A leading Algerian human rights campaigner, Ms Salima Ghezali, received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought yesterday and called for an international inquiry into massacres in her country.
"Today, like in the past, courage and freedom of thought consist first and foremost in daring - in daring to demand an international commission of inquiry into the massacres," she said after receiving the award.
Past recipients of the 15,000 ecu (£11,400) prize, founded in 1985, include President Nelson Mandela, the Chinese dissident, Mr Wei Jingsheng, and the Sarajevo newspaper Oslobodjenje.
Ms Ghezali said only an inquiry could eliminate the impunity which has allowed different sides in the conflict, which has left tens of thousands dead since 1992, to blame each other and continue the killing.
Born in 1958, Ms Ghezali is editor of the banned weekly human rights magazine La Nation and has antagonised both the Algerian authorities and Islamic fundamentalists by calling for a peaceful and democratic solution to Algeria's conflict.
She said that, while she was frightened, she would remain in Algeria and continue to speak out.
"I'm frightened for my family, my friends and myself . . . I fear for the disappearance of my country as such," she said in Strasbourg. "When you look at the statistics, you will see the number of people who have said nothing and been killed is higher than those who have spoken out."