Human Rights Watch monitors and reports human rights violations in more than 70 countries. This event will feature Human Rights Watch Staff:

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Carroll Bogert, Associate Director

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Jonathan Cohen, HIV/AIDS Researcher

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Georgette Gagnon, Africa Division Deputy Director

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Hadi Ghaemi, Middle East Researcher

Every year, Human Rights Watch honors three of the most outstanding human rights activists who have been working with our researchers around the world. This years exceptional honorees are Omid Memarian a journalist from Iran, Salih Mahmoud Osman a human rights lawyer from Sudan, and Beatrice Were – an advocate for the rights of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Please see their short bios below:

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Omid Memarian, is a journalist and civil-society activist who represents a new generation of Iranian human rights defenders pushing the government of President Khatami to embark upon promised reforms. A weblogger who pushes the limits of freedom of expression in Iran, Omid Memarian was arrested in October 2004, detained in solitary confinement, and tortured. He continues to work as a human rights defender who challenges restrictions on creating a more open and democratic political culture in Iran

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Salih Mahmoud Osman, is a lawyer and human rights activist from the Darfur region of Sudan who for twenty years has defended and given free legal aid to people who have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by the Sudanese government. For this work, Salih has himself been arrested and arbitrarily detained. Over the past several years, Salih has contributed immeasurably to Human Rights Watchs investigations of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Ì¢‰âÂå¢Beatrice Were, is a courageous advocate for the rights of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS. One of the first Ugandan women to openly declare her HIV status, Beatrice founded an organization that supports women living with HIV/AIDS and engages in advocacy on behalf of AIDS-affected families. Human Rights Watch has worked with Beatrice to contest recent developments in Ugandas HIV-prevention policy toward abstinence-until-marriage approaches.

Moderating the panel will be Carroll Bogert, former Newsweek, Beijing, Hong Kong and Moscow Bureau Chief and Dean Orville Schell of the Graduate School of Journalism. Each year Human Rights Watch honors three people for their human rights related work.