‘Hessian Peace Prize’ Awarded to Şebnem Korur Fincancı

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The Hessian Peace Prize, which is awarded by Albert Osswald Foundation in the federal state of Hessen in Germany, has been awarded to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Chair and Evrensel newspaper columnist Şebnem Korur Fincancı this year.

In the press conference which was held in Wiesbaden, it was announced that the Hessian Peace Prize, which is given each year to those who have been engaging in activities of peace around the world, has been awarded to Prof. Dr. Korur Fincancı this year by virtue of her efforts for the rehabilitation of torture victims as well as for the research and documentation of torture.

Hessian Peace Prize Curatorium Chair Karl Starzacher, Hessen State Assembly Chair Norbert Kartmann and Hessian Peace and Conflict Studies Foundation Chair Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff announced the winner of this year's Hessian Peace Prize in the press conference.

Korur Fincancı was also awarded the "Human Rights Prize" by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in 2017.

About Hessian Peace Prize

The Hessian Peace Prize is awarded by the Albert Osswald Foundation.

Osswald was a politician in Germany and served as the 3rd Minister President of the federal state of Hessen from 1969 to 1976 and as the 27th President of the Federal Council of Germany (Bundesrat) in 1975 and 1976.

The Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) advises the committee in the selection of awardees and documents the award ceremonies.

Hessian Peace Prize is awarded to individuals who rendered outstanding service to furthering mutual understanding among countries and peace.

Click here for the full-list of previous awardees of the Hessian Peace Prize

About Şebnem Korur Fincancı

Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı is a rights advocate and the Chair of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV). The Foundation has been involved in the documentation of the cases of torture, rehabilitation of its victims and provision of legal assistance to them.

Şebnem Korur Fincancı is also one of the founding members of the Forensic Doctors' Association and has played the major role in the development of the United Nations reference standards on the investigation and documentation of the cases of torture, the Istanbul Protocol.

She has conducted forensic investigations to expose torture in multiple countries and in 2014 she received the International Hrant Dink Award. She has also been one of the founders of the Turkish Penal Code Association.

Devoting her professional life to the investigation and documentation of torture as well as struggle against it, Korur Fincancı has become one of the milestones in Turkey in that regard. Preparing reports on cases of torture and writing on medical ethics in the 1990s, when torture was prevalent in Turkey, she was met with the oppression and preventions by the state.

In 1997, she became the Head of Forensic Medicine Department at İstanbul University. In 2004, she was dismissed from this post. In 2005, she was reinstated by the Administrative Court and as per the decision of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK).

Şebnem Korur Fincancı also participated in the Editors-in-Chief on Watch campaign that was launched in solidarity with the Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was closed as per a Statutory Decree. Korur Fincancı was arrested on June 20, 2016 for having participated in the campaign and was released on June 30, 2016. (EMK/SD)