Tomaj Salehi Receives the 'Havel' Human Rights Award

Tomaj Salehi, an Iranian protest singer sentenced to death, has won the 'Havel' award, one of Europe's most significant human rights prizes. The Human Rights Foundation announced on Wednesday, May 23, that Tomaj Salehi, along with Gabriela Montero, a Venezuelan pianist and human rights activist, and Tahir Hamut Izgil, a Uyghur poet and filmmaker critical of the Chinese Communist regime, were awarded the 'Havel' prize. The statement referenced Salehi's release from prison and his revelations about torture and forced confessions he experienced while incarcerated. After being re-arrested, he was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan. The Human Rights Foundation highlighted Salehi's protest song 'The Hair of Freedom that Moves in the Wind, a Brave Heart with a Sharp Tongue,' which gained widespread popularity during the popular uprising in 2022. The Havel award is named in honor of Vaclav Havel, the late President of the Czech Republic, poet, playwright, and former head of the Human Rights Foundation, who led a non-violent revolutionary movement that liberated Czechoslovakia from communist rule. Amnesty International has called for the cancellation of Salehi's death sentence and his unconditional release. The Human Rights Foundation states that it annually honors artists who creatively and courageously unveil the face of tyranny and embody the concept of life in truth. Thor Halvorsen, the founder of the Human Rights Foundation, stated that the works of all three artists deserving of the 'Havel' award demonstrate 'extraordinary courage and genius.' The news of Salehi's death sentence by the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan has sparked a widespread global outcry that continues. On May 17, Amnesty International sent a letter to the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, demanding the cancellation of Salehi's death sentence. The human rights organization emphasized that this Iranian rapper was sentenced to death solely for participating in the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement and for posting messages on social media criticizing the officials of the Islamic Republic, asserting that his trial was extremely 'unjust.' The letter specified that Tomaj Salehi was tortured during his detention and continuously beaten. The severe governmental repression and the risk of protests becoming 'underground' are evident in the accounts from doctors and eyewitnesses regarding the injured from the protests.