Next Wednesday, February 5, the Foundation for Justice (FxJ) and the Valencian Council of Bar Associations (CVCA) will present the 2019 Human Rights Award, which this year has gone to the former president of the Republic of Uruguay, José Alberto Mujica Cordano, also known as Pepe Mujica.
The presentation ceremony will take place in the assembly hall of the Illustrious Bar Association of Valencia (ICAV), and will be attended by different personalities from civil society, both at the regional and national level, as well as Mujica himself, who will also offer a colloquium the day after the ceremony at the Center del Carme Cultura Contemporània.
The award, which It was awarded by the jury last December after evaluating 19 other candidates, recognize the former president's life history of personal and institutional commitment to Human Rights and Justice.
The jury for this edition has been chaired by Maite Echarte, from the PRODEIN Association, awarded in the 2018 edition, and formed by: Antonio Esteban Estevan, president of the CVCA; José María Tomás and Tío, president of Foundation for Justice; José Soriano, secretary of the CVCA; Jesus Salvador Muñoz, treasurer of the institution, as well as the members Manuel Mata y Vincent Pascual. They have also been part of the jury Luis Miguel Romero, Clara Arnal, Salvador Alborch y Monica Escamilla, patrons of FxJ; Ricardo Belenguer, former president of the Water Court and Honorary Patron of FxJ; José María Segura, of the Jesuit Refugee Service and Honorary Patron of FxJ; Francesc Gamero, regional secretary of the Treasury of the Generalitat Valenciana; José García Añón, general director of Democratic Reforms and Access to Justice, and Juan Añón Calvete, secretary of the FxJ Board of Trustees.
About the winner of the 2019 Human Rights Award
José Alberto Mujica Cordano was born on May 20, 1935 in Montevideo, into a humble family of Basque descendants. In the mid-60s he founded the National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros (MLN-T), at which time he was captured four times and was subjected to brutal torture.
He spent 15 years in prison. In 1985, with the return of democracy to Uruguay, he was released along with other political prisoners favored by an amnesty. He created the Popular Participation Movement (MPP) within the Frente Amplio coalition and in 2009 the Uruguayan people elected him their president for the period 2010-2015.
Known as 'the poorest president in the world', he is convinced that he left the country “a little better, at least from the point of view of social justice: there are fewer poor and indigent people and a better society is seen in the future.” , held. He is currently a Senator of the Republic of Uruguay.