RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Awards 2008
On the 7th of October 2006, Russian investigative journalist, Anna Politkovskaya, was killed in Moscow. Join us for a special evening honouring Anna on the second anniversary of her murder and the 2008 award ceremony of the RAW in WAR Anna Politkovskaya Award. The award is given every year to a woman human rights defender from a conflict zone in the world who, like Anna, stands up for the victims, often at great personal risk. This year the award will be presented by Jon Snow and Natalia Estemirova to a courageous woman human rights defender from the war in Afghanistan.
We will be remembering Anna and her work in pursuit of the truth with Jon Snow, John Sweeney, Lord Nazir Ahmed, Elena Kudimova (Anna Politkovskya’s sister), Natalia Estemirova, a human rights defender from Chechnya and the first recipient of the Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2007, Mariana Katzarova, founder of RAW in WAR, and many others in the audience, who knew Anna and her work. We will also be showing previously unseen footage of Anna, filmed by renowned Russian filmmaker Marina Goldovskaya and parts of a film about this year’s award winner from Afghanistan.
The event will include a performance by Sussan Deyhim (acclaimed Iranian composer, singer and performance artist, who participated in the soundtrack of The Kite Runner) and Lorraine Jordan (Irish singer-songwriter).
Sussan Deyhim is a composer, vocalist and performance artist, born in Tehran, who has been at the forefront of experimental music internationally for over two decades. Deyhim’s music combines extended vocal techniques, digital processing, and the ancient mysticism of Middle Eastern music to create a deeply moving fusion of East and West.
Lorraine Jordan is a singer and songwriter, born in Wales to Irish parents. She has been touring Australia and Europe with Planet Woman, which brought together five female musicians from both sides of the globe, sharing Celtic and Maori traditions.
RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR) is a new international human rights NGO supporting women human rights defenders working in countries of war and conflict and helping end abuse and persecution against them. Mariana Katzarova founded RAW in WAR in 2006, after working as a journalist and human rights advocate in the war zones of Bosnia, Kosovo and Chechnya, including 10 years as the Russia Researcher for Amnesty International.
Over 100 prominent people from around the world have joined the Committee of Supporters for the Anna Politkovskaya Award. Among them are: President Vaclav Havel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Harold Pinter, Andre Glucksmann, Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Wangari Maathai, Elena Bonner, Terry Waite, Vladimir Bukovsky, Sergey Kovalyov, Lyudmila Alekseeva, Lord Frank Judd, Elizabeth Rehn, Sister Helen Prejean, Jane Birkin, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Baroness Shirley Williams, Mariane Pearl, Vanessa Redgrave, Gloria Steinem, Ariel Dorfman, Susan Sarandon, Monica Ali, Azar Nafisi and many others.
