Miami (April 10, 2023) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) announced the awarding of the 2023 Chapultepec Grand Prize to Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK Human Rights). The award recognizes the organization's "commendable work in favor of freedom of the press and freedom of expression as part of its protection and promotion of human rights," principles enshrined in the Declaration of Chapultepec.
RFK Human Rights is a U.S. non-profit organization founded in 1968 in honor of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, to advance his work on social justice. Attorney and human rights activist Kerry Kennedy presides it. Prominent lawyers, experts, advocates, business people, and writers focus their work, among other areas, on protecting civic space, the freedoms of assembly, association, and expression, and the right to dissent without fear of reprisal or persecution.
IAPA President Michael Greenspon, Global Head of Licensing & Print Innovation for The New York Times, said: "The IAPA's highest governing bodies, Executive Committee, Advisory Council, and Board of Directors, based the presentation of this award to RFK Human Rights for its firm commitment and professionalism in favor of the defense and promotion of individual and social freedoms and rights."
"We are truly honored to receive this recognition and humbled to join the prestigious cohort of freedom of expression champions," said Kennedy. "We accept this Award with an increased sense of responsibility to continue fighting for justice and human rights, and especially for press freedom in a world that needs it more than ever."
The award will be presented to Kennedy at a special ceremony during the 79th General Assembly in Mexico City on November 9-12.
The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Carlos Jornet, editor of La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, Argentina, noted: "The IAPA valued the support of the RFK Human Rights in successfully litigating cases of unpunished crimes against journalists before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, such as the case of Colombian journalist Nelson Carvajal. Also, in seeking redress for the victims through negotiation processes with the governments of Mexico and Colombia in the cases of Alfredo Jiménez Mota and Guillermo Cano."
The chairman of the IAPA's Chapultepec Subcommittee, Armando Castilla, editor of the Saltillo, Mexico, newspaper Vanguardia, explained that the IAPA has been awarding the Chapultepec Grand Prize since 1998 to honor individuals and institutions that defend and promote the values of the Declaration of Chapultepec. The Declaration, created in 1994, is a document that outlines 10 principles of press freedom that should govern a free and democratic society.
Other individuals or institutions that received the award were: Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP), Colombia; Martin Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post, USA; Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission of Human Rights; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, USA; Newseum, USA; Gregorio Badeni, constitutional lawyer, Argentina; Alberto Ibargüen, President, CEO, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, USA; Catalina Botero, former Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Colombia; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President and writer, Brazil; Enrique Krauze, historian and journalist, Mexico; Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel Prize in Literature 2010, Peru; José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch, USA; Asdrúbal Aguiar, former judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Venezuela; Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina, Argentina; World Bank, Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Santiago Canton, former Executive Secretary, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Argentina; Anthony Lewis, author and former columnist, New York Times, USA; Claudio Grossman, former President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, USA; Jorge Santistevan, Ombudsman, Peru; Dana Bullen, Executive Director of the World Press Freedom Committee, USA; Arthur O. Sulzberger, former Publisher of The New York Times, USA, and Federico Mayor Zaragoza, General director of UNESCO, France.
IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere; and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
