The Human Rights Awards Dinner, which began decades ago, honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the promotion of human rights. It celebrates the work of volunteers whose efforts impact the support of human rights locally and internationally.
2013 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The 2013 Human Rights Awards Dinner celebrated The Advocates' 30 years working for dignity and justice. Ambassador Samuel L. Kaplan and Sylvia Kaplan delivered the event's keynote speech. Tireless campaigners for human rights, the Kaplans had spent four years previous to the Human Rights Awards Dinner representing the United States in the Kingdom of Morocco.
Minnesotans United for All Families and Our Vote Our Future were each presented with the 2013 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award.
The event was held June 6, 2013, at the Minneapolis Hilton.
2012 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ifrah Jimale, a former asylum client of The Advocates, was the event's keynote speaker. Actor and human rights activist, Mike Farrell was presented the 2012 Don and Arvonne Frase Human Rights Award. Best known for playing Captain B. J. Hunnicutt in the popular television series M*A*S*H*, Farrell is a human rights activist committed to abolishing the death penalty. At the time of the dinner, Farrell was president of Death Penalty Focus. He is the author of two books, Just Call Me Mike: a Journey to Actor and Activist and Of Mule and Man.
Volunteer Awards were presented to John Gutterman, Jr.; Rachel Hamlin; Robert Lewis; Sharon Link; and Hon. Kathryn Quaintance. The 2012 Special Recognition Award went to Safe Harbors Initiative, for its work to end the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children in Minnesota.
The event was held June 21, 2012, at the Minneapolis Hilton.
2011 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Keynote speaker and recipient of the 2011 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award Recipient was Dr. Shirin Ebadi, the first woman judge in Iran. Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her courageous work supporting democracy and human rights. Her human rights work in Iran began with the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when she was dismissed from her position and made a clerk in the same court she once presided over. In 1992 she began a private law practice, taking child abuse cases; defending political dissidents, members of the minority Bahai faith, and journalists; and representing the families of people murdered by the government. Ebadi is the author of, Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (2006), book published in 2006 and a New York Times bestseller. Her book, The Golden Cage, released in April 2011, was available at the Human Rights Awards Dinner.
The Special Recognition Award was presented to the Islamic Resource Group for its extraordinary contributions to intercultural understanding. Volunteer Awards went to Bill Cameron, Deborah Fowler, and Cuong Nguyen.
The event was held May 19, 2011, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
2010 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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.
2009 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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.
2008 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Sunday, June 1, 2008
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.
2007 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Friday, June 1, 2007
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.
2006 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Thursday, June 1, 2006
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.
2005 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
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.
2004 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
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.
2003 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Sunday, June 1, 2003
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.
2002 Human Rights Awards Dinner
Saturday, June 1, 2002
The 2002 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Awards were presented to William F. Schultz, executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A., and to Susanna Vardanyan, executive director of the Women's Rights Center in Yerevan, Armenia.
