First Recipient of Lantos Human Rights Prize is His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice today announced that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will receive the first annual Lantos Human Rights Prize. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony on October 6, 2009, at the United States Capitol Visitor Center.

The Lantos Foundation has established the Lantos Human Rights Prize, in the tradition of renowned prizes such as the Nobel Peace Prize or the Goldman Environmental Prize, to honor and bring attention to the often unsung heroes of the human rights movement. It will be awarded
on an annual basis to the individual or organization that best exemplifies the Foundation’s mission, namely to be a vital voice standing up for the values of decency, dignity, freedom, and justice in every corner of the world. The prize also serves to commemorate Congressman Tom
Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a prominent advocate for human rights during his nearly three decades as a U.S. Representative.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of six million, is one of the most highly honored peacemakers of our time. Previously the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Congressional Gold Medal and dozens of other awards, the Dalai Lama is well-known and respected for his teachings on peace and interfaith harmony. He was born in 1935 and was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama when he was two years old. He was enthroned as the Dalai Lama in 1940, ten years before the People’s Liberation Army of China invaded Tibet [Autonomous Region of China]. In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled and has lived in exile in Northern India since that time. He has waged a lifelong peaceful struggle for social justice – for Tibetans and others around the world – and under his leadership the Tibetans have formed a democratically elected government-in-exile. Even though the Dalai Lama has made conciliatory gestures towards the Chinese government, China maintains an iron-fisted rule over Tibet [Autonomous Region of China].

His Holiness is the only Dalai Lama to travel to the West, and his first visit to the U.S. Congress came at the invitation of Congressman Tom Lantos. The two leaders shared a deep and abiding commitment to the values of social justice, human dignity and freedom, and they formed a friendship at their initial meeting that lasted until the end of Congressman Lantos’ life.

“The Dalai Lama is a unique leader who in a gentle, gracious, yet undeniably powerful way, advocates for the rights of all humanity. He symbolizes the best that is in all of us and we are honored to present the inaugural Tom Lantos Human Rights Prize to this noble individual.” said Annette Lantos, wife of the late Congressman Lantos and Chairman of the Lantos Foundation.

Wife of the Late Congressman Tom Lantos and Chair of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice Makes a Statement on the Awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mary Robinson

In 2001, my late husband Congressman Tom Lantos led, at the urging of Secretary of State Colin Powell, the U.S. delegation’s walk out from the United Nations World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa. In a piece he later published about his experiences at Durban, Tom wrote, “To many of us present…it is clear that much of the responsibility for the debacle rests on the shoulders of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who, in her role as secretary-general of the conference, failed to provide the leadership needed to keep the conference on track.”

Even before the conference, Iran, Iraq, and other rejectionist Middle Eastern governments had made clear their intent to commandeer the conference to denounce the policies and legitimacy of the state of Israel, while ignoring ongoing terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens and refusing to criticize human rights abuses in any other specific country in the world. The United States and several European and moderate Arab delegations made a concerted effort to eliminate this vitriolic language, but those diplomatic initiatives collapsed when Commissioner Robinson spoke in favor of a one-sided approach. Although Commissioner Robinson did much to nurture the global dialogue on racism leading up to the 2001 conference, her actions at Durban were troubling, to say the least.

Today Mary Robinson is being honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award that my own husband received posthumously in 2008. While I am deeply disappointed by the decision to honor former Commissioner Robinson in this manner, I also feel that this provides a good opportunity to reflect on the failures of Durban. As Tom wrote, “One lesson of Durban is clear – strong, principled leadership from the
United States and the United Nations is critical in order to prevent hostile forces within the international community from hijacking vital multilateral institutions.”

Earlier this year President Obama rightly decided that the United States would not send a delegation to the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, noting that conference organizers were determined to expressly endorse the unacceptable resolutions of the 2001 Durban Conference. That may not have been an easy decision for an administration committed to increased engagement, but it was an essential step. It is my hope that this decision and others like it will help to eventually restore the U.N. Human Rights Council as a force for promoting tolerance and human dignity.

The Honorable Tom Lantos, 1928 - 2008. Recipient of the "One from the Heart Award"

To be presented by The Honorable Tom Campbell, Friend and Colleague of Congressman Lantos, 101st - 106st Congresses

Received on behalf of The Lantos Family and the Lantos Foundation by Foundation Trustee Evelyn Szelenyi

Distinguished Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Co-Founder of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Tom Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever to be elected to the US Congress. Alongside human rights, health care was also a significant concern for Congressman Lantos. He understood the importance of hospice care and knew how critical the Medicare hospice benefit was to all Americans. Whenever approached about preserving this benefit, he provided his solid support.

Congressman Lantos worked tirelessly to strengthen the role of human rights in American foreign policy. Before his death in 2008, he requested that The Lantos Foundation be established in his name to advance the important work of standing up for our nation’s most important values of decency, dignity, freedom and justice in every corner of the world.

Quote from Congresswoman Jackie Speier, 12th Congressional District:

“It is more than fitting for Congressman Lantos to receive the John W. Gardner Visionary Award. Tom Lantos was truly a visionary when it came to health care, always fighting for those unable to fight for themselves and doing all he could to make sure that hospice care and other services directed toward the most frail in society were funded at adequate levels.

I thank Pathways for recognizing Congressman Lantos with this award.”

Press Statement on Human Rights Abuses in Russia

In a sad week for the cause of human rights in Russia, the government has shown once again its true colors towards the brave citizens who highlight abuses throughout the country. In the wake of one slain human rights worker and the discovery of another missing activist’s body, the Tatarstan regional police raided the Kazan Human Rights Center, confiscated computers and detained its director, all under the pretext of an innocuous tax investigation. The Lantos Foundation unequivocally condemns this brazen police action, the kind of thuggish harassment
which has no place in a democratic society.

With each tragic revelation, the Russian government loses more credibility in the fight to protect basic rights against rogue police action. The Lantos Foundation calls on President Medvedev to stem this moral and legal drift and produce substantive reforms protecting the rights of individuals and especially those groups dedicated to human rights. As a former law professor, President Medvedev knows that the road of “legal nihilism” which Russia is currently traveling will only lead to a dead end as far as strengthening democracy, human rights and prosperity for the Russian people.

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Members of Congress Gather to Dedicate Lantos Archives, Remember and Honor the Late Congressman Lantos

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A moving ceremony at the U.S. Capitol marks the dedication of an important source of information on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice and the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) jointly hosted the dedication of the Tom Lantos Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Archives at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. In a moving ceremony, members of Congress and other dignitaries expressed their support for the establishment of the Lantos Archives and praised both MEMRI and the Lantos Foundation for their important work and efforts to combat anti-Semitism and human rights violations worldwide.

The event’s list of distinguished speakers featured a bipartisan mix of members of Congress, including: Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator George Voinovich, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Congressman Gary Ackerman, Congressman Eric Cantor, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, and Congressman Eni Faleomavaega. Additionally, the standing room only crowd heard remarks from the Israeli Ambassador Salai Meridor, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor) Kay Mayfield, and Paul Shapiro, Director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Many of the speakers recalled their former colleague Congressman Tom Lantos, the archives’ namesake, and his dedication to combating anti-Semitism and all forms of injustice. Vice President Joe Biden echoed this theme in a letter expressing his support for the new Lantos Archives, which read, “The Lantos Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Archives will help future generations understand why we confront injustice, why we defend human rights, and why we honor all that Tom Lantos stood for… I think it is fair to say, Tom would have been proud to be associated with an archive that not only documents past injustices, but acts as a tool to help prevent future intolerance.”

The Lantos Archives, which represent a collaborative effort between the Lantos Foundation and MEMRI, will be the repository of MEMRI’s Anti-Semitism Documentation Project. These remarkable archives document anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in every form of media throughout the Greater Middle East. The project also focuses on those brave individuals in the Arab and Muslim world who courageously speak out against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. MEMRI's Anti-Semitism Documentation Project maintains the largest archives in the world of translated Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and Urdu - Pashtu material on anti-Semitism from the past decade. It has become the preeminent source of information on the global upsurge in anti-Semitism and is regularly used as a primary source for legislators, policymakers, and researchers around the world.

The Tom Lantos Foundation Denounces the Trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a Sham and Calls on Russia to End the Farce

During his nearly three decades of service in Congress, Tom Lantos, the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to Congress, became one of the world’s most respected defenders of human rights. Congressman Lantos knew an outrageous injustice when he saw one and that is why, four years ago, Tom Lantos flew to Moscow at the end of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial to protest the pre-determined and completely unjust verdict of “guilty.” Mr. Khodorkovsky has spent the last four years in prison in Siberia and now faces a new sham “trial,” in which the government is making a mockery of Russia’s legal system in order to achieve its goal of keeping Mr. Khodorkovsky in prison for at least two more decades. Tom Lantos devoted his life to fighting against abuses of human rights around the world and that is why he took on Mr. Khodorkovsky’s case as one of the most egregious examples of abuse and government misconduct.

This “trial” points out once again that the ‘rule of law’ does not exist in Russia. Mr. Khodorkovsky has stated that he will not focus on the politics of his current ‘trial.’ But the Lantos Foundation cannot in good conscience ignore them.

No crime has been committed by Mr. Khodorkovsky.

Quite the contrary.

Mr. Khodorkovsky continues to be the target and victim of a politically-motivated government campaign to punish him for his support of democratic political parties in Russia; his backing of civil-society groups dedicated to internet education, a free press and civic education; and, perhaps most troubling to his enemies, his ownership and management of the YUKOS Oil Company. Under his leadership, the company introduced Western business practices and policies that threatened to undermine the Kremlin’s control of Russia’s oil and gas resources, which were being used to enrich corrupt government officials and further Russia’s geo-political aims.

By keeping Mr. Khodorkovsky in jail and putting him on trial again, on charges that have no basis in fact, the Russian government is perpetuating a grave injustice and demonstrating that Russia’s courts and judicial system are clearly being used – and abused – in order to punish the government’s opponents and stifle peaceful and legitimate dissent.

The Lantos Foundation was founded to further the work of Tom Lantos after his death. There is no case more emblematic of human rights and rule of law violations than is the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

This trial, and Mr. Khodorkovsky’s continued persecution, has been called a “litmus test” of Russian President Medvedev’s promise to end “legal nihilism” in Russia. We call upon the Russian government to ensure that justice is served by ending this spurious trial immediately. And we call upon the nations and individuals of the world to rally to Mr. Khodorkovsky’s defense.

Fashion Institute of Technology's First Tom Lantos Scholar - ITM Major: Soo Jin Yoon

We are pleased to announce that Phil Friedman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Computer Generated Solutions (CGS), and Paul Magel, Senior Vice President of CGS and ITM advisory board member, have chosen Soo Jin Yoon as the recipient of the 2009 Representative Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship.

Soo Jin will receive $10,000 in scholarship funds, an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to speak at CGS’ annual International User Conference, and a summer internship with CGS.
Soo Jin has five years of merchandizing experience, having worked for prestigious companies in South Korea such as Handsome Corp., where she managed a $45 million fashion brand; Gucci Group Korea; and Mine, S.A. She holds Master of Human Ecology in Fashion Marketing and Bachelor of Home Economics in Clothing and Textiles degrees from Seoul National University.

In her selection as the scholarship recipient, Soo Jin was recognized by CGS primarily for her ability to connect her background and goals with the ideals of Rep. Tom Lantos, the depth of her experience, and her demonstrated capacity to succeed in her chosen career. In her application for the 2009 Tom Lantos International Studies Scholarship, Soo Jin indicated her goal of pursuing a career in global marketing and using it as a means to build a bridge between the fashion industry and society by expanding her role to also protect intellectual property rights. The judges were very impressed with all of the scholarship candidates, noting the professionalism of their applications, their impressive backgrounds, and their drive to make a special contribution to international business and humanitarian causes.

Rep. Tom Lantos was a distinguished U.S. Congress Representative from 1981 until his death in February 2008. Rep. Lantos was Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He was a vocal speaker on issues undertaken by U.S. Congress’ International Relations Committee. Early in his career, Rep. Lantos was a professor of economics, an analyst on international affairs, and advisor of U.S. senators. He was also a well-known advocate of the environment, receiving consistently high ratings from the League of Conservation Voters and other environmental organizations. He also passionately championed human rights.

A close personal friend of Mr. Friedman, Rep. Lantos was very interested in the international aspects of the fashion industry and was a regular participant in CGS’s annual International User Conference. Mr. Friedman established the scholarship to honor Rep. Lantos and to promote his humanitarian values as well as global views to future generations.

Founded in New York City in 1984 as a systems integrator to the fashion industry, CGS currently serves North America, Europe, and Asia with 20 global locations and 2500 employees worldwide. CGS enables mid-market enterprises, Fortune 1000 companies, and government agencies to drive business transformation and improve operating performance by adapting and implementing advanced technology solutions.

Congratulations, Soo Jin!