Helen Thomas' remarks on May 27th have outraged people of good conscience across the globe. My late husband Congressman Tom Lantos and I both lost family members in Europe during the horror of the Holocaust. It was the searing experiences of our youth that led us to our profound commitment to fight for human rights and justice. Through our work in Congress and now through the Lantos Foundation we have worked to shine a bright light on the lingering evils of bigotry, hatred, and anti-Semitism in the often dark corners of the world. I never imagined that same bright light would be shone on the center chair of the White House Press Corps. It is almost inconceivable that the “Dean” of this distinguished group of talented journalists could have made such offensive and profoundly ill-informed comments. Helen Thomas’ deplorable views do nothing to foster peace in the Middle East, but rather encourage the behavior that has caused such misery in the region. Unfortunately, her tepid and evasive apology cannot undo the far-reaching damage that her thoughtless words fuel.
Statement on China's warning that President Obama not meet The Dalai Lama
The Lantos Foundation was honored to present its Inaugural Lantos Human Rights Prize to His Holiness the Dalai Lama last October. At that time we encouraged President Obama to extend an invitation to this gentle man of peace to meet with him at the White House. We are gratified that the President will meet with His Holiness later this month.
The Lantos Foundation commends President Obama for doing the right thing by remaining stalwart in the face of Chinese threats and intimidation. This meeting will send a clear message that the promotion of human rights is a top priority with the Obama Administration. That is a message of hope that will resonate with thousands of people around the world who are struggling to uphold their dignity and their rights in the face of persecution and repression.
Statement Regarding Internet Freedom in China
In February of 2006 during a congressional hearing on Internet use in China, Congressman Tom Lantos made the following statement regarding Google and Yahoo:
“These companies need to do more than show they have virtual backbone. What Congress is looking for is real spine and a willingness to stand up to the outrageous demands of a totalitarian regime… They need to stand with us in fighting repression in China and everywhere they intend to do business.”
This week it appears that Google and Yahoo have heeded Congressman Lantos' wise advice. As the result of a cyber attack experienced by Google that appears to have targeted the accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google issued a statement saying that they are no longer willing to censor their search results on the Chinese version of their search engine, even if it means they can no longer do business in China. Since Google took a stand and reported the abuse to the US State Department, Yahoo has made a statement that they stand behind Google in condemning the attack.
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice applauds Google for its courageous and moral response to this infringement of Internet free speech. The Internet should be a tool of freedom not repression. The free expression of ideas on the Internet can inform, educate, organize, and empower individuals and organizations and it is an especially powerful tool in countries where freedoms are limited. We urge Google and Yahoo to continue along this principled path. The Lantos Foundation looks forward to supporting their efforts in support of free speech, and hope more members of the public and private sector will join them.
Supreme Court Society Presents Life & Liberty Award
Who Fears a Free Mikhail Khodorkovsky? - New York Times
Statement on the Restrictive Language Law Recently Adopted in Slovakia
Free and democratic societies share the characteristics of tolerance, respect for diversity, and a robust protection of human and minority rights. With its recent enactment of a highly restrictive and punitive language law, Slovakia has taken yet another disturbing step away from these democratic values toward intolerance and discrimination. Under the provisions of this oppressive law, Slovakia becomes the only EU member state, post accession, to legislate financial penalties on some of its citizens for speaking their native language in public.
This law violates Slovakia’s obligations under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. At a more basic level it is an affront to the human rights of the minority populations in Slovakia, particularly the more than 500,000 members of the historic Hungarian community.
Since their introduction on September 1, 2009, the punitive measures of the Slovak Language Law have caused widespread intimidation in Hungarian-inhabited communities of Slovakia. In schools, post offices, shops and on public transportation, ethnic Hungarians no longer risk speaking Hungarian, because Slovak citizens order them to “speak Slovak in Slovakia,” or threaten to report them to the authorities.
Although Slovakia has pledged to international bodies not to implement the law until next year, the Slovak Commerce Authority has launched an official investigation and threatened to impose the law's punitive sanctions (between 100 and 5,000 Euros) against the Hungarian weekly Szabad Újság (Free Newspaper) for billboards advertising the Hungarian newspaper to Hungarian readers in Hungarian. Authorities have called the mayor of Nagytárkány (Velké Trakany) to account for making public service announcements to the 99 percent Hungarianinhabited village in the Hungarian language.
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice calls on Slovakia to abandon this ill-advised and discriminatory law and urges the United States Congress to press for reversal of these severe and senseless restrictions on the rights of minorities in Slovakia.
Roll Call: Obama Should Meet With the Dalai Lama Soon, By: Katrina Lantos Swett
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.”