Fr. Stan Swamy, the Jesuit priest and tribals rights activist, will be posthumously honored with the Martin Ennals Award on Thursday, June 2 in Geneva. The Jesuit Fr. Xavier Soreng will receive the award on behalf of Fr. Stan Swamy.
The aim behind the formation of the award was to ‘provide all the human rights defenders with protection and publicity for their work.’ According to Hans Thoolen, the Chair of the Award Jury, “He was chosen by the Jury for his contributions to human rights, which cannot be eclipsed by his unjust incarceration by Indian authorities.” Fr. Swamy is known to dedicate his work for the protection and empowerment of the Adivasi communities.
The award was announced by the Martin Ennals Foundation, Geneva and is considered as the Nobel Prize for Human Rights defenders. Fr. Stan Swamy has worked for almost three decades in Jharkhand on various tribal issues concerning land, forest and labour rights. He died on July 5, 2021 as an undertrial prisoner in a Mumbai hospital.
