Gwangju Prize for Human Rights
Encyclopedia
The Gwangju Prize for Human Rights is an award given by the South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n May 18 Memorial Foundation to recognize "individuals, groups or institutions in Korea and abroad that have contributed in promoting and advancing human rights, democracy and peace through their work." The award is intended to commemorate the spirit of the May 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement (also known as "518" for its 18 May start), in which pro-democracy citizens battled soldiers in protest of the military reign of Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan was a ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung,...

. As the organization's website explains, "Gwangju received valuable help from others while undertaking the struggle to examine the truth behind the May 18 uprising, and while striving to develop true democracy. In response, we would like to give something back to those who supported our cause for peace and democracy." As of 2011, the prize carried a cash award of $50,000USD.

Winners of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights

  • 2000: Xanana Gusmão
    Xanana Gusmão
    Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão GCL is a former militant who was the first President of East Timor, serving from May 2002 to May 2007...

    , East Timor
  • 2001: Basil Fernando
    Basil Fernando
    W.J. Basil Fernando is a Sri Lankan born jurist, author, poet, human rights activist, editor of Article 2 and Ethics in Action, and a prolific writer. He was educated at St. Anthony’s College, Wattala and St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena...

    , Hong Kong
  • 2002: Korean Association of Bereaved Families for Democracy
    Korean Association of Bereaved Families for Democracy
    The Korean Association of Bereaved Families for Democracy is a South Korean human rights organization formed by surviving family members of those who died in the nation's democracy movement...

    , Korea
  • 2003: Dandeniya Gamage Jayanthi
    Dandeniya Gamage Jayanthi
    Dandeniya Gamage Jayanthi is a Sri Lankan political activist who focuses on the issue of forced disappearances in the 1980s and '90s.-Background:Jayanthi was one of ten children...

    , Sri Lanka
  • 2004: Aung San Suu Kyi
    Aung San Suu Kyi
    Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...

    , Burma
  • 2005: Wardah Hafidz
    Wardah Hafidz
    Wardah Hafidz is an Indonesian activist lobbying for the rights of the nation's urban poor. She currently serves as coordinator of the Urban Poor Consortium and was formerly its head....

    , Indonesia
  • 2006: Malalai Joya
    Malalai Joya
    Malalai Joya is an activist, writer and a former politician from Afghanistan. She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of what she considered to be warlords and war criminals in...

    , Afghanistan; Angkhana Neelaphaijit
    Angkhana Neelaphaijit
    Angkhana Neelaphaijit is a Thai human rights activist and the wife of disappeared human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit. Amnesty International described her as "a leading human rights defender in Southern Thailand".-Husband's disappearance:...

    , Thailand
  • 2007: Irom Chanu Sharmila
    Irom Chanu Sharmila
    Irom Sharmila Chanu , also known as the "Iron Lady of Manipur" or "Menghoubi" is a civil rights activist, political activist, and poet from the Indian state of Manipur...

    , India; Lenin Raghuvanshi
    Lenin Raghuvanshi
    Lenin Raghuvanshi is a Dalit rights activist and an Ashoka Fellow from India. He is one of the founding members of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights , which works for the upliftment of the marginalised sections of the society...

    , India
  • 2008: Muneer A. Malik, Pakistan
  • 2009: Min Ko Naing
    Min Ko Naing
    Paw Oo Tun is the President of Universities Student Union of Burma and a leading democracy activist and dissident. He has spent the majority of the last 22 years imprisoned by the state for his opposition activities.-Biography:...

    , Burma
  • 2010: Sushil Pyakurel, Nepal
  • 2011: Binayak Sen
    Binayak Sen
    Binayak Sen is an Indian pediatrician, public health specialist and activist. He is the national Vice-President of the People's Union for Civil Liberties .He has been accused of sedition by the Chhattisgarh Government...

    , India
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