U.S. Embassy presents Alice Garrigue Masaryk Award to Czeslaw Walek

U.S. Embassy Prague has presented the 2011 Alice G. Masaryk Human Rights Award to Czeslaw Walek for his dedication to promoting human rights in the Czech Republic, the Embassy wrote in a statement on Wednesday. Mr. Walek’s career has included work at the Ministry of Human Rights and Office of the Governmental Council for Roma Community Affairs. The award was established in 2004 to recognize persons and institutions in the Czech Republic who have made exceptional and continuing contributions to the advancement of human rights. Previous award winners include Anna Šabatová, David Ondráčka, Igor Blaževič, Lucie Sládková, Kumar Sri Vishwanathan, Jiří Kopal, and the weekly Respekt.