Civil Courage News Journal of the Civil Courage Prize Vol. 12, No. 2 • September 2016

For Steadfast Resistance to Evil at Great Personal Risk Sir Jeremy Greenstock to RBSS Wins the 2016 Civil Courage Deliver Keynote Address at Prize for Risking Their Lives to Expose Civil Courage Prize Ceremony the Atrocities in ISIS-Controlled Raqqa n October 27th, the Civil he 2016 Civil Courage OCourage Prize Ceremony's TPrize has been awarded to keynote address will be given by Sir RBSS, "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Jeremy Greenstock, Train Foundation Silently." RBSS is a group of usually Advisor and until recently, Chairman of anonymous young men and women the United Nations Association of the U.K. who secretly film the kidnappings, Prior to his long and distinguished torture and murders carried out by career with the the Islamic State (ISIS) in Raqqa, British Diplo- Syria, and expose these atrocities to matic Service, Sir the world. monitored by ISIS. It is now too Jeremy worked Raqqa was a bustling and fairly dangerous for them to post on Twit- as an assistant prosperous city on the Euphrates ter and Facebook or talk to journal- master at Eton River in north central Syria when ists. Members outside the city College from ISIS took it over. Their powerful in- continue to contribute to social 1966 to 1969, ternet propaganda campaign at- media and use fake names with jour- when he left to tracted fanatical followers from all nalists, since they can no longer trust join the Foreign Sir Jeremy Greenstock over the world, making Raqqa a anyone. and Common- stronghold of the Islamic State. The Open resistance and dissent are wealth Office. As a senior official, he was city's name has become synonymous punishable by death, yet the group posted in Washington D.C., Paris, Dubai with what VICE News refers to as the keeps sending digital images to the and . During his career, he violence of "beheadings, immola- outside world, documenting life developed specializations in the Middle tion, enslavement of women and under the caliphate. Most use cell East, Transatlantic Relations and the every form of barbarism." phones to film events, capturing the United Nations. Founded in April 2014 by seven- terror of those who live there and Regarded as a career diplomat of im- teen Syrian activists, members of the caliphate's brutality. peccable integrity, Sir Jeremy served as RBSS have become citizen journal- According to one founder, Abu Political Counsellor in Paris, and as the ists, risking their lives on a daily basis Mohammed, who had to leave Syria, Director for Western and Southern Eu- to document the abuses of the Is- "Cameras monitor anyone suspected rope in , which provided the lamic State. The group is considered of working for us. Since ISIS has foundation for his work on the EU’s to be a reliable, credible and inde- branded RBSS as infidels, declaring Common Foreign and Security Policy pendent source of news among Syria them an enemy of God, if a suspect is and on the Balkans, Cyprus and Gibral- monitors and journalists globally. caught in the street, they will be tar. He was the Deputy Ambassador in There are now twelve members killed in front of everyone.” Despite the British Embassy in Washington, the inside Raqqa; the rest are outside the the loss of friends and colleagues, U.K.'s Director General for Eastern Eu- city, with some working outside of persistent death threats received by rope and the Middle East and Political Syria. Those inside post photos, members in and out of Syria, and Director in London. He also chaired the videos, stories and news online from ISIS hacking the group's Twitter and European Union’s Political Committee a secret location or risk internet cafes personal email accounts, RBSS continued on page 3 continued on page 3 Letter From The Chairman Recent News of Past Winners Yu Jie 2012 his quarter we had a retirement from our Board of Author and Advocate for Reform in Tof Trustees: Ambassador John Menzies. He was sta- China tioned in the American Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1980, u Jie, China's prominent es- at the time of the first free elections there in generations. Ysayist, critic and a leading The present writer organized a campaign to send elec- democracy activist, published his latest book in 2015. Entitled tioneering equipment – copying machines, poster-sized Steel Gate To Freedom, it is a bi- sheets, bullhorns – which they completely lacked, to the ography of his friend, Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo, democratic coalition in the election. John Menzies agreed a Chinese dissident, poet and scholar. Yu captures to receive this material – dozens of huge boxes – in his the remarkable journey of Liu from Inner Mon- Public Affairs office, which might have been considered an golia to Beijing intellectual circles to Tiananmen undiplomatic act. Fortunately, it succeeded. The demo- Square, imprisonment, and the founding of Chi- cratic force won. John later went on to higher diplomatic nese PEN, all of which led to the famous image in posts, and then headed two educational institutions. We 2012 of a stage with an empty chair in the Oslo City Hall holding only the medal and diploma of will miss him. that year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo. Taking his place on our Board is George Biddle, who Yu Jie's work has been banned in China since recently left the International Rescue Committee after a 2004 and while working on this biography, he was distinguished career there. This writer had been president subjected to lengthy house arrest, kidnap and tor- of the Afghanistan Relief Committee, which merged with ture. He was threatened by Beijing security with a the IRC, and later led an IRC mission to Ahmed Massoud, harsh prison sentence if he published the book. “the Lion of the Panjshir,” who had become Foreign Min- Reviewers have applauded this "personal, af- ister after the Soviet army had been forced out of the fectionate, but also critical portrait of the famous country. dissident" as "the best biography available in a George Biddle was part of that mission, which went Western language," adding that Yu Jie's portrayal very well, except for the vexation of being successfully at- of Liu Xiaobo is "not a distant saint, but rather a tacked by bandits on the road from Jalalabad to Kabul. real human being who comes to life in these pages." In any event, George, having retired from the Interna- In 2012, Yu left China with his wife and son, tional Rescue Committee, has formed a new NGO of in- emigrating to the United States, where he contin- ternational scope. We welcome him warmly to our Board. ues to live and work.

The Story of The Civil Courage Prize

any years ago, John Train became concerned with the situation of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian hero and author, whose works helped Mdestroy the prestige of Stalinism. After being exiled, he had moved to rural Vermont, but was living in poverty. Train was able to obtain substantial private support for him, and accompanied him to London, where Prince Philip handed him a check in a Buckingham Palace ceremony. Train, who delivered the English-language response at the ceremony, realized that there was no word in English for the virtue that Solzhenitsyn so nobly exemplified, but that there should be, perhaps “civil courage,” as distinct from valor in war. He resolved to create a prize for this virtue, and asked if Solzhenitsyn would like to receive it, or have it named after him, or be a judge. He chose the last, and acted in that role for the rest of his life. His son has followed him. The prize, a substantial honorarium and a medal, is “for steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk.” It was first awarded, in London, to Natasa Kandic, sometimes called the Serbian Schindler. Subsequent laureates have come from most parts of the world. One, Anna Politkovskaya, reporting on atrocities in Chechnya, was assassinated in the course of the very work for which she was honored, as were several others who were recognized posthumously, notably Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Giovanni Falcone and Raoul Wallenberg. Civil courage is essential for a good society. Some few must step forward to challenge iniquity. Our hope is that by introducing the expression “civil courage” into the English language, and by holding up for general admiration heroes of conscience who exemplify it, we can encourage the good side of human nature. To select the prizewinner, we invite nominations from an international list of distinguished organizations and persons. Our administrative office then checks to see if the nominee truly fills our qualifications. Once the nominations have been researched, they are reviewed by the Trustees and a short list is created, which is then sent on to our Advisors for ranking. Their choices are in turn considered by the Trustees, who make the final decision. When the laureate has come to New York to receive the medal and the stipend, we introduce him to the press and to other organizations with similar ob- jectives here and in Washington. He will probably make contact with twenty or thirty groups and hundreds of individuals. These encounters will fortify his re- solve to continue on his difficult course and will help develop useful allies. It adds prestige to a good person pursuing a difficult goal to be able to invoke such connections. We have found that winning the prize confers a measure of protection to a laureate’s life at home. The hero of conscience is usually solitary: his companions are found in history books. He battles for a cause that even his friends may not understand or believe in, or dare to espouse. The noblest causes may be those that seem hopeless at the time. Civil courage empowers us to face the world alone.

Page 2 September 2016 Sir Jeremy Greenstock R.B.S.S. Wins the 2016 Civil Courage Prize continued from page 1 continued from page 1 during the U.K.'s Presidency. members continue to report on human rights violations within Syria. His final role in the diplomatic service A major threat to RBSS is the weapons-toting Al-Khansa female was as U.K. Ambassador to the United Na- brigade, the caliphate's enforcers of women’s morality. Women are re- tions from 1998 to 2003, during which he quired to wear a niqab (a cloth covering their faces), a hijab (a veil cover- chaired the Security Council's Counter- ing their heads and chests) and black shoes. They are beaten or slashed if Terrorism Committee for two years. In they do not conform to ISIS standards of dress or if they are caught walk- 2003, he led a Security Council mission to ing in the street alone. West Africa to assess the UN activities The restrictions are in direct contrast to their lives before. There were there. female doctors, lawyers, and teachers and many women no longer wore While representing the U.K. on the hijabs. Men and women mixed together in cafes and restaurants. Under the Security Council he worked extensively on caliphate's domination, women no longer work and are no longer safe; matters of peace and security in Africa, the RBSS has filmed women being stoned to death. Many of the Al-Khansa Middle East, the Balkans, South Asia and, brigade dress in disguise so those filming no longer know who is watch- particularly, . He came out of retire- ing them. If anyone is caught, it means immediate execution. ment to serve as the U.K. Special Envoy for There are no open schools or universities; no education with the ex- Iraq from September 2003 to March 2004, ception of boys under the age of six. With schools closed, kids play in the working within the Coalition Provisional street and ISIS members befriend them and give them gifts to entice them Authority in . to join, or simply kidnap them. ISIS’s imams dominate the mosques and In retirement, Sir Jeremy has served in children are sent off to the caliphate's religious institutions, where they both profit and non-profit entities. He was receive religious indoctrination into an extreme form of Islam. Later they director of the Ditchley Foundation, a spe- go to military camps, where they are taught to fight and carry bombs. cial adviser to BP, co-chaired the European Founding member Abdalaziz Alhamza, 24, a former university stu- Eminent Persons Group on the Middle dent, fled Syria for Turkey and then Germany. In an article by David Rem- East, served as governor of the London nick in The New Yorker, Alhamza spoke about conditions in Raqqa, "People Business School, a Director of De La Rue have become so poor, the families so weak, that some give up their daugh- Plc and as a Member of Council at ters to ISIS." In a New York Times article by Roger Cohen, Alhamza de- Chatham House. He is the Chairman of scribed the ISIS takeover, “In the beginning we didn’t think it was that Gatehouse Advisory Partners and of Lam- dangerous. We didn’t think they would execute us.” He goes on to say that bert Energy Advisory Ltd., an adviser to “There are so many people, normal people, who want to live in a free, MTM Capital Partners, the International democratic Syria." He then speaks of commitment, “We won’t stop. We Rescue Committee-U.K. and the NGO have too many friends and family dead. The only way we will stop is if Forward Thinking. ISIS kills us all or we go back home.” With Special Thanks to the 2016 Civil Courage Prize Nominators Tabassum Adnan Claire Fallender Sergei Khodorovich Suzanne Scholte Activist/Founder, Khwendo Jirga Ashoka 2000 CCP Honorable Mention President, Defense Forum Ko K Aung Foundation; Chairman, North Maria Salazar Ferro Daniel Kovalik Korea Freedom Coalition General Secretary, Civil Society Committee to Protect Journalists for Myanmar (US Chapter) Senior Counsel, United Steel Workers Viren Shah Hoi Trinh Saraswati Foundation Amb. Glenn Babb VOICE Train Foundation Advisor Dr. Michael Leeden Suzanne Siskel Nancy Kamel Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Emadeddin Baghi Executive VP and CEO, Managing Partner, Defense of Democracies The Asia Foundation Iranian Journalist Strategic Expansion Solutions 2004 CCP Honoree Regan Ralph Dr. Bahadur Singh Yadav, Prof. Sarra Karzai President and CEO, The Fund for Dr. Ahmad Saghir Inam Shastri Sinee Chakthranont Innovation and Strategic Ashoka Global Human Rights Education Board Government of Investment Program Uttar, India; Visiting Professor, Luigi deRosa Coordinator, Vital Voices Rebecca Rimel Faculty of Social Science, Lucknow Soccer Coach, TV Commentator Global Partnership President/CEO, Pew Charitable Trusts University For further information and updates on current and previous prizewinners, please go to: www.civilcourageprize.org twitter.com/TrainFoundation facebook.com/CivilCourage@TrainFoundation

September 2016 Page 3 The Train Foundation Past Honorees Trustees and Officers 2015 Claudia Paz y Paz 2006 Rafael Marques 2001 Paul Kamara Prosecutor of Human de Morais Editor and journalist The Hon. John Train Rights Abuses, Guatemala Journalist who exposed fighting tyranny in Sierra Trustee, Chairman the slaughter of Angolans Leone Yassmín Barrios and the plundering of Ambassador Edward Streator Presiding Judge in Rios Trustee, President national assets 2000 Natasa Kandic Montt Genocide Trial, Persecuted journalist and Ariadne Calvo-Platero Guatemala 2005 Min Ko Naing activist, Belgrade Trustee, Executive Vice-President Long-imprisoned 2014 Nicola Gratteri Musa T. Klebnikov campaigner for Relentless Prosecutor Sergei Khodorovich democracy in Burma Trustee, Secretary of the Italian Mafia (Honorable Mention) Louis N. Bickford Anna Politkovskaya Solzhenitsyn collaborator Trustee 2013 Dr. Denis Mukwege Fearless reporter on exiled to hard labor in Physician and advocate for George Biddle atrocities in Chechnya, Siberia victims of violence in the assassinated Trustee Democratic Republic of Pastor Dietrich the Congo Munir Said Thalib† Ambassador Nicholas Platt Exposed disappearances Bonhoeffer† Trustee 2012 Yu Jie and corruption in Anti-Nazi martyr Ann Brownell Sloane Author and advocate for Indonesia, assassinated Trustee reform in China Judge Giovanni 2004 Emadeddin Baghi Sumner Gerard III Falcone† 2011 Triveni Acharya Imprisoned for exposing Treasurer Assassinated while Defender of victims of assassinations of Iranian prosecuting the Sicilian Charles Berry, Esq. human trafficking in India intellectuals Counsel Mafia Lydia Cacho Ribeiro Lovemore Madhuku Nina Train Choa Champion of abused Lawyer persecuted for Rosemary Nelson† Advisor women and demanding constitutional children in Mexico Civil rights lawyer, Lisa Train reform in Zimbabwe assassinated while Advisor 2010 Andrew White Abdul al-Latif defending accused persons C. Bowdoin Train Steadfast advocate for peace al-Mayah† in Northern Ireland Advisor in the Middle East Iraqi political scientist and 2009 Aminatou Haidar human rights advocate, Neelan Tiruchelvam† Civil Courage Prize Advisors Champion of the non- assassinated Lawyer and educator, killed by a suicide bomber Ambassador Glenn R.W. Babb violent campaign for self- 2003 Shahnaz Bukhari determination in Western while working for solutions Prof. Philip C. Bobbitt Battler against the burn- to Tamil-Sri Lankan Sahara ing and other abuse of The Hon. Hodding Carter III conflict Pakistani women Sir Jeremy Greenstock 2008 Ali Salem Egyptian author and Raoul Wallenberg† Bill Keller 2002 Vladimiro Roca journalist. Voice for Saved thousands of Jews Antunez Count Aymar de Lastours peace and reason in the from extermination Champion of freedom, Ambassador John Menzies Middle East Cuba Baroness Rawlings 2007 Phillip Buck Gustavo Arcos Grace Keenan Warnecke Imprisoned in China for † = posthumous Bergnes Ambassador Frank G. Wisner guiding North Korean refugees in their escape to (Honorable Mention) Patrons freedom Early democracy activist, Cuba Mrs. Jennifer Coutts Clay The Civil Courage Prize honors civil courage—steadfast resistance to evil at great personal Clarence & Anne Dillon Dunwalke Trust risk—rather than military valor. The acts so recognized should have taken place deliberately, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gilder over time. Founding Patron Nominations for the Prize are solicited primarily from non-profit, non-governmental Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn organizations worldwide. Further information may be obtained from our website: www.civil- courageprize.org.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke

The Train Foundation Tel: 212.888.5959 Civil Courage News 505 Park Avenue Fax: 212.888.4018 Journal of the Civil Courage Prize 20th Floor www.civilcourageprize.org New York, NY 10022

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