2000 - the
Foundation's inaugural Award for Moral Courage was presented to Prof. Jan Karski
himself.
2001 - award was
given to Congressman John Lewis for his non-violent leadership during the mid
1960 Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
2002 - award was
given posthumously to Father Mychal Judge who died while ministering to fallen
firemen inside the World Trade Center as it collapsed on September
11th , 2001, in N.Y.City.
2003 - award was
given to two imprisoned Iranian dissidents, Professor Hashem Aghajari and
Mr. Abbas Amir Entezam. Professor Aghajari is an Iranian scholar
whose calls for a progressive Islam that would respect civil rights and
separation of religion and State in Iran, led to his imprisonment by Iranian
authorities. His death sentence was commuted and he was released from
prison in 2004. Mr. Abbas Amir Entezam, the longest-serving prisoner
of conscience in Iran, was imprisoned for more than 17 years as a consequence of
his repeated insistence upon a secular government and human rights for all
Iranians.
2004 - award was
given in absentia to Ms. Ingrid Betancourt, a 40-year-old French and
Colombian citizen and Colombian senator who had been a candidate for President
in Colombia until her capture in 2002 by the Colombian FARC guerilla force.
Ms. Betancourt had campaigned for an end to political corruption and of
what she saw as the influence of the Colombian drug cartels on government
affair's. Threatened with death, she was forced to send her children to other
countries for their protection. In spite of her personal fear she maintained her
campaign for human rights and the dignity of ordinary Colombian citizens until
captured. The Award also recognizes in a symbolic manner the 3000 other
political hostages held at that time by the FARC.
Jan Karski Documentary Film Awards
The Foundation also
sponsored an international juried documentary film competition, which granted
the Jan Karski Film Award to filmmakers whose works evidenced acts of
moral courage.
2000 - the
Foundation honored "School Prayer: A Community at War," by Slawomir
Grunberg. This film depicts the struggle of one family against local
school and political authorities, to force their acceptance of the principle of
separation of church and state in the public school system.
2001 - "A Force
More Powerful" by Steve York was honored. This film highlights the
popular uprising of Serbians against their President, Slobodan Milosevich, which
forced his removal from power.
2002 - award went
to "9/11" by Jules and Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon. Filmed
within the wreckage of the World Trade Center as it was collapsing, the film
highlights the heroism of firefighters and ordinary citizens as they struggled
to help each other in the face of almost certain death.
2003 - "Sisters in
Resistance" by Maia Wechsler is a portrayal of the Moral Courage of 4
French women in WWII whose service in the underground led to their imprisonment
in German concentration camps.
2004 - "The
Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt" by Karen Hayes and Victoria
Bruce describes the tense stand off between Ms. Betancourt and the
entrenched political and mafia forces until her
capture. |