Activist, farmers named for human rights awards
Activist, farmers named for human rights awards
JAKARTA (JP): A little-known woman activist and a group of East Javanese tobacco farmers were named yesterday as this year's winners of the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien human rights award.
The Foundation of the Center for Human Rights Study (Yapusham) announced that human rights campaigner Ade Rostina Sitompul and the farmers of Jenggawah village in Jember regency will share the award, which will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 10, to coincide with International Human Rights Day. They were selected from 22 nominations.
"The selection panel could not make a unanimous decision over this year's recipient," the center's chairman, Todung Mulya Lubis, told a media conference.
"They were divided into two camps, one camp supporting Ade Rostina and the other in favor of the Jenggawah farmers. Both had equally strong arguments," he added.
The panel consisted of Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid; noted lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution, Amartiwi Saleh and Nursyahbani Katjasungkana; political observer Deliar Noor; and social observers Aswab Mahasin and Y.B. Mangunwijaya.
Ade Rostina was selected for her "low-profile" but "abundant" dedication to human rights protection in Indonesia, Mulya said.
"She used to fight for human rights enforcement from the rear, but she often ignored the risks she faced because of her activities," he said.
She never hesitated to jump into conflict zones to fight for people's rights, Mulya added. "Her family was frequently terrorized," he recalled.
Ade Rostina, 59, worked through the Yayasan Hidup Baru, a foundation active in helping rehabilitate former convicts, mostly former political prisoners. She is now doing the same work with the Communion of Indonesian Churches.
Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said Ade Rostina was not a well- known public figure. "Her name has hardly received any mention in the Indonesian media," she said.
"Ade Rostina has done a lot for the prisoners' care program, including their health care, food and clothes," she said. "Her activities helped improve the overall treatment of prisoners," Nursyahbani added.
The Jenggawah farmers were selected because their long and untiring fight for their right to cultivate some 3,000 hectares of land taken over by state plantation company PTP XXVII.
The farmers drew national attention when they set fire to houses and storage facilities belonging to the firm in August in protest against its refusal to renew the lease to the farmers.
The Jenggawah farmers were chosen because of their courage in expressing their opinions and defending their rights, Nursyahbani said. "Their courage in expressing themselves in the current political conditions is amazing," she added.
The award, named after the late Indonesian human rights lawyer, was first conferred in 1991. Previous recipients include H.J. Princen, Johny Simanjuntak, Muhidin, murdered labor activist Marsinah and lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi.
Mulya said two judges who have been prominent in human rights issues were among this year's nominations, but their names were subsequently dropped on the basis that upholding people's rights is the professional task of the judiciary.
He did not name the judges, but many speculated that they were Benjamin Mangkoedilaga, formerly of the Jakarta State Administrative Court, and Adi Andojo Soetjipto of the Supreme Court. (imn)