46th Annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards

The 46th Annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards will be held in person on October 13 at the Friends Meeting of Washington, DC located at 2111 Decatur Place NW Washington, DC 20008-1912. This year, we are hosting a hybrid event with an option to join us either in-person or virtually via live stream. Limited in-person tickets will be available.

The event will start with a reception at 4:00 pm, followed by the awards ceremony at 5:00 pm. Instead of our usual gathering at Sheridan Circle in September, after the awards ceremony we will invite all attendees to walk with us from the Friends Meeting to Sheridan Circle (about three blocks) to honor Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen-Moffitt.

Purchase Sponsorships >>
Purchase Tickets >>

The Institute for Policy Studies invites you to join our special guests:

IPS Executive Director, Tope Folarin
Long-time IPS Director, John Cavanagh
IPS Board Chair, Sarita Gupta
IPS Deputy Director, Kathleen Gaspard

as we celebrate and honor our 2022 award-winners.

HONORING:

Domestic Awardee:

Amazon Labor Union

Officially formed on April 1, 2022 by the workers at the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, Amazon Labor Union is the first U.S. labor union exclusively representing Amazon workers. Through grassroots organizing catalyzed by the treatment of Amazon workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the ALU achieved a landmark victory, showing what is possible for workers attempting to organize and collectively bargain.

and

International Awardee:

Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Mexico

Beginning in 2015, the Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Mexico is a movement of families across Mexico searching for truth and justice for their disappeared loved ones. Made up of over 80 groups from 24 Mexican states, the Movimiento has led extraordinary efforts to excavate mass graves across the country and pass the first piece of legislation in Mexico on the issue while facing drug cartels, corrupt officials, and an indifferent bureaucracy.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements of this year’s special guest speakers and performances!

For more details, please contact Development Manager, Brittany Alexander, at brittany@ips-dc.org.

Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards

After 40 Years, the Fight for Justice Continues

Since 1976, IPS has hosted the Letelier-Moffitt Awards to honor our fallen colleagues, Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, and celebrate new champions of the human rights movement.

Forty years after the car bombing that took their lives, the pursuit of justice for Orlando, Ronni, and other victims of the Pinochet regime continues.

In May 2016, Chile requested the U.S extradite three former Pinochet agents for the murder of UN diplomat Carmelo Soria. All three were also involved in the Letelier-Moffitt assassination. Michael Tigar and Juan Garcés, recipients of the Letelier-Moffitt Award in 1992 and 1999, helped advance this case.

In June 2016, a Chilean court reopened its investigation into Ronni’s murder. Three former Pinochet agents were indicted.

Also in June 2016, a U.S. jury found a Florida resident liable for the torture and murder of iconic Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara during the Pinochet era. The Center for Justice and Accountability, recipient of the Letelier-Moffitt Award in 2015, played a critical role in this victory.

40th Annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards

History

In 1973, ten years after the Institute for Policy Studies opened its doors with the belief that progressive thought, advocacy, and action can build a better society, Chile’s democratically elected government was overthrown by a military coup. These two histories became inextricably linked on September 21, 1976, when agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet detonated a car bomb that killed former Chilean diplomat and Director of IPS’s Transnational Institute, Orlando Letelier, and IPS Development Associate Ronni Karpen Moffitt in Washington, D.C. Until 9/11, it was the most infamous act of international terrorism on U.S. soil.

In addition to his work as director of IPS’s New International Economic Order Program, which stressed the relationship between economic rights and political freedom, Letelier had become one of the most outspoken critics of Pinochet. Moffitt ran a “Music Carryout” program to make musical instruments accessible to all, and her fundraising work demonstrated that we will not further democracy and equity in this country unless we stand with those seeking justice abroad.

A massive FBI investigation traced the crime to the highest levels of Pinochet’s regime.

Following these assassinations, IPS established the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards to honor our fallen colleagues and recognize individuals and groups in the United States and elsewhere in the Americas most dedicated to the struggle for human rights.

30 Years: Families Struggle for Justice

A short tribute to the families of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, detailing measures they took to ultimately bring Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to trial.

Past Awardees