Letelier-Moffitt Human
Rights Awards
IPS established the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards in 1976 to honor our fallen colleagues, Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, who were assassinated by the Pinochet regime for their work to defend democracy and human rights in Chile.
Today, these awards celebrate new champions of human rights and memorialize the victims of the Pinochet dictatorship.
We aim to recognize the often unsung heroes throughout the hemisphere who fight for economic, cultural, social, and civil rights. Our joyful ceremony each October celebrates the victories, struggles, and stories of those who fight for justice in the Americas.
The LM Awards boost visionary voices. Awardees have gone on to become progressive presidents in Brazil, Colombia, and Chile, overthrow Chile’s Pinochet-era constitution, win landmark unionization campaigns against corporate powers, and stand strong against multinational companies trying to displace Indigenous peoples from their lands. Together, all of our awardees help create the future we aspire to share.
Sheridan Circle Memorial. 2014 Sheridan Circle Memorial Service,
September 28, 2014.
History
In 1973, 10 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 in Washington, D.C. that killed Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean diplomat and Director of IPS’s Transnational Institute, and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, an IPS Development Associate, in Washington, D.C.
In addition to his work at IPS, 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. Her fundraising work at IPS stressed 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 and over the past decades there have been measures of justice, including the prosecution of numerous individuals involved in the bombing, a successful civil suit against the Republic of Chile on behalf of family members, and the indictment of Pinochet himself in his home country.
The Letelier-Moffitt Awards have played a vital role in the fight for justice for our fallen colleagues and in fueling struggles against injustice all over the world.
*All illustrations by Naul Ojeda
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
2020 – now
2025
Detention Watch Network and Jeanette Vizguerra
National Coordinating Roundtable of Organizations of Retirees and Pensioners of the Republic of Argentina
2024
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) & Rabbis for Ceasefire
Concejo de Autoridades de 48 Cantones de Totonicapán
2023
Black + Pink
Tutela Legal Doctora Maria Julia Hernandez
2022
Amazon Labor Union
Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Mexico
2021
Torture Abolition And Survivors Support Coalition International
Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH)
2020
Awood Center
The Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB)
2010 – 2019
2019
Zero Hour
Comité Municipal en Defensa de Bienes Comunes y Naturales del Municipio de Tocoa
2018
New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente (DHUMA)
2017
Opal Tometi and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Javier Rojas Uriana
2016
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the assassinations of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt, IPS honored all of its past Letelier-Moffitt Awardees.
2015
Daryl Atkinson and the Southern Center for Social Justice
Almudena Bernabeu and the Center for Justice and Accountability
2014
Robin Reineke of the Colibrí Center for Human Rights The Mesoamerican
Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders
Juan E. Méndez (Special Recognition Award)
2013
As part of its 50th Anniversary Celebration, IPS honored all of its past Letelier-Moffitt awardees.
2012
City Life / Vida Urbana
The Chilean Students Movement (Confederación de Estudiantes Chilenos)
2011
Wisconsin Progressive Movement
Bethlehem, The Migrant’s Shelter (Mexico)
2010
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Honduras Human Rights Platform
Guatemalan Police Archives (Special Recognition Award)
2000 – 2009
2009
Domestic Workers United
La Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica en El Salvador
2008
Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos (Peru)
Indian Workers Congress
2007
Senator Gustavo Petro (Colombia)
Appeal for Redress
DC Vote (Special Recognition Award)
2006
Maher Arar and Center for Constitutional Rights
Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign
2005
Judge Juan Guzmán
Barrios Unidos
2004
Seymour Hersh
Military Families Speak Out
2003
Nancy Sanchez Mendez
CASA de Maryland
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Special Recognition Award)
2002
Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini (Guatemala)
Jobs with Justice
Naúl Ojeda (Special Recognition Award, posthumously)
2001
25th Anniversary: All prior recipients honored
2000
Oscar Olivera, Coordinator in Defense of Water and Life (Bolivia)
November Coalition
1990 – 1999
1999
Juan Garces
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
1998
Rose Sanders
Coordinacion Colombia-Europa
1997
The Rev. Dr. Mac Charles Jones (Special Recognition Award, posthumously)
Sin Fronteras Organizing Project
Alianza Civica
1996
Pharis Harvey (Special Recognition Award)
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates
Leo Valladares
1995
Jennifer Harbury (Special Recognition Award)
Rose Johnson, Georgia Project Director of the Center for Democratic Renewal
Haitian Human Rights Platform
1994
Harry Belafonte (Special Recognition Award)
Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras
CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador)
1993
Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia and Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center in Chiapas, Mexico
Marian Kramer and the National Welfare Rights Organization
1992
Evans Paul, Mayor of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
Sam Buffone and Michael Tigar, lawyers for the Letelier-Moffitt Case
Saul Landau (Special Recognition Award)
1991
Jorge Gomez Lizarazo, President, Regional Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Barrancabermeja, Colombia
La Mujer Obrera, El Paso, Texas
1990
The National Human Rights Coordinating Committee of Peru
Richard Trumka, President, United Mine Workers Union of America
Father Jim Felts and Proyecto de Cristo Rey (Special Recognition Award)
1980 – 1989
1989
The Union of Indigenous Nations of Brazil
The National Labor Committee in Support of Democracy and Human Rights in El Salvador
Robert Scherrer (Special Recognition Award)
1988
Radio Soleil (Haiti)
Charles L. Clements, M.D.
1987
Bishop Mario Melanio Medina (Paraguay)
Washington Office on Latin America
1986
The Vicariate of Solidarity (Chile)
Pete Seeger
1985
The Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) of Guatemala
The Free South Africa Movement
Frances Arbour (Special Recognition Award)
1984
Dr. Ramon Custodio, President, Committee for Human Rights in Honduras
The Sanctuary Movement
Reverend Charles Harper (Special Recognition Award)
1983
Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) of Argentina
Father J. Bryan Hehir, U.S. Catholic Conference
1982
Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Infant Formula Action Coalition
1981
Jacobo Timerman
The Congregation of Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic
1980
The Legal Aid Office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador
Reverend William Wipfler, National Council of Churches
1978 – 1979
1979
The Association of Relatives of Disappeared People, Chile
Alfred “Skip” Robinson, United League of Mississippi
1978
Samuel Rubin
Reverend Benjamin Chavis, Jr.
