Nizar Nayyouf

Nizar Nayyouf (also Nayuf or Nayouf; Arabic: نزار نيوف; born 29 May 1962) is a Syrian journalist, human rights activist, and dissident. He was one of the founding members of the Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedom, a banned political organization in Syria, as well as editor-in-chief of صوت الديمقراطيِّة Sawt al-Democratiyya . He has criticized the Syrian government for human rights abuses, for which he was arrested and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in 1991, most of which he spent in Mezzeh prison outside Damascus.

While in prison, Nayyouf was confined to isolation cells and tortured on a regular basis, which left him unable to walk. He was also denied cancer treatment unless he would recant his criticism of the government, but refused. On 6 May 2001, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad granted Nayyouf's release on humanitarian grounds on the date of Pope John Paul II's visit to Syria. Nayyouf subsequently moved to France, where he remains politically active and continues to call for democracy in Syria.

Nayyouf has won numerous awards for his work including the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 2000, and the Golden Pen of Freedom Award in 2001. He has been named a World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute.