The following nomination was submitted to the Nobel Committee by several NLG and International Association of Democratic Lawyers members in academia and organized by Prof. Marjorie Cohn, past NLG President and member of the IADL Bureau. This letter nominates Cuba’s Henry Reeve Brigade for the Nobel Peace Prize for their international work to defend the right to health and fight COVID-19. To learn more about the campaign, please visit cubanobel.org:
Humanity is going through one of its greatest challenges as coronavirus has spread to 185 nations.
In the midst of this dramatic crisis, in which over one million people have lost their lives, a group of Cuban health professionals has shown the world a stellar example of international solidarity that has saved lives throughout the world.
The Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade was created in 2005 to provide humanitarian-medical-health aid to the populations of countries that are victims of natural disasters and epidemics. In 2005, the Henry Reeve Brigade saved thousands of lives in Pakistan when that country was hit by a brutal earthquake. It has since saved lives in 46 nations all over the planet. Since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus pandemic, 52 brigades of the Henry Reeve Contingent have put their lives at risk to travel to 39 countries, requested by their respective governments, to cure the sick and help stop the disease from spreading. As of the end of September 2020, more than 3,700 Cuban medical professionals have participated, of which 61.2% are women.
In general, the Henry Reeve Brigade has played a major role in recovery phases after natural disasters such as floods (eight in Guatemala, Bolivia, Belize, Mexico, El Salvador, Chile, Peru and Sierra Leone), earthquakes (seven in Pakistan, Indonesia, Peru, China, Chile, Nepal and Ecuador) and hurricanes (five in Haiti, the Fiji Islands, Dominica, Mexico and Mozambique). Among the Contingent’s most critical missions have been the fight against Ebola in West Africa (2015); cholera in Haiti (2010), where they treated more than 400,000 people); and the earthquake in Pakistan (2005), where they treated almost two million patients.
For this high contribution to humanity in times of so much suffering, particularly now during this pandemic, the undersigned request that the Nobel Peace Prize be awarded to the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigades.
Prof. Marjorie Cohn (Emeritus)
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
USA
Prof. Leonard L Cavise (Emeritus)
DePaul College of Law
USA
Prof. Marie Nassif-Debs (Emeritus)
Lebanese University
Lebanon
Prof. Fran Ansley (Emeritus)
University of Tennessee College of Law
USA
Prof. Bill Bowring
School of Law
Birkbeck College, University of London
England
Prof. Jan Buelens
University of Antwerp – Université Libre de Bruxelles
Belgium
Prof. Lennox S Hinds (Emeritus)
Rutgers University
USA
Prof. Michael Avery (Emeritus)
Suffolk Law School
USA
Prof. Mark Brodin
Boston College Law School
USA
Prof. Alan W. Clarke (Emeritus)
Utah Valley University
USA
Prof. Freek Louckx
University of Antwerp
Netherlands
Prof. Udo R. Mayer (Emeritus)
WiSo-Fakultät/ Uni HH
Germany
Marc Rigaux (Emeritus)
University of Antwerp
Netherlands
