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James Sanders
London, UK, January 23, 2010 – Peter Tatchell has won Liberal Democrat
Voice's third annual Liberal Voice of the Year award for his "tireless
and fearless international human rights campaigning."
The runner-up was author and journalist Ben Goldacre. Other contenders
were Joanna Lumley, Rory Stewart, Terry Pratchett, Henry Porter, Guy
Herbert and Alan Rusbridger.
The two previous years' Liberal Voice winners were Shami Chakrabati
(2007) and the campaigners on behalf of Jean Charles de Menezes
(Justice4Jean.org) and the Stockwell Shooting Inquest Jury (2008).
Responding to winning the vote, Tatchell said: "I am honored, but quite
surprised, to win Liberal Voice of the Year, given that I'm a left-wing
Green. It shows that Liberal Democrat Voice readers are non-sectarian
and inclusive, putting values and principles above narrow party
interests, which is how it should be.
"There are progressive people in all parties, apart from the BNP and
possibly UKIP. We should work together more, focusing on what we have in
common rather than on what divides us.
"In Britain, the combined supporters of liberal, green and left values
constitute the majority. If people from these three political strands
cooperated more closely, and if we had had a fair voting system, Britain
need never again suffer a Conservative government. We could move the
country forward on a progressive agenda for social justice, democratic
reform, civil liberties and environmental renewal.
"At the international level, it has been a real privilege to write and
campaign in support of the freedom struggles in Iran, Russia,
Balochistan, Uganda, Iraq, Somaliland, West Papua, Sudan, Palestine and
Saudi Arabia. The democracy activists in these countries are truly
heroic and inspirational. I crawl in their shadows.
"One of the things I have learned from my 43 years of human rights
campaigning is that no matter how small and weak we may feel, we can all
help make a difference. I do my bit for human rights, as do millions of
others. Together, cumulatively and collectively, slowly but surely, we
are shaping a better world," said Tatchell.
Source: PinkPaper.com, Thursday, 21 January 2010
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