Mr. Azarov is assistant professor of the Russian State Humanitarian University and Moscow Human Rights School director.
As he was addressing the same news conference, Mr. Azarov highlighted Russians' passive attitudes to the educational aspect of rights efforts. True, human rights have a proper legislative backing, with Article 2 of the federal Constitution-but the state is extremely reluctant to attend to public education in that essential field.
Human rights ought to become a discipline on secondary and higher school curricula, remarked the laureate.
He, however, pointed out several Russian cities, Moscow among them, which are paying human rights protection due attention.
UNESCO established the prize, 1978, to award it to offices, organizations or persons for sizeable contribution to promoting public information about human rights protection. The prize is awarded biennially, since 1980. It increased to $10,000, 1990. The winner also receives a bronze statuette since 2002.
President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia, and later Czechia, was among the award winners.
