Jacobo Timerman, a former Argentine journalist and human rights advocate who was expelled from that country after being imprisoned for two-and-a-half years, is a recipient of the prestigious Maria Moors Cabot Award at Columbia University. Two other winners of the award are Karen De Young, foreign editor of The Washington Post, and Marlise Simons, a Latin American correspondent for The Post and Newsweek magazine and who writes for the NRC Handelsbladt in Rotterdam.
The award to Timerman has caused a furor in Argentina which claims that his account of his imprisonment and torture by the governing military junta is not true. In his book, “Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number,” Timerman detailed the suffering he underwent during his imprisonment and that he was treated especially harshly because he is Jewish. Argentina denied this charge. Timerman was publisher of La Opinion until his arrest in 1977 by Argentine security forces. He was expelled from the country in 1979 and now lives in Israel.
Several previous Argentine winners of Cabot prizes have protested the selection of Timerman. Argentina informed Columbia University that it will boycott the awards ceremony tomorrow because Timerman is one of the recipients. The award is given to journalists who promote better understanding between the U.S. and Latin America. The prizes, established in 1939, are awarded by the trustees of Columbia University on the recommendation of the dean of the university’s School of Journalism. The award consists of a gold medal, a certificate and $1,000.
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