Georgian human rights defender selected as judge for top human rights award

Georgian human rights defender and former assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues Tamar Chugoshvili has been named as one of the judges of a prestigious human rights award.

The Human Rights Tulip is an annual prize awarded by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs to a human rights defender or organisation who worked in an innovative way to promote and support human rights. It was presented for the first time in December 2008.

Chugoshvili has been named as one of five international jury members. She will join human rights activists from Kenya, the Netherlands and Pakistan, as well as chairman of the judging panel Guatemalan human rights lawyer and UN special rapporteur Frank La Rue.

Candidates for the prestigious prize will be announced on September 8 and the awards ceremony will take place about three months later, on December 9.

The winner will receive a tulip-shaped bronze sculpture and €100,000 (227,000 GEL) for further development. The winner will be selected and awarded by the Dutch Foreign Minister based on advice from the international jury.

Tamar Chugoshvili has worked on the position of Prime Minister's assistant from January 2013 to June 2014 and currently studies at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.