A Papuan priest and a late labor activist were conferred Thursday with the prestigious Yap Thiam Hien Award, presented to those showing the most dedication to the upholding of human rights in Indonesia.
The recipients are Yohanes Jonga, a Roman Catholic priest from Waris district, the administrative seat of Keerom regency in Papua province bordering Papua New Guinea; and Fauzi Abdullah, a labor rights defender who died late last month from lung and liver diseases, just two weeks before the awarding ceremony.
Yohanes, born in 1958 in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, was recognized for dedicating 23 years to upholding the rights of abused Papuans, especially in his parish covering Waris and Wamena district, the administrative seat of Jayawijaya regency.
He has been working for almost nine years to serve the people in border areas after being ordained in 2002.
Meanwhile, Fauzi, who was born a year later, was awarded for his role in educating and encouraging workers to campaign for their rights to unionize.
“Father John [Yohanes’ nickname] Jonga has been fighting human rights abuses, which have manifested themselves in the lack of freedom, education and women’s empowerment [in Papua],” Todung Mulya Lubis, a rights activist and chairman of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable, which gave out the award, said during the award ceremony Thursday night.
“If we can eliminate these issues, we’ll be able to eliminate poverty and rights abuses in Papua. Therefore we confer this award to him.”
In praising Fauzi, meanwhile, Todung said the former was “a gift to the working class”.
“He had been defending workers’ rights for the past 35 years. Fauzi never changed… he conducted himself like a gentleman and was always modest.”
Apart from Todung, the jury that voted on the recipients included Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, director general for human rights at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Kompas daily newspaper senior journalist Maria Hartiningsih and Paramadina University political observer Yudi Latif.
In his acceptance speech, Yohanes said he had been fighting rights abuses committed by the military and funded by business people in resource-rich Papua.
“Women have suffered the most during military operations,” he said.
Fauzi, meanwhile, was represented by his wife Dwi Purwanti and son Reihan.
“I hope this award will inspire others to continue my husband’s struggle,” Dwi said. (nia)
Women have suffered the most during military operations, said Father Yohanes Jonga.
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