Asian Human Rights Commission

Persistence for Justice Leads to Korean Human Rights Award Ibu Sulami, a 74-year-old Indonesian woman, received the fourth Tji Hak-soon Justice and Peace Award in Seoul, Korea, on Dec. 20, 2000, for her efforts to reopen the killings of more than one million people in 1965 and 1966 because of their political affiliation, or suspected affiliation, with the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). In 1966, Sulami herself was imprisoned for 20 years because of her role as the secretary-general of Gerwani, a progressive women's organisation, and because she continued to openly support President Sukarno who was overthrown by Gen. Suharto during a military coup in 1965. Since her release in 1986, she has worked tirelessly for justice for these millions of murders in the mid-1960s by seeking evidence of the massacres. Her efforts have led to the creation of Yayasan Penelitian Korban Pembunuhan (YPKP) or the Foundation for the Study of the Massacre of 1965-1966.

Her persistence has also led to results. In September 1998, four months after Suharto was pressured to step down as president, skulls, rubber sandals, utensils from a prison, etc., were discovered buried in a forest near Blora in Central Java. Most recently, workers found at least 24 victims in a forest near Wonosobo in Central Java during three days of digging from Nov. 16 to 18 last year that forensic experts believe were shot in the head. The victims are thought to be political prisoners from a jail in Yogyakarta who allegedly were killed by the military. During the excavation, however, Sulami suffered a stroke and is still recuperating.

The annual award is given each year in memory of Bishop Tji Hak-soon, who sought during his 28 years as a Catholic bishop to free the oppressed and humanise the oppressors. It is the only international human rights award in Korea to be entirely funded by the public. According to the Tji Hak-soon Foundation, the award 'has been established to encourage and be of help to individuals or organisations who, at great personal risk, stand up to any difficult conditions in the pursuit of justice, peace and respect for human rights.'

The award and the motivation behind its presentation is a reflection of Bishop Tji's life. In 1971, he sponsored protests at Wondong Catholic Church that lasted for three days against corruption in the broadcasting industry in KoreaÐthe first time that a bishop had led the Catholic Church in Korea and the people against corruption and social injustice. The following year he was arrested for criticising the Yushin Constitution that had been arbitrarily proclaimed by President Park Chung-hee and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Because of pressure from the Catholic Church and others, he was released in 1975, and he continued to work for human rights in Korea until his death in 1993 at the age of 72.

Today his spirit guides the work of the foundation established in his name. The current chairperson of the foundation, Bishop Yoon Kong-hee of Kwangju, is highly respected for the role he played in mediating between the people of Kwangju and the Korean military during the Kwangju uprising in May 1980.

Because of Sulami's poor health, she was not able to travel to Korea, and the award was accepted on her behalf by Hassan Raid of YPKP and Ester Jusuf of Solidaritas Nusa Bangsa (SNB). She was nominated for the award by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

Other human rights activists were also honoured during the awards ceremony, including the Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), which has been doing work similar to Sulami as it has been conducting research for the past several years into the alleged massacre of Vietnamese villagers by south Korean soldiers during the Vietnam War.