In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012 photo, Pakistani girls gather under a poster of Malala Yousufzai in her old school in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. The giant poster of her that once emblazoned the wall of the assembly hall has been removed. The school made no plans to recognize the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, teachers and students are afraid. Pakistani school children hold a hand-written sign during a special class to commemorate the anniversary of Malala Yousufzai's shooting by the Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala's demand for education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the militants threaten to kill her should she dare return home from Britain to Pakistan, and the principal at her old school says that as Malala's fame has grown, so has fear in her classrooms. AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen Pakistani schoolboys look out the window of their classroom at other classmates chanting prayers to commemorate the anniversary of Malala's shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. Pakistani school children sit in their classroom during a special class to commemorate the anniversary of Malala Yousufzai's shooting by Taliban, at a school in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013. One year after a Taliban bullet tried to silence Malala's demand for girls' education, she has published a book and is a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. BRUSSELS (AP) - European lawmakers awarded their top human rights prize Thursday to Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who last year survived a Taliban assassination attempt because of her outspoken support for girls' education. U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and a group of imprisoned Belarus dissidents were also in the running for the 50,000-euro ($65,000) Sakharov Award. Previous winners include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. The award came one day ahead of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, for which Malala also is a contender. "The European Parliament acknowledges the incredible strength of this young woman," said Martin Schulz, the president of the EU legislature. Malala bravely stands for the right of all children to be granted a fair education. This right for girls is far too commonly neglected. Europe's three major political groups had nominated the schoolgirl in a show of united support for her cause. The Taliban targeted Malala in the Oct. 2012 shooting because of her outspoken objection to the group's interpretation of Islam that keeps women at home and bars girls from school. Militants still threaten to kill her if she returns home. After Malala was shot in the face, she was taken for special treatment to a hospital in Birmingham, England. Her recognition has stirred anti-Western sentiments in Pakistan, where a brutal insurgency has killed thousands of civilians and more than 4,000 soldiers.