Human rights group Amnesty International honoured U2 at a ceremony in Chile at the weekend.
Band members Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, as well as their manager, Paul McGuinness, were named Ambassadors of Conscience at the National Stadium in Santiago.
Chilean President-elect Michelle Bachelet, who was herself a political prisoner in the 1970s, presented the award to U2.
Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan praised the band, saying: "Their leadership in linking music to the struggle for human rights and human dignity worldwide has been groundbreaking and unwavering."
"They have inspired and empowered millions with their music and by speaking out on behalf of the poor, the powerless and the oppressed."
There are still people in this country that are silent and they are sick with their secrets...and I would just stay to them, this is the
moment, the beginning of the new Chile to set yourself free from those secrets and come forward," Bono said.
U2 were also praised for their efforts to promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Previous winners of the Ambassador of Conscience award - which aims to promote the work of the human rights group through the example of its ambassadors - include former President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and the first president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel.
Band frontman Bono, along with fellow campaigner Bob Geldolf, are among the 191 nominees for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
