Feature
Binayak Sen 2011 Gwangju Human Rights Award Winner
his year’s Gwangju Human Rights Award winner is Binayak Sen, the Indian Medical Doctor who has served local patients in Chhattisgarh, while fighting for human rights to the extent that he was given a life sentence by the Indian government, “the world’s largest democracy.” Archaic laws and false charges were used against Sen because he worked hard to protect the original homeland, forest and waters of the indigenous Adivasis. PSOSCO, the huge Korean steel producer, has been the driving force behind development that would “steal iron ore at 60 cents per ton and not pay the tribe anything, while also setting up a steel factory on the land.”1
T
His acceptance speech also covered the massive poverty, with 43% of children under five being malnourished, the average Indian lives on 50 cents a day, and 863 million Indians live in abject poverty. All the while India sports the largest number of US dollar billionaires in Asia.. He also noted that UNICEF estimates two million children per year die in India due to malnutrition and other related diseases.
12
Gwangju News June 2011
His work for the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, and support of local unions and the land got him accused of helping Maoist rebels, and he was in Gwangju on parole from the Supreme court, after being arrested and jailed in 2007. After his recognised speech, he went to a different subject and asked, “Can you believe the world will still consider building more nuclear power plants after what happened in Japan?” For a complete rundown of his speech, and the two special prize winners, go to www.gicjournal.wordpress.com Daniela Kitain and Mazen Faraj, both members of the Parents Circle Families Forum, a group that promotes understanding and peace, along with justice in Palestine/ Israel received the Special award this year. Both have lost family members to each others army’s bullets, and their group is working with other families who have lost loved ones to the continued violence in an attempt to build human rights via peace. Daniela lost a 21-year-old son, Mazen, who, was born in a refugee camp and lived through a hellish young life, had the additional pain