PROGRAMME OF EVENTS IN WASHINGTON DC AND LIVE WEBCAST AT THE RATIU FOUNDATION, MANCHESTER SQUARE,
LONDON, WITH
BAHRAINI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
NABEEL RAJAB
RECIPIENT of the 2011 ION RATIU DEMOCRACY AWARD
The Ratiu Foundation pleased to announce the programme of events connected with Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist and co-founder of The Bahrain Human Rights Society, receiving the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award.
Thursday 1 December 2011
NABEEL RAJAB at the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award Workshop
14:00, 5th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20004-3027 RSVP online at http://bit.ly/rrgpfv
This event is scheduled to be WEBCAST LIVE at http://bit.ly/rrgpfv at 14:00 (Washington DC time), 19:00 UK time
Panel One: YOUTH, DEMOCRATIC CHANGE AND THE ARAB SPRING
Chair: Haleh Esfandiari, Director, Middle East Program, The Wilson Center
Speakers: Robin Wright, Distinguished Scholar, U.S. Institute of Peace and The Wilson Center and author, Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World (2011), Caryle Murphy, The Washington Post and Public Policy Scholar, The Wilson Center, The Hon. Tamara Wittes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs (invited).
Comments: Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Recipient of the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award, and Oleg Kozlovsky, Blogger, Co-founder and Director of Vision of Tomorrow Foundation (Moscow) and Recipient of the 2010 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award.
Panel Two: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY: DEFIANT BAHRAINIS AND THE ARAB SPRING
Introductory Remarks: The Hon. Jane Harman, President, Director and CEO of the Wilson Center.
Chair: Christian Ostermann, Chair, Ion Ratiu
Democracy Award, The Wilson Center. Keynote Speaker: Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Recipient of the 2011 Ion Ratiu Democracy Award.
Comments: Wafa Ali, Journalist and Public Policy Scholar, The Wilson Center, Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy (invited), Tom Malinowski, Washington Director, Human Rights Watch.
The closing remarks and the Award will be delivered by Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman of the Ratiu Foundation, during a post-event reception.
Friday 2 December 2011
NABEEL RAJAB at The World Youth Democracy Forum for DC-Area Students
10:00 – 12:30 (Washington DC time), Room 602, Linder Family Commons, 1957 E St, NW, Washington DC
RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/WYDF2011 by Monday, 28 November. Reservations are required as space is limited
Event moderated by Eliot Sorel, M.D., D.L.F.A.P.A., The George Washington University Founder, World Youth Democracy Forum, and Senior Advisor, Ion Ratiu Democracy Award
This event will be broadcast live on the Internet. Students at universities around the world, including in Alexandria (Egypt), Bucharest (Romania), Chisinau (Rep. of Moldova), Cluj (Romania), and London, have been invited to participate.
WEBCAST IN LONDON
Friday 2 December 2011, 15:00 - 17:30 (London time), Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ. Confirm your attendance by e-mail at bookings@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk by Thursday 1 December.
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The purpose of the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award is to bring visibility and international recognition to the ideas and accomplishments of individuals around the world who are working on behalf of democracy. The event expresses the deep commitment to democracy of the late Ion Ratiu through his contributions as a Romanian politician as well as his interest in democratic change worldwide.
Ion Ratiu (1917–2000) was the most outspoken and consistent voice of opposition to Nicolae Ceausescu, whose regime he opposed for years from London as the democratically elected leader of the World Union of Free Romanians. Journalist, broadcaster and author, he was also a successful businessman in shipping and property, while simultaneously operating as a kind of Scarlet Pimpernel, assisting in the rescue of many who fled from Ceausescu’s dictatorship. After fifty years in exile he returned to his homeland in 1990 to contest the presidency. Although he won a seat in Parliament, and was to serve his country for his last ten years, his failure to win the presidency was a disappointment to many. Even nowadays, on Romanian streets, Ion Ratiu is remembered fondly, often referred to as “the best president Romania never had”.
The Ion Ratiu Democracy Award aims to replicate for campaigning democrats today, whether in exile from repressive regimes or representative of today’s emerging democracies, the life-changing experience in Washington DC of the Romanian democrat, Ion Ratiu, in the 1970s and 1980s.
This year, the Ion Ratiu Democracy Award reaches its seventh edition. Past awardees include Sergio Aguayo (Mexico, 2005), Saad El-Din Ibrahim (Egypt, 2006), Anatoli Mikhailov (Belarus, 2007), Eleonora Cercavschi (Moldova, 2008), Adam Michnik (Poland, 2009), and Oleg Kozlovsky (Russia, 2010).
You can see a selection of images from last years’ event by clicking here. A video introduction for the 2009 Award can be found here, and for the 2010 event here.
The Ion Ratiu Democracy Award provides a month-long scholarship at the Wilson Center during which awardees have an opportunity to immerse themselves in the scholarly, policymaking, and NGO communities in Washington, D.C. Recipients also provide the keynote address at an international symposium on major issues confronting their democratic activism.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the national, living memorial honouring President Woodrow Wilson. In providing an essential link between the worlds of ideas and public policy, the Center addresses current and emerging challenges confronting the United States and the world. The Center promotes policy-relevant research and dialogue to increase understanding and enhance the capabilities and knowledge of leaders, citizens, and institutions worldwide. Created by an Act of Congress in 1968, the Center is a non-partisan institution headquartered in Washington DC and supported by both public and private funds. Details on www.wilsoncenter.org.
The Ion Ratiu Democracy Award is funded by the Ratiu Foundation.
The Ratiu Foundation is a charitable organisation established in 1979 by the leading Romanian dissident and democracy campaigner, Ion Ratiu, and his wife Elisabeth Ratiu. The goals of the Foundation are to further education and research in the culture and history of Romania in particular, and also to stimulate and support civil society in its understanding and application of democracy and democratic principles the world over. Details on www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com.
Photo © Nabeel Rajab
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