Beijing lawyer wins US award

Beijing lawyer wins US award

• Source: Global Times
• [09:08 March 10 2011]
• Comments

Michelle Obama, Guo Jianmei and Hillary Clinton pose for the press in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. Photo: IC

By Xu Tianran

Beijing-based lawyer Guo Jianmei became the first Chinese winner of the 2011 International Women of Courage Award Tuesday.

The award, which recognizes women who "have shown exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for women's rights and empowerment," according to the US Department of State, was founded in 2007 by former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and is the only Department of State award that pays tribute to women activists worldwide. Award winners are mostly from undeveloped or developing countries.

In the award ceremony held in the Dean Acheson Auditorium of the US Department of State, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Guo with the award and said she had known Guo for 15 years and recognized her as an extraordinary lawyer who "creates space for actions that defend those who are in desperate need of support."

Guo also received the Global Women's Leadership Award from Hillary Clinton in 2007.

Guo, director and lawyer of the Beijing Zhongze Women's Legal Counseling and Service Center, was the director of the former Center for Women's Law Studies and Legal Services attached to Peking University (PKU).

Before its removal from PKU for not meeting administrative requirements, the center handled over 3,000 cases for poor Chinese women free of charge, with the help of foreign organizations such as the Ford Foundation and various domestic institutions.

The center attached to PKU was famous for handling "politically sensitive" cases. One that received national media coverage was about petitioner Li Ruirui, who was raped on August 3, 2009, by a security guard in a "black jail" in Beijing.

A public notice regarding the closing of Guo's center was published on March 25, 2010, on PKU's website, with a later denial that the decision was made under any pressure.

According to the Legal Mirror, Guo said she was honored to receive such an award as a common lawyer, and that she takes the award as an approval of her work.

Guo is still in the US, and has not replied to an interview request from the Global Times. Guo's husband, writer Liu Zhenyun, did not comment on the award Wednesday.