Irina Krasovskaya

Irina Krasovskaya, Belarus

"Dr. Krasovskaya is the founder and President of "We Remember Foundation," a civic initiative that seeks justice for the disappeared and other victims of political repression in Belarus. Her husband, Anatoly Krasovsky, disappeared on September 16, 1999 with Vice Speaker of the Parliament Victor Gonchar. Since 1999, her vigorous campaign on behalf of those disappeared helped to win support for a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in April 2003 that urged Belarus to establish accountability for the disappeared, and encouraged the Parliamentarian Assembly of Council of Europe to organize a Special Commission to investigate political disappearances in Belarus. Dr. Krasovskaya has participated in hearings held in the Parliaments of Lithuania, Poland, and Russia and meets regularly with representatives from national governments, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament on issues of human rights. She is a member of the European Coalition "Free Belarus.""

• White House "Champion of Freedom" (2005)