Pakistan's late human rights activist Asma Jahangir has won the UN Human Rights Prize 2018.
Maria Fernanda Espinosa, the president of the United Nations General Assembly, tweeted on October 26 that Jahangir, along with Rebeca Gyumi, the founder of a Tanzanian NGO, Brazilian lawyer Joenia Wapichana, and the Irish human rights organization Front Line Defenders won the prestigious UN award.
“I am proud to recognize the contributions of individuals and organizations that promote and protect human rights,” Espinosa wrote.
Jahangir, who was given the award posthumously, served as the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions from 1998 to 2004 and as the UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief from 2004 to 2010.
Jahangir died in February at the age of 66 after she suffered a stroke.
The Human Rights Prize is awarded every five years, in accordance with the General Assembly's 1966 resolution.