BRUSSELS, Belgium, OCT. 19, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament awarded the 2001 Sakharov Prize to a Catholic archbishop and two university professors, one Palestinian and the other Israeli.
Archbishop Zacarias Kamuenho of Lubango, Angola, was chosen Thursday for the award «for having been closely involved in the process of pacification and democratization of his country.»
The other recipients are Israeli Nurit Peled-Elhanan and Palestinian Izzat Ghazzawi, professors dedicated to Mideast peace.
The 2001 Sakharov Prize will be conferred by Nicole Fontaine, president of the European Parliament, in an official ceremony during the Dec. 12 plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
Archbishop Kamuenho, president of the Ecumenical Committee for Peace in Angola, is considered as a moral role model for his work in helping to promote and restore peace, democracy and respect for human rights in his country.
He initiated and remains actively involved in the growing efforts of Angolan civil society to contribute to the peace process.
Issat Ghazzawi, a writer and academic whose work has been censored, has been imprisoned on a number of occasions. His 16-year-old son was killed by the Israeli army.
Ghazzawi was nominated with Nurit Peled-Elhanan, whose daughter died in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, perpetrated by a Palestinian terrorist.
