Our Foundation had the distinct pleasure of awarding, yesterday, three scholarships to the students who excelled in the MFHR competition. These scholarships are for attending Module 1 “International Human Rights Law,” of the 54th Summer School on Human Rights, which will take place from 23 June to 4 July 2025, in Strasbourg. The program is organized by the René Cassin International Institute of Human Rights.

The President of MFHR, Professor Linos-Alexander Sicilianos, presented the three topics of this year’s competition and elaborated on the first topic, titled: “Grave Violations of Human Rights Worldwide: The Case of Gaza”. He referred extensively to recent developments on this pressing issue, both before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as well as other United Nations bodies.

The second topic was also of significant importance: “Gender-Based Discrimination in Afghanistan: The Fundamental Rights of Women Under Severe Threat”—an issue that has profoundly shaken international public opinion and is likely to be brought before the International Court of Justice in the foreseeable future.

The third topic, titled “Detention Conditions in Greek Prisons, in light of ECtHR Jurisprudence” highlights a matter of particular national interest for Greece, as more than half of the now pending applications against Greece before the European Court of Human Rights concern precisely the problematic detention conditions in prisons and other detention facilities across the country.

The award recipients were (in the order they were awarded): Mr. Nikolaos Kyrillidis for his paper on the topic “Grave Violations of Human Rights Worldwide: The Case of Gaza” and Mr. Aristeidis Panagiotis Kypriotis and Ms. Kyriaki Chronaki for their papers on the topic “Detention conditions in Greek Prisons, in light of ECtHR Jurisprudence.”

Commendations were also awarded to both runners-up for their outstanding work. Specifically, Mr. Ioannis Karvelas was recognized for his essay on “Grave Violations of Human Rights Worldwide: The Case of Gaza” and Ms. Elli-Zoi Pervanidi for her work on “Gender-Based Discrimination in Afghanistan: The Fundamental Rights of Women Under Severe Threat ”.

Both the award recipients and the runners-up presented their essays, sharing the perspectives they chose to approach their respective topics.

The Awards and Commendations were awarded by the President of the MFHR, Professor Linos-Alexandros Sicilianos.

Following the award ceremony, Mr. Sotiris Mousouris, Vice-President of the MFHR Governing Board and former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, was given the floor, highlighting the relevance of the selected topics and underlining in particular the role of the UN General Assembly in addressing the issue of Gaza.

Later on, Mr. Petros Damianos, Secretary-General of the MFHR Governing Board and former Director of the Secondary School and High School of the Special Juvenile Detention Centre of Avlona, talked about the detention conditions in Greek prisons and the Foundation’s ongoing initiatives on the matter.

Finally, Ms. Maria-Andriani Kostopoulou, Member of the MFHR Governing Board and President of GREVIO (Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence of the Council of Europe), emphasized the significance of the awards in building a community of young scholars deeply committed to human rights, and referred specifically to the glaring gender-based discrimination in Afghanistan.

The MFHR warmly congratulates all the participants and especially those who received awards!