2022 Human Rights Award Ceremony
Due to the pandemic, the 14th Nuremberg International Human Rights Award ceremony did not take place in the fall of 2021, but on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 11 a.m. in the Opera House. Prior to this, the prizewinner, her family and some guests had taken part in the ecumenical service in St. Martha's Church with a contribution from the Muslim Working Group. The event of the Nuremberg State Theater and the City of Nuremberg was attended by around 1000 guests.
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Mayor Marcus König
Mayor Marcus König welcomed the award winner, her family, national and international guests and emphasized in his speech "In a world of uncertainty and conflict, one thing is certain: human rights and democracy are not luxury issues, they are the indispensable foundation of peace. We need human rights and democracy to live together in peace, freedom, self-determination and happiness."
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Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International
The opening speech by Reinhard Bütikofer, Member of the European Parliament, and a video message by Agnès Callamard, International Secretary General of Amnesty International, once again condemned the crimes against humanity being committed in the Xinjiang region. These crimes were impressively conveyed once again by the artistic contribution of the Nuremberg State Theater, in which the actresses Annette Büschelberger, Anna Klimovitskaya and Adeline Schebesch read out "72 fabricated pretexts for imprisonment" of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region from the book "China Protocols": "Torture, brainwashing and, at worst, murder awaits all people who [...] do not want to participate in the celebration of Chinese national holidays; [...] have WhatsApp on their cell phones; [...] have too many children; [...] grow beards; [...] have the Koran at home. "
Mayor Marcus König and jury member Iris Berben, who also gave the laudatory speech for Sayragul Sauytbay, jointly handed her the certificate and the award statue. In her speech, award winner Sayragul Sauytbay said: "Receiving this award gives me strength and new courage. It opens doors for me and gives me the opportunity to contribute to world peace! I am very moved!"
After her speech, the prizewinner sang her self-written song "Hymn" on stage. In it, she asks the world for help "We need help from the world! We need freedom!" and moved the guests in the opera house to tears.
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Mayor Marcus König, prizewinner Sayragul Sauytbay, jury member Iris Berben
The ceremony was musically framed by the Nuremberg State Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of music director Lutz de Veer, who had prepared one of her favorite Boney M. songs as a surprise for the award winner at the end of the ceremony: "Rivers of Babylon".
The presentation of the Nuremberg International Human Rights Award was followed by the traditional Nuremberg Peace Table, where the people of Nuremberg meet to eat together at a long table.