HRAD Archive

Keynote speaker and the 2010 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award Recipient was Dr. Azar Nafisi, recognized internationally for her advocacy for advocacy for human rights, and especially women's rights, in Muslim societies. She has written extensively on women's rights in her home country of Iran, including the book Reading Lolita in Tehran. The winner of many literary awards, including the 2004 Nonfiction Award from Booksense and the Frederic W. Ness Book Award. Her other publications include Things I Have Been Silent About (2008); La Voce Verde (2006); Anti-Terra: A Study of Vladimir Nabokov's Novels (1994); and numerous chapters and articles on issues related to promoting democracy and human rights in Muslim societies, women's rights, and literature and culture. In 2010, Nafisi was a Visiting Professor and director of the Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. She served on the faculty at Tehran University and later Allemeh Tabatabai University, and as a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, she taught about the interactions between Western and Iranian culture. 

The 2010 Special Recognition Award was presented to Ellen Pence for her extraordinary contributions in protecting women's human rights, especially their right to be free from violence. Volunteer Awards were presented to R. Mark Frey and Rose Grengs.

The event was held May 20, 2010, at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center.

Dr. Sima Samar delivered the event's keynote speech and was presented the 2009 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award. Samar, of Afghanistan, is a formidable advocate for human rights in Afghanistan. She established the country's first Ministry of Women's Affairs, and chaired the first human rights commission in Afghanistan's history. As a woman and ethnic minority, her courageous voice has brought about meaningful changes in the lives of Afghanis and has brought global attention to the egregious human rights abuses committed against her people, especially girls and women. At the time, Samar served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan, acting as an intelligent and objective observer for the international community during the horrors of the Darfur genocide.

The 2009 Special Recognition Award recipients were the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Management Team; Dulce Foster; Dianne Heins; Mark Kalla; and Jim O'Neal.

The event was held June 23, 2009, at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center.

The 2008 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to Barbara A. Frey, co-founder of The Advocates for Human Rights and its first executive director, and to Samuel D. Heins, co-founder of The Advocates for Human Rights and its first chairperson.

The 2007 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to Priscilla Hayner, co-founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice, where she serves as Director of the Peace and Justice Program, and to Sofia Macher, the first female head of the Peruvian branch of Amnesty International and a Commissioner for Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The 2006 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to Kao Ly Ilean Her, Esq., executive director of the Minnesota State Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans; to Lupe R. Serrano, director of Casa de Esperanza; and to Hauwa Ibrahim, for defending women's rights in Nigeria through his successful challenge of Islamic Sharia law in several cases in Nigerian court.

The 2005 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to The American Refugee Committee for delivering life-saving medical supplies to victims of the tsunami in Southern Thailand, and to The Center for Victims of Torture for helping torture survivors from more than 60 countries heal and rebuild their lives.

The 2004 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award was presented to the Honorable Walter F. Mondale for his decades of service and leadership on human rights issues.

The 2003 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to Professor David Weissbrodt, director of the University of Minnesota's Human Rights Center; to Paul and Sheila Wellstone, in memoriam, for their tireless promotion of human rights and their leadership in the United States Senate on human rights issues; and to the Honorable Mary Robinson, past president of Ireland and past United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.