The European Parliament has awarded its Sakharov human rights prize to Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas. Farinas, 48, has staged more than 20 hunger strikes and spent more than 11 years in prison during his campaign for human rights.In July, he ended a hunger strike after Cuba's communist government announced it was freeing 52 political prisoners.Doctors said Farinas, a psychologist, journalist and former soldier, had been near death while on hunger strike this year. Announcing the award on today, the parliament president Jerzy Buzek said Farinas was ready to sacrifice and risk his own health and life as a means of pressure to achieve change in Cuba. The Sakharov Prize was named after the late Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov and was first awarded in 1988. It includes a cash award of 50,000 euros.