UNITED NATIONS, Dec 11: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, received here on Wednesday the prestigious UN Human Rights Award given to his assassinated mother Benazir Bhutto.

The president of UN General Assembly, Mr Miguel D’Escoto Brockman, gave the awards to Bilawal and other winners.

In appreciation of Ms Bhutto, the United Nations said that Ms Benazir Bhutto was an ardent advocate for democracy and for human rights of the most vulnerable sections of society, particularly women, children and minority rights.

Addressing a press conference after receiving the award, Bilawal advised Pakistani youths to steer clear of extremist interpretation of Islam and said the correct interpretation of Islam is its message of peace.

He defended his decision to assume, together with his father, the helm of the PPP and said it had to be looked at in the context of what happened after she had been killed.

“Had we not been able to calm the situation as much as possible, our country would not exist today. It was a moment of chaos in the country,” he said, adding that “urgent steps were to be required to calm the situation”. The country faced great danger. The party stood united and the Central Executive Committee voted and supported him and his father – the overriding consideration being that PPP supporters would exercise their democratic rights in the upcoming elections, rather than continue to protest as they were.

About his mother’s human rights record while in office, he said: “My mother did everything humanly possible to ensure both democracy and human rights in Pakistan, her governments were undermined by rogue elements within the establishment at the time.

He acknowledged that many challenges remained in the area of human rights and that they would not likely to get the attention they deserved in the face of problems with terrorism and the global economy.

He said he was “overwhelmed with both sadness and joy”. “I was extremely happy that the UN honoured her with this award but obviously I would have been much happier had she been here herself to receive it.”

The UN award is given every five years on Dec 10 – the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which completed 60 years on Wednesday.

The others given the award this year are:

— Sr Dorothy Stang of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who defended the human rights of the poor, landless and indigenous populations of the Anapu region of Brazil for nearly 40 years. She worked tirelessly together with the farmers of the region to help them rebuild their livelihoods, cultivate their land and defend their rights from illegal loggers and ranchers.

— Ms Louise Arbour, former High Commissioner for Human Rights (2004-2008). Prior to her role as High Commissioner, Ms Arbour served as the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and was responsible for the first indictment in history of a sitting head of state, Slobodan Milosevic. She has also served as a judge on the Supreme Court of Canada.

— Mr Ramsey Clark, veteran human rights defender and rule of law advocate, and former Attorney-General of the United States, has been a leading voice for peace and justice at the international level for decades. He played a key role in the civil rights and peace movements in his home country, and in promoting fairness and justice around the globe. He has most recently been recognised for his principled opposition to abuses committed in the name of ‘counter-terrorism’, and his steadfast insistence on respect for human rights and fair judicial process for all persons, in accordance with international standards.

— Dr Carolyn Gomes, the Executive Director (since November 2002) and co-founder of Jamaicans for Justice which defends the human rights of marginalised and vulnerable groups against all forms of violence, supports victims to seek redress through the judicial system and advocates for their protection.

— Human Rights Watch (HRW) was established in 1978 and has for the last 30 years documented human rights violations across the globe and advocated for the promotion of human rights and freedoms. Each year, Human Rights Watch publishes more than 100 reports and briefings on human rights conditions in some 80 countries.

— Dr Denis Mukwege co-founded and currently operates the General Referral Hospital of Panzi, in Bukavu, South Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For more than 10 years he has devoted himself to helping women and girl victims of sexual violence in the province, setting up specialised services for their treatment and training nurses, obstetricians and doctors so that all those who come to the hospital can be helped. An average of 10 to 12 women arrive daily at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu to be treated, many of whom require major surgery.