UPC wins Yap Thiam Hien rights award

JAKARTA (JP): The Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), a non- governmental organization helping to protect the rights of those victimized by city administration development programs, is this year's recipient of the Yap Thiam Hien human rights award.

"The consortium, led by Wardah Hafidz, will receive the award on Dec. 10, which is International Human Rights Day," Todung Mulya Lubis, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights Studies (Yapusham) and the award organizer, said at a media conference on Monday.

Todung said the panel of jurists had picked UPC from among five well-deserving nominees, but he did not identify the others.

A Yapusham executive, however, told The Jakarta Post that the four other nominees were Sulami, a rights activist of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), allegedly associated with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI); Otto Samsuddin, an Aceh-based rights activist; Hendardi, coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) and Gedong Bagus Oka, a Bali-based rights activist.

Todung said the award was presented annually in memory of Yap Thiam Hien, a noted Indonesian lawyer who dedicated his life to the struggle for human rights protection in the country. The award was first issued in 1992.

"The panel made a unanimous decision to give the award to the consortium, which has been instrumental in human rights promotion by helping to protect the rights of the poor victimized by city development programs," he said.

The panel members include the rector of the State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Azyumardi Azra, University of Indonesia (UI) law professor Mardjono Reksodiputro, Surabaya-based Airlangga University law professor Soetandyo Wignyosoebroto, Semarang-based Diponegoro University law professor Maria S.W. Sumardjono and Atma Jaya University sociologist Mely G. Tan, he said.

Last year's recipients were Sarah Lary Mboeik, a rights activist from East Nusa Tenggara, and Mama Yosefa Alomang, an Irianese tribal rights advocate who refused to attend the award ceremony in protest of the government's lack of attention to problems in Irian Jaya. (01)