Martín
Almada is a Paraguayan lawyer, educator, writer and social activist who was imprisoned
and tortured as a political enemy by the reigning military regime in 1974. Amnesty
international's campaign to win his release was successful in 1977 and he went
into exile with his children, and wrote a book about his experiences. The book
helped to raise awareness about human rights abuses in Paraguay. In 1986 he began
working with UNESCO on rural development projects in Africa and Latin America
while continuing to campaign for human rights issues. When the military regime
was overthrown in 1989, Martín Almada became a leader in the human rights movement
in Paraguay and the efforts to create a democratic government. In 1992 he uncovered
a vast collection of documents, dubbed 'Archives of Terror' that detailed the
atrocities committed by the dictatorship, and worked to bring the perpetrators
to justice. He helped to set up a Centre for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims
and also established a foundation in honor of his wife who had been killed during
the military regime, which works to fight poverty and protect the environment.
In 2002, Martín Almada received the Right Livelihood Award, often called the Alternative
Nobel Prize, "for his outstanding courage in bringing torturers to justice,
and promoting democracy, human rights and sustainable development."
