Sakharov Prize laureates

global international and intergovernmental organization

First President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist (1918–2013)

7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1938-2018)

former State Counsellor of Myanmar and Leader of the National League for Democracy

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani female education activist, and producer of film and television. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, receiving the Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17, and is the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize. Yousafzai is a human rights advocate for the education of women and children in her native district, Swat, where the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen".

Russian jurist and opposition leader (1976–2024)

Yazidi human rights activist from Iraq and winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize

María Corina Machado Parisca is a Venezuelan politician, activist, and prominent leader of the opposition to the administrations of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. She served as a member of the National Assembly of Venezuela from 2011 to 2014, and has run as a candidate in presidential elections. She was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize; she presented the medal to U.S. president Donald Trump after the 2026 U.S. strikes in Venezuela and capture of Maduro.

first Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (1921-1992)

Belarusian politician, educator, and pro-democracy activist (born 1982)

Congolese gynecologist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

author, secular humanist, and feminist

organization that advocates freedom of the press and freedom of information

President of Kosovo (1944-2006)

Prime Minister and former President of East Timor

Iranian film director

Russian historical and civil rights society

Iranian lawyer and human right activist

Ukrainian filmmaker and activist (born 1976)

Tunisian street vendor

Turkish statesperson (born 1961)

Chinese activist

Iranian woman who died in police custody

Uyghur economist and Human Rights activist

Saudi Arabian writer, activist, and creator of the website Free Saudi Liberals

movement of Argentine mothers who campaigned for their children who had been "disappeared"

Egyptian activist

Albanian politician (1936-2018)

Chinese democracy activist and dissident

Syrian human rights lawyer

Algerian writer and journalist journalist

Yazidi human rights activist

Winner of Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

Belarusian politician

Edmundo González Urrutia is a Venezuelan politician, analyst, and diplomat. An opposition figure, he is a member of the Unitary Platform political alliance. González was its candidate in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election. González has previously served as the Venezuelan ambassador to Argentina and Algeria. He also sits on the editorial board of El Nacional.

Cuban women opposition movement

Cuban dissident

Soviet dissident (1938–1986)

The Oslobođenje (; ; 'Liberation') is the Bosnian national daily newspaper, published in Sarajevo. It is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded on 30 August 1943, in the midst of World War II, on a patch of territory liberated by Partisans, in what was otherwise a German-occupied country, the paper gained recognition over the years for its high journalistic standards and has been a recipient of numerous domestic and international awards.

Cuban activist (1952-2012)

Israeli academic

Venezuelan politician

Syrian cartoonist

Sudanese politician

professional association of journalists in Belarus

Belarusian public activist

politician

Catholic Archbishop

Belarusian pro-democracy political organization

Spanish grassroots anti-terrorism organization

Venezuelan politician

Palestinian writer (1951-2003)

Venezuelan politician

Venezuelan activist

Venezuelan politician

Women's rights movement in Iran