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Celebrities Honor Humanitarians at 36th Anniversary of Citizens Commission on Human Rights
More than 1000 dignitaries and human rights advocates attended the 36th Anniversary of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) this weekend to hear about the organization’s accomplishments and to join a cast of celebrities in honoring human rights awardees.
The event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, was MC’d by Catherine Bell, star of “JAG”. Fellow-actress Sofia Milos (“CSI Miami”) awarded Dr. Giorgio Antonucci for his lifelong work in providing effective aid to patients deemed “incurable” by psychiatrists.
The ceremony featured presentations by such TV and screen personalities as Priscilla Presley, Kelly Preston, Marisol Nichols and Michelle Stafford.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights was established by the Church of Scientology in 1969 as an independent body to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights. In 2004 the Commission established the Thomas S. Szasz Award, named after CCHR co-founder, Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at Upstate University, Syracuse, New York. The award is presented for outstanding achievement in exposing or eradicating human rights abuses in the field of mental health.
Dr. Antonucci, the second recipient of this award, has become world renowned for releasing patients from life-long incarceration in mental wards, treating their undiagnosed physical conditions, and helping to return them to society without barbaric psychiatric treatments such as restraints, electroshock or mind-altering drugs.
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