The Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights has a surreal and oxymoronic ring. Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, better known as a patron of terrorism than a benefactor of humanitarian causes, has unaccountably set up a Swiss foundation to bestow an annual award on a Third World figure in the forefront of "liberation struggles." Last week Nelson Mandela, the jailed black South African leader, was named the first recipient of the prize and the $250,000 that goes with it.
Gaddafi, who put $10 million in trust to fund the award, had no say in choosing the winner. Swiss Socialist Deputy Jean Ziegler,...