Sudanese Female Activist Wins Martin Institute Prize for Human Rights Defenders

Tahani Abbas holds the Martin Institute Prize (Martin Institute)
Tahani Abbas holds the Martin Institute Prize (Martin Institute)
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Sudanese Female Activist Wins Martin Institute Prize for Human Rights Defenders

Tahani Abbas holds the Martin Institute Prize (Martin Institute)
Tahani Abbas holds the Martin Institute Prize (Martin Institute)

Tahani Abbas, a Sudanese human rights activist, was awarded the Martin Institute Prize in Switzerland. This is the fifth edition of the prize awarded to human rights defenders and was awarded to her in appreciation of her work on human rights and women's issues in Sudan.

The Martine Institute Prize is named after a French-Swiss woman who dedicated her life to defending human rights. After her death, her family and the Swiss authorities dedicated a prize in her name, to be given on the 6th of March every year as part of the Human Rights Film Festival, to honor human rights activists and to remind nations of the importance of their rights.

Ms. Abbas told Asharq Al-Awsat that she was proud to receive the prize and because it embodies the distant world’s perception of the Sudanese people’s struggle and shows that the world is watching out for human rights. She went on to say that “personally, the award credits me with a strong role with regards to defending human rights and makes me feel that our efforts and positions in the defense of human rights are appreciated and did not go in vain."

In her acceptance speech, Abbas stressed that all Sudanese women qualify to stand in her place and receive the prize, adding that “I am only a miniature and symbolic example that personifies that struggle of all the women of Sudan. I am an extension of Sudan’s feminist struggle, which is deeply ingrained in its history since before the era of the Kandakes or Nubian Queens, passing through Mendi, daughter of the Sultan Ajabna, and reaching the icon of the Sudanese revolution, Alaa Salah."

Despite the admiration of observers and the organizers of the prize for the role of Sudanese women in the revolution, Abbas demonstrated her anger at what she calls “women's weak political participation of after the revolution”. However, she says “Despite being denied political participation after the success of the revolution, our struggle will not stop.”

Abbas says she is from rural Sudan, a member of the nation and of the feminist movement in particular and an activist defending human rights, saying, “I was nominated for the International Federation for Human Rights Award, it received the award for which 26 people and 16 organizations around the world had been nominated.

Abbas has been an active human rights defender since 2009 and is a member of many Sudanese feminist and human rights groups. She is a member of the executive committee of the Regional Alliance of Women Human Rights Defenders of North Africa and the Middle East, a member of the executive committee of the No to the Oppression of Sudanese Women Initiative, the My Fair Home campaign which is concerned with domestic workers, the I am Sudanese, which is concerned with nationality and a member of the Sudanese Alliance to End Child Marriage.

In her assessment of the human rights situation in Sudan after the revolution, she says that it has improved a lot as per international standards.

She said: ”The reports of international human rights organizations demonstrate this, and, locally, we feel that, as human rights defenders, we have achieved some victories."



Who Are the NASA Astronauts Who Have Been Stuck in Space for 9 Months?

This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (NASA via AP)
This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (NASA via AP)
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Who Are the NASA Astronauts Who Have Been Stuck in Space for 9 Months?

This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (NASA via AP)
This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (NASA via AP)

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were barely known outside space circles when they strapped in for what was supposed to be a quick test flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule last June. Nine months later, they've captured the world's attention — and hearts — as NASA's stuck astronauts.

Their homecoming is imminent now that a new crew has arrived at the International Space Station to replace them after launching from Florida last week. They're flying back with SpaceX, their problem-plagued Starliner having returned to Earth empty months ago, leaving them behind in orbit. Their SpaceX capsule undocked from the station early Tuesday for the 17-hour ride home, The AP reported.

Here's a look at “Suni and Butch” and their drama-filled mission:

Who are the stuck astronauts? The two test pilots came to NASA via the Navy. Wilmore, 62, played high school and college football in his home state of Tennessee before joining the Navy. Williams, 59, grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, a competitive swimmer and distance runner.

Wilmore racked up 663 aircraft carrier landings, while Williams served in combat helicopter squadrons.

NASA picked Williams as an astronaut in 1998 followed by Wilmore in 2000. Each had two spaceflights behind them including monthslong stints at the space station before signing up as Starliner's first crew.

While they accepted their repeated homecoming delays, they noted it was much harder on their families. Wilmore’s wife Deanna has held down the fort, according to her husband. Their oldest daughter is in college and their youngest in her last year of high school.

Williams’ husband, Mike, a retired federal marshal, has been caring for their two Labrador retrievers. She said her mother is the worrier.

What are the stuck astronauts looking forward to on Earth? Besides reuniting with loved ones, Wilmore, an elder with his Baptist church, can’t wait to get back to face-to-face ministering and smelling fresh-cut grass.

Wilmore kept in touch with members of his congregation over the months, taking part in occasional prayer services and calling ailing members via the space station's internet phone.

Williams looks forward to long walks with her dogs and an ocean swim.

Several other astronauts have spent even longer in space so no special precautions should be needed for these two once they're back, according to NASA.

“Every astronaut that launches into space, we teach them don't think about when you're coming home. Think about how well your mission's going and if you're lucky, you might get to stay longer,” NASA's space operations mission chief and former astronaut Ken Bowersox said last week.

Why were the stuck astronauts in a political dust-up? Wilmore and Williams found themselves in the middle of a political storm when President Donald Trump and SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced at the end of January they would accelerate the astronauts' return and blamed the Biden Administration on keeping them up there too long.

NASA officials stood by their decision to wait for the next scheduled SpaceX flight to bring them home, targeting a February return. But their replacements got held up back on Earth because of battery work on their brand new SpaceX capsule.

SpaceX switched capsules to speed things up, moving up their return by a couple of weeks. The two left the space station in the capsule that's been up there since last fall; Williams blew kisses to the seven station residents staying behind.

“It’s great to see how much people care about our astronauts,” Bowersox said, describing the pair as “professional, devoted, committed, really outstanding.”

Why did the stuck astronauts switch space taxis? Astronauts almost always fly back in the same spacecraft they launched in. Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing's Starliner and transferred to SpaceX's Dragon for the ride back.

Their first flights were aboard NASA's space shuttle, followed by Russia's Soyuz capsule. Both the Starliner and Dragon are completely autonomous but capable of manual command if necessary.

As test pilots, they were in charge of the Starliner. The Dragon had fellow astronaut Nick Hague in command; he launched in it last September with a Russian and two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams.

What's the future of Boeing's Starliner? Starliner almost didn't make it to the space station. Soon after the June 5 liftoff, helium leaked and thrusters malfunctioned on the way to the orbiting lab.

NASA and Boeing spent the summer trying to figure out what went wrong and whether the problems would repeat on the flight back, endangering its two test pilots. NASA ultimately decided it was too risky and ordered the capsule back empty in September.

Engineers are still investigating the thruster breakdowns, and it's unclear when Starliner will fly again — with astronauts or just cargo. NASA went into its commercial crew program wanting two competing U.S. companies for taxi service for redundancy's sake and stand by that choice.