Freedom House 2024 Annual Awards
At Freedom House's Annual Awards in May 2024, imprisoned Chinese prodemocracy activist Dr. Wang Bingzhang was honored with the Freedom Award. US public servants and diplomats of Operation Nica Welcome received the 2024 Mark Palmer Prize.
Date
May 08, 2024
Freedom House honored imprisoned Chinese prodemocracy activist Dr. Wang Bingzhang and the US public servants and diplomats of Operation Nica Welcome in recognition of their brave stances against tyranny and dedication to freedom. The organization also celebrated Michael J. Abramowitz, who is stepping down as Freedom House’s president after seven years of service to lead Voice of America.
Dr. Wang Bingzhang is a Chinese prodemocracy activist who has been unjustly imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party for the past 22 years. Wang set aside a promising medical career to focus on advocating for democratic reform in China. He worked tirelessly in this effort, starting an influential magazine and several Chinese political parties dedicated to this cause. In 2002, after being kidnapped from Vietnam in an act of transnational repression, he was sentenced to life in prison under phony espionage and terrorism charges. Wang’s daughter, Ti-Anna, accepted the Freedom Award on her father’s behalf.
WATCH: Ti-Anna Wang accepts 2024 Freedom Award on behalf of Dr. Wang Bingzhang
The 2024 Mark Palmer Prize, named after the late US ambassador to Hungary, was awarded to the public servants and diplomats across agencies who were part of Operation Nica Welcome, the heroic effort to secure the release and settlement of 222 political prisoners from Nicaraguan jails to safety in the United States in early 2023. Ambassador Kevin Sullivan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Marta Costanzo Youth, Deputy Assistant Secretary Enrique Roig, and former Assistant Administrator Marcela Escobari accepted the award on behalf of the 350 US government officials who participated in the operation, which reunited the released prisoners with their loved ones and helped them begin new lives in 25 states across the country.
WATCH: Freedom House trustees Dr. Sushma Palmer and Félix Maradiaga present 2024 Mark Palmer Prize
On behalf of the Freedom House Board of Trustees, co-chairs Jane Harman and Wendell L. Willkie II announced the creation of the Michael J. Abramowitz Fund for Freedom in the World, which will honor Abramowitz’s legacy as Freedom House’s president. The Abramowitz Fund will help ensure the vitality of our flagship annual report, Freedom in the World, helping it reach more people, advance policies to strengthen democracy, and identify evolving threats to freedom.
To close the event, Her Excellency Oksana Markarova, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United States, joined the Hon. Jane Harman, co-chair of the Freedom House Board of Trustees, for an engaging and informative discussion about the Ukrainian people’s fight to defend their democracy.
Gabe Gutierrez, Senior White House Correspondent for NBC News, served as master of ceremonies.
DINNER HOST COMMITTEE
- Shana Glickfield & Jimmy Gardner
- Miles Taylor & Hannah Hummelberg
- David Willkie
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SUPPORTERS
EVENT UNDERWRITER
Miles Taylor & Hannah Hummelberg
FREEDOM SUPPORTER
- Thomas & Susana Kahn
- Nonie & Andrew Prozes
- Karen & Norman Willox
FREEDOM ADVOCATE
- The Honorable Goli Ameri
- Charles & Julie Davidson
- Mathea Falco
- The Ginns Family
- The Honorable Jane Harman
- Dr. Sushma Palmer in Honor of Ambassador Mark Palmer
- Pan American Energy
- Amalie & Bill Reichblum
- Susan & Thomas Staudt
- Carlotta & Wendell Willkie
GUARDIAN OF FREEDOM
- Anita & Marc Abramowitz
- Carol & Ken Adelman
- American Express
- ClearForce/Jones Group International
- DC Vote
- David L. Fogel
- Shana Glickfield & Jimmy Gardner
- D. Jeffrey Hirschberg & Frann Lichtenstein
- William & Sheila Konar Foundation
- Cater Lee & David Yost
- MadWolf Technologies
- The Rackham Foundation
- Jonathan & Darby Rosenstein
- Tandym Group
- Telecom Argentina SA
- David Willkie
Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.
Header photos (from left): Filipino Muslim women celebrate during a peace gathering at a mosque in Manila, Philippines. © Ezra Acayan/Alamy Live News; Young people holding a huge Armenian flag and moving through the city of Yerevan. © Shutterstock; A person waves a flag during the European LGBTQ pride march in Belgrade, Serbia, September 17, 2022. © REUTERS/Zorana Jevtic; Protesters in Bishoftu, Ethiopia cross their wrists above their heads as a symbol for the Oromo anti-government protesting movement. © Zacharias Abubeker/AFP/Getty Images
