EL PARE MANEL, AWARDED THE PREMI SOLIDARITAT 2007
The Menció Especial Mitjans de Comunicació (Honorary Prize for Media Work) was won by the journalist Mercè Conesa.

Manel Pousa, better known as Pare Manel, was awarded the Premi Solidaritat, an annual prize given by the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia. The Menció Especial Mitjans de Comunicació was awarded to the journalist Mercè Conesa.

Manel Pousa is a distinguished activist in the struggle for human rights. A chaplain, he has worked for more than 35 years for the integration of some of the most marginalised groups of Barcelona society, in particular prisoners. The jury of the twenty-first Premi Solidaritat, meeting on Thursday the tenth of January 2008, unanimously voted for Manel Pousa as the winner of the 2007 prize in recognition of his social commitment and his struggle for the human rights of the most disadvantaged.

The Menció Especial Mitjans de Comunicació , which recognises journalistic work in the area of human rights, was awarded to the journalist Mercè Conesa, of the newspaper E l Periódico de Catalunya . For the last 20 years, Mercè Conesa has documented the situation of the most vulnerable groups of our society, as well as the solidaritary work done by many organisations in Catalonia.

The Premi Solidaritat , which has been awarded annually by the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia (IHRC) since 1987, recognises individuals or organisations doing distinguished work in the defense of human rights in Catalonia. Since 1998, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the IHRC has awarded the Menció Especial Mitjans de Comunicació to journalists who, through their work, deal with the defense and protection of human rights in a determined manner.

The prizes were awarded at the Parlament de Catalunya on the 19th of February. This year, the Premi Solidaritat was an oil painting donated by the Argentinian artist Enrique Arau.

The jury of the 2007 Premi Solidaritat was made up of Roger Revilla, President of the Federació Catalana d'ONGs pels Drets Humans ; Andreu Felip, Director of the Agència Catalana de Cooperació al Desenvolupament (ACCD) ; Arcadi Oliveres, President of Justícia i Pau ; Ferran Sales, Journalist; Xavier Badia, Director of the Oficina de promoció de la pau i de drets humans , Laura Díez, of the Síndic de Greuges de Catalunya ; Joaquim Mestre, Governer of Drets Civils de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona ; Josep Maria Solsona Sancho, Vice-president of the IHRC and Lawyer; Helena Torroja, Adviser to the IDHC; David Bondia, Director of the IHRC and Jaume Saura, President of the IDHC.

FURTHER INFORMATION
Transcription of the ceremony