Media contact:
Chelsea Hedquist
chelsea@lantosfoundation.org
December 9, 2022, Washington, DC – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice awarded its 14th annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to professional basketball player turned human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom at a ceremony held this week in Washington, DC. Mr. Kanter Freedom received the Prize in recognition of his courageous and outspoken advocacy in defense of fundamental human rights and his pointed criticism of dictators, such as Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and others. This advocacy has come at great personal cost: Turkey revoked Mr. Kanter Freedom’s citizenship and forced his family to sever all ties with him; the NBA bowed to pressure from China and effectively shut him out from the league; and he has had close calls with extradition and unjust imprisonment.
In accepting the award, Mr. Kanter Freedom called for more athletes to join him and take up the cause of human rights, saying, “Forget about the contracts, forget about the shoe deals and jersey sales. Who cares? While we are playing basketball in this country, on the other side of the world people are losing their loved ones, losing their lives and losing their homes…Put yourselves in their shoes. If your mother, sister or daughter was in concentration camps [in Xinjiang, China] getting tortured and raped every day, would you still pick money and business over your morals, values and principles?”
The Lantos Human Rights Prize is awarded each year, named in memory of the late Congressman Tom Lantos who co-founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, which was reconstituted as the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission upon his passing. The Lantos Prize honors and elevates heroes of the human rights movement and high-profile public figures that use their platform to advocate for human rights. Mr. Freedom joins a distinguished group of laureates including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Professor Elie Wiesel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Iraqi Parliamentarian Vian Dakhil and Bill Browder, founder of the global Magnitsky campaign, among others.
Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation, said at the ceremony, “There are things in life that are bigger than our own pursuits, our pleasure and our success, but it is the rare person who is actually willing to put themselves on the line to defend those greater causes. That is what Enes has done. He has paid a heavy price, but he deserves to be very proud, indeed, that he has the guts to step into the crosshairs of brutal regimes and cowardly sports franchises, alike. I am confident that long after people have forgotten the names of basketball stars, past and present, they will remember and honor the name of Enes Kanter Freedom, as we do tonight.”
In addition to honoring Mr. Kanter Freedom, the ceremony recognized three prisoners of conscience for whom the Lantos Foundation advocates: Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, imprisoned since April 2022; the real-life hero of the film Hotel Rwanda and 2011 Lantos Prize laureate Paul Rusesabagina, imprisoned since August 2020; and Hong Kong democracy activist and 2018 Lantos Prize laureate Joshua Wong, imprisoned since November 2020. The family members and close associates of these brave human rights heroes spoke at the ceremony, giving voice to the prisoners who have been silenced and urging the attendees to keep advocating relentlessly for their freedom.
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Please contact Chelsea Hedquist if you would like to receive photos or video from the Prize ceremony or to arrange interviews with Mr. Kanter Freedom or other speakers from the program, including: Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, Evgenia Kara-Murza, Anaïse Kanimba, Carine Kanimba and Dr. Jianli Yang.
About the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice: The Lantos Foundation was established in 2008 to carry forward the legacy of Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a leading human rights champion. The Foundation works with a range of partners and often in cooperation with the U.S. government on issues that span the globe. The Foundation’s key areas of focus include human rights issues related to religious freedom, rule of law, internet freedom and activism through art. The Foundation also administers the Lantos Congressional Fellows Program, supports human rights advocates, activists and artists through its Front Line Fund grant program, and awards the annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to honor and bring attention to heroes of the human rights movement.