pollution, winning long-sought justice for the victims, and setting a precedent for effective regulation on hazardous substances."
The Laureates of this year's Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize', have been announced today in Stockholm, Sweden:
This year's honorary award goes to Robert Bilott (USA) "for exposing a decades-long history of chemical pollution, winning long-sought justice for the victims, and setting a precedent for effective regulation on hazardous substances."
Bilott commented: "I hope that this honour helps spread awareness and recognition of the urgent need to take further steps to protect our drinking water, and the ability and power of local residents and communities to ensure that such steps are taken."
The cash award of SEK 3 million is shared equally by three Laureates:
Colin Gonsalves (India) is honoured by the Jury "for his tireless and innovative use of public interest litigation over three decades to secure fundamental human rights for India's most marginalised and vulnerable citizens."
Gonsalves commented: "I am both humbled and privileged by the Award. It comes at a time when India is going through a dark period and human rights activists are under siege. The platform the Foundation provides will help us strengthen democratic resistance at this critical stage."
Khadija Ismayilova (Azerbaijan) receives the Award "for her courage and tenacity in exposing corruption at the highest levels of government through outstanding investigative journalism in the name of transparency and accountability". It is the first time that a Right Livelihood Award goes to a Laureate from Azerbaijan.
Ismayilova commented: "It is an honour for me to be chosen for such a prestigious award. I happily accept the award on behalf of all journalists and human rights defenders of my country, who continue to work despite difficult conditions."
Yetnebersh Nigussie (Ethiopia) is recognised by the Jury "for her inspiring work promoting the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, allowing them to realise their full potential and changing mindsets in our societies".
Nigussie commented: "It is an absolute honour to receive the prestigious Right Livelihood Award. The recognition provides welcome fuel to the disability and development community's ongoing call for inclusion and full participation of people with disabilities in all spheres of life."
The announcement was made at the International Press Centre at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs by Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, and Maina Kiai, Jury member and former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, following the decision by an international Jury that considered 102 nominations from 51 countries.
Ole von Uexkull commented: "This year's Laureates protect the rights and lives of citizens across three continents. With their courageous work for human rights, public health and good governance, they tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges at their very core. At a time of alarming setbacks for democracy, their successes show us the way forward towards a just, peaceful and sustainable world for all."
Established in 1980, the Right Livelihood Award honours and supports courageous people and organisations offering visionary and exemplary solutions to the root causes of global problems. Today, there are 170 Laureates from 69 countries.
Contact:
For further information and to arrange interviews with the Laureates, please contact Johannes Mosskin, Director of Communications, mobile: +46 (0)70 43 71 148, e-mail: johannes@rightlivelihood.org
Further details on the Laureates, alongside high-resolution photographs and videos are available at: www.rightlivelihoodaward.org/2017
About the Laureates
Robert Bilott
Robert Bilott is one of the world's finest environmental lawyers. With a combination of innovative litigation, scientific understanding, and extraordinary perseverance, he has achieved one of the most significant victories for environmental law and corporate accountability of this century.
In a legal battle lasting 19 years, he represented 70,000 citizens whose drinking water had been contaminated with Perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) by the chemical giant DuPont. Expanding upon the concept of class-action litigation, he set up a 7-year toxicological study of the 70,000 victims, which contributed significantly to the scientific understanding of the global health risks associated with Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). This class of substances, which do not break down in the environment or the human body, are ubiquitous in our societies today.
At a time when environmental regulation is under serious threat of being watered down in the United States and elsewhere, Bilott successfully won compensation for his clients and continues to call for better regulation of toxic substances.
Ole von Uexkull commented: "The environmental scandal Robert Bilott uncovered is but the tip of the iceberg of global pollution caused by fluorocarbons. Thanks to his persistent work, the world now knows that this class of chemicals poses a serious threat to public health across the globe and urgently requires regulation."
Colin Gonsalves
Colin Gonsalves is amongst the most complete human rights lawyers of his generation. He is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and the founder of the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), an Indian national network of public interest lawyers.
Over three decades, HRLN's lawyers have engaged in public interest litigation to hold the government to account and secure a broad spectrum of human rights. Gonsalves' clients have included India's most vulnerable people, such as bonded labourers, ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, slum dwellers, marginalised women and the poor.
Gonsalves' most significant victories in the courtroom include the 2001 "Right to Food" case, which saw India's Supreme Court issue far reaching orders enforcing a free midday meal for all schoolchildren and subsidised grain for over 400 million Indians living below the poverty line.
In 2016 and 2017, Gonsalves obtained landmark judgements from the Supreme Court that ended the longstanding immunity of the Indian Armed Forces from criminal prosecution. This is already having a significant impact in reducing the number of extrajudicial executions occurring in India's Northeast.
Ole von Uexkull commented: "Colin Gonsalves has built a network of lawyers all over India who help the most disadvantaged people access their rights. His famous Right-to-Food case at the Indian Supreme Court, for instance, has given 400 million people better nutrition. At a time when India, like many countries, is becoming more authoritarian, Colin and his lawyers' network play a crucial role in defending the Indian democracy."
Khadija Ismayilova
Khadija Ismayilova is Azerbaijan's most outstanding contemporary investigative journalist. In the past decade, her investigative reporting has revealed a wide range of corrupt and lucrative business deals involving President Aliyev's family members. She has provided irrefutable evidence of corruption at the highest levels of Azerbaijan's government, which also involved multinational companies like TeliaSonera. Significantly, her articles have uncovered how the wealth of the nation has been plundered, routed abroad and used to influence European politicians.
For publishing articles on government corruption, Ismayilova has been subjected to smear campaigns, harassment and fabricated criminal charges. Despite serving one and a half years in prison, Ismayilova has refused to be silenced, and continues to write. Ismayilova also addresses Azerbaijan's poor human rights record, consistently raising the issue of political prisoners in the country and provided their families with moral and material support.
As the government continues to intimidate and jail journalists with an alarming frequency, Ismayilova remains resolute in courageously writing and speaking out for greater government accountability and good governance in Azerbaijan.
Ole von Uexkull commented: "Khadija Ismayilova is one of the most courageous and skilled investigative journalists of her generation. Despite imprisonment, threats and smear campaigns, she has not given up investigating the authoritarian Azeri government and ruling elite. Thanks to her dedicated work, we now know how deeply European politicians and businesses are implicated in corruption and bribery related to Azerbaijan."
Yetnebersh Nigussie
Yetnebersh Nigussie is an Ethiopian activist working for human rights based on her own experience of being discriminated against coming from a "developing country", being young, a woman - and blind. She is fearlessly pushing for women's and girls' rights, inclusive education and a vibrant civil society. Nigussie is an outstanding advocate for the rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
Through her tireless efforts, she has changed perceptions on disability in her own society and internationally with the compelling message: "Focus on the person, not the disability. We have one disability, but 99 abilities to build on!"
Currently a Senior Inclusion Advisor with the international disability and development NGO, Light for the World, Nigussie fights for the inclusion of the 15% - more than 1 billion - of the world's population who have some kind of disability. She strives to create inclusive conditions for future generations by connecting national realities with international frameworks.
Ole von Uexkull commented: "Yetnebersh Nigussie is a shining star of hope for all, not just for the more than 1 billion people with some kind of disability. With her personal story and her political work as an activist, she makes a strong case for positive social change, based on people's rights and people's abilities. With Yetnebersh Nigussie, we honour a courageous woman who shows the enormous potential of inclusive societies."
About the Award:
The Right Livelihood Award is not an award for the world's political, scientific or economic elite, but an award for the people and their work and struggles for a better future. The Right Livelihood Award accepts proposals from everyone through an open nomination process.
The award is named after the Buddhist concept of Right Livelihood, which encourages people to make their living in an ethical way that respects other people and the natural world.
In addition to presenting the annual award, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation actively supports the work of its Laureates, including protecting those whose life and liberty has been put at risk by their efforts.
Previous Laureates include high-profile US whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Daniel Ellsberg, British journalist Alan Rusbridger, the newspaper Cumhuriyet (Turkey), environmentalist Vandana Shiva (India), human rights activists Bianca Jagger (Nicaragua), Jacqueline Moudeina (Chad), Dr Denis Mukwege (DR Congo) and Martin Almada (Paraguay), as well as Swedish children's book author Astrid Lindgren.
The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to "honour and support courageous people solving global problems". It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and there are now 182 Laureates from 72 countries.
If Biden 'Must Step Aside,' Why Aren't Democrats Filling the Streets to Demand It?
So far, one journalist noted, "the loudest voices trying to force him out of the race are elites: major media columnists and wealthy donors."
The number of congressional Democrats urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the race for the White House grew on Tuesday, but many of their colleagues—along with other elected officials and voters—remain supportive of the aging Democratic leader's effort to beat former Republican President Donald Trump a second time.
Since Biden's poor debate performance last month sparked concerns about whether he can defeat Trump and effectively serve another term, the president has remained defiant, insisting that he is determined to stay in the race—as he made clear with a Monday letter to Democrats in Congress that he also shared on social media.
Not only does the movement to convince Biden that he "must step aside" before the Democratic National Convention in August appear to be failing, "it's failing in a very predictable way," according to David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect.
"Though polling has consistently registered massive public concern with Biden's age and his ability to withstand the rigors of a high-stakes campaign, let alone another term in office until he turns 86 years old, the loudest voices trying to force him out of the race are elites: major media columnists and wealthy donors," he wrote Tuesday. "They lack democratic legitimacy and the public's respect, even as they are expressing the popular will. And they have given Biden the opportunity to parry their attacks simply by employing the politics of resentment."
"There is one group trying to change this. A very new organization (it literally started last Friday afternoon) founded by a handful of Democratic organizers called Pass the Torch is trying to motivate ordinary Democrats to speak out about the need for a stronger ticket to defeat Donald Trump," Dayen pointed out. While the group has a petition and is talking with convention delegates, he added, "an effort like Pass the Torch will really only derive legitimacy from having a large number of rank-and-file voices behind it."
Reflecting on Biden and Trump's disastrous debate in a Tuesday opinion piece for Common Dreams, writer and retired mental health worker Phil Wilson asserted that "members of a sane society would be thundering angrily through the streets given the choice between a smoldering ghost and an aspiring Nazi monster."
Wilson continued:
Who chose these two? Why are 50 million people curled up on couches, wrapped around plastic bowls of popcorn while these terrible, inept, and heartless fools cough up lies and trivial asides? We reflect upon levels of dementia and Nazi wannabe evil as if they were existential givens. Of course we all must decide on November 5th which genocidaire we prefer, the one who bombed the children of Gaza or the one vowing to deport up to 20 million innocent people. Do we pick the one who can barely remember his own name or the guy with a swirling vortex of hatred orbiting his eyeballs?
"This election is a farce—the dying throes of a criminal society, the death spasms of a plundering oligarchy that once devoured most of the world and now cannibalizes its own," he concluded.
Also writing for Common Dreams on Tuesday, University of Essex professor Peter Bloom argued that "the recent Trump-Biden debate served as a grotesque apotheosis of 'great man' politics, laying bare the dangerous fallacy of entrusting democracy to the outsized personalities of flawed individuals."
"The future of democracy, in the U.S. and beyond, depends on our ability to move beyond the cult of personality and reclaim politics as a collective endeavor," According to Bloom. "The alternative—a continued descent into gerontocratic oligarchy thinly disguised as populism—is too dire to contemplate. As we watch two aged politicians compete for the chance to lead a nation in crisis, let it serve as a wake-up call. The era of great men is over. The real work of rebuilding our democracy is just beginning."
Biden's campaign and supporters continue to frame his reelection as crucial to the fight to save U.S. democracy—particularly given that a victorious Trump would be armed with new king-like powers, thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
As John Nichols, a national affairs correspondent for The Nation, noted Monday, Biden himself "says that the country is at 'an inflection point,' where the future of American democracy is at stake."
"This requires more than putting in your best effort in a controlled setting," Nichols wrote, describing Biden's Friday rally in Wisconsin as "serviceable" but far from what is needed. "It requires an absolutely determined candidate and a big, bold, risk-taking campaign that inspires Wisconsinites, and voters nationwide, to defeat Trump and Trumpism. If Biden really is determined to stay in this race, he owes it to himself, his party, and his country to be all in."
The president has received similar advice from progressives in Congress. Since the debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020—has stood by Biden but also stressed that he must "do better," for which the senator has received some criticism.
Progressives in the House were noticeably quieter—as Slate's Alexander Sammon noted last week, "There's no real upside for Squad members to put themselves in the line of fire during an already bitter public deliberation"—until multiple members of the informal group confirmed support for Biden on Monday.
"The matter is closed," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters Monday evening, citing her weekend conversation with Biden and his repeated statements over recent days that he has no intention of stepping aside. "He is in this race and I support him."
Rep. @AOC: President Biden has made clear that he is in this race. The matter is closed. Biden is our nominee. He is in this race and I support him. He is running against Donald Trump, who is a man with 34 felony convictions. Not a single Republican has asked for Donald Trump to… pic.twitter.com/MOvUu3VQU5
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 8, 2024
"Now what I think is critically important right now is that we focus on what it takes to win in November because he is running against Donald Trump, who is a man with 34 felony convictions, that has committed 34 felony crimes, and not a single Republican has asked for Donald Trump to not be the nominee," she continued.
Ocasio-Cortez explained that she has "communicated" to Biden that winning the election will require Democrats to "pivot and increasingly commit to the issues that are critically important to working people across this country," including rent and mortgage relief as well as the expansion of Medicare and Social Security.
"And if we can do that and continue our work on student loans, secure a cease-fire, and bring those dollars back into investing in public policy, then that's how we win in November," she added. "That's what I'm committed to and that's what I want to make sure we secure."
With lawmakers back on Capitol Hill following the Independence Day recess, Democrats in both chambers held caucus meetings on Tuesday. While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters, "As I've said before, I'm with Joe," Politicoreported that "many typically chatty senators almost entirely refused to talk with press about their caucus' conversation."
House Democrats met earlier in the day. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who ended his longshot primary challenge to Biden and endorsed him in March, told reporters, "If this has been vindication, vindication has never been so unfulfilling."
"I made my case eight months ago and I think it's time for others to share their perspectives," he said. "I'm deeply disappointed in a political system that has resulted in this dynamic that we now face."
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) joined the small but growing contingent urging him to step down, saying: "I know President Biden cares deeply about the future of our country. That's why I am asking that he declare that he won't run for reelection."
As the Pass the Torch campaign highlighted on social media Tuesday, some congressional Democrats are worried that Biden remaining at the top of the ticket could have a negative downballot impact.
At least one congressman who reportedly urged Biden to exit the race over the weekend, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), appeared to change course. He declined to comment on what he privately told Biden but said: "The president made very clear yesterday that he's running... We have to support him."
After House Democrats' meeting, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) toldPolitico, "My personal takeaway is that Joe Biden has tremendous support from the Democratic caucus, and we're going to move forward."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, suggested in a Monday statement that even as public and private conversations are taking place within the party about the best way forward, nobody should forget the core differences between what Democrats and Biden represent compared to Trump and his Republican Party.
"Make no mistake, the foundation of our democracy is at stake in this election," said Jayapal.
"Any reporter or pundit who is asking about or talking about the aftermath of President Biden's debate performance and his health," she continued, "should also be spending at least the same amount of time and energy talking to Republicans about why they are still supporting a convicted felon who incited an insurrection and wants to be dictator on day one."
"Republicans should be calling for Donald Trump to step down as a candidate for president," she added. "The press should be covering for the American people the dozens of lies he told at the debate and the horrific statements he continues to make about immigrants and women. They should be asking every single Republican member why they support the democracy-destroying Project 2025."
While Trump has recently tried to distance himself from Project 2025—spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, one of the sponsors of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin next week—the Biden campaign and other critics have called "bullshit" on the frequently dishonest former president's claims.
"After trying and failing to cover up his deep ties to Project 2025 authors and Heritage Foundation leadership, Trump is putting his MAGA besties on full display," Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said of the convention sponsorship Tuesday. "Donald Trump can't hide from Project 2025—it's his agenda, his vision, and his dangerous and extreme plan for America's future."
New Ally Joins Fight to Defend Rooftop Solar in California
"It's outrageous that California regulators keep attacking rooftop solar and it has to stop," said one attorney in the case.
A leading U.S. green group on Tuesday joined the legal challenge to a California rule banning solar contractors from installing or maintaining photovoltaic battery storage.
The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) joined an amended lawsuit filed in San Diego County Superior Court against a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regulation enacted last year in accordance with the wishes of Pacific Gas & Electric and two other investor-owned utilities.
The amended lawsuit supplements a complaint filed by CalPIRG, the Solar Rights Alliance, the California Solar & Storage Association, and a solar contractor adversely affected by the new CPUC rule. Climate campaigners and Democratic state lawmakers have previously launched challenges to the regulation.
CBD said the new rule "would increase the cost and administrative burden of installing rooftop solar and storage, vital technologies that make communities more resilient to utility blackouts and the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency."
Roger Lin, a CBD senior attorney, said in a statement: "It's outrageous that California regulators keep attacking rooftop solar and it has to stop. They're undermining California's climate goals and putting clean energy further out of reach for working-class families."
"This licensing trick is straight from the utility playbook and will cause electricity rates to skyrocket while worsening the climate emergency," Lin added. "People are dying from extreme heat and California desperately needs smart, resilient energy solutions. Instead, the board is propping up a brittle electricity grid that devastates critical habitats and promotes environmental injustice."
The new suit came on the same day that the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced nearly $19 million in new grants meant to assist communities in their efforts to automate the approval of residential solar energy permits.
"We are thrilled to be able to disburse funds to over 330 cities and counties across California to make it easier for residents to go solar," CEC Chair David Hochschild said in a statement, calling the program "a win for residents, building departments, solar businesses, and our environment."
UN Experts Say 'Targeted Starvation Campaign' by Israel Has Led to Famine Across Gaza
The starvation of Palestinians in Gaza "is a form of genocidal violence," said 10 rights experts.
While the United Nations still has not formally declared a famine in Gaza after nine months of Israel's near-total blockade on humanitarian aid, 10 top U.N. experts on Tuesday said they have seen enough.
"We declare that Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign against the Palestinian people is a form of genocidal violence and has resulted in famine across all of Gaza," said the experts.
Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, was joined in the statement by other experts including Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, and Paula Gaviria Betancur, special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.
They said the recent deaths of three children in various parts of the enclave led the experts, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations as a whole, to declare a famine has taken hold.
"Fayez Ataya, who was barely six months old, died on May 30, 2024 and 13-year-old Abdulqader Al-Serhi died on June 1, 2024 at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah," said the experts. "Nine-year-old Ahmad Abu Reida died on June 3, 2024 in the tent sheltering his displaced family in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. All three children died from malnutrition and lack of access to adequate healthcare."
"With the death of these children from starvation despite medical treatment in central Gaza, there is no doubt that famine has spread from northern Gaza into central and southern Gaza," they continued.
At least 34 Palestinians in Gaza—the majority being children—have now died from malnutrition since October, when Israel began its bombardment of the enclave in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced there would "be no electricity, no food, no fuel" allowed in to Gaza.
Israeli officials said in response to Tuesday's statement that it has increased the aid allowed into Gaza recently, but hundreds of delivery trucks remain stranded in Egypt and a floating pier built by the U.S. has not significantly improved the humanitarian crisis.
The U.N. experts said that with the first death of a child from malnutrition and dehydration, it should have been considered "irrefutable that famine has taken hold."
"When a two-month-old baby and 10-year-old Yazan Al Kafarneh died of hunger on February 24 and March 4, respectively, this confirmed that famine had struck northern Gaza," they said. "The whole world should have intervened earlier to stop Israel's genocidal starvation campaign and prevented these deaths... Inaction is complicity."
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which is backed by the U.N., said last month that Gaza is at high risk for famine and that nearly half a million people were facing "catastrophic" food insecurity, with an extreme lack of food.
In May, Human Rights Watch co-founder Aryeh Neier, who had previously hesitated to say Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, said Israel's "sustained policy of obstructing the movement of humanitarian assistance into the territory" ultimately convinced him that Israeli officials are "engaged in genocide."
In March, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure its military refrain from violating the Genocide Convention by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching people in Gaza, saying that "the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further" and that "famine is setting in."
A woman named Ghaneyma Joma told Reuters on Monday at a hospital in Khan Younis that she feared her son would soon die of starvation.
"It's distressing to see my child... lying there dying from malnutrition because I cannot provide him with anything due to the war, the closing of crossings, and the contaminated water," she told the outlet.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the U.S. government, the biggest international funder of Israel's military and a persistent defender of its actions in Gaza, to ensure that a cease-fire agreement is reached and that Palestinians receive necessary humanitarian aid.
"The intentional starvation of the Palestinian people in Gaza can only occur with the active complicity of the Biden administration in Israel's campaign of genocide," said Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the group. "This complicity must end, and the Palestinian people must be offered a future in which they are free of occupation and can live in dignity."