2020 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights

Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, allow me to thank to Mr. Moon Kyoo-hyun Chief of the Screening Committee of the 2020 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights and the members who have decided me as the Winner.

When I heard the announcement of the 2020 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights and I was chosen as the Laureate, it was as if I didn't believe, as if it was in a dream, I had never imagined this would happen.

My memory drifted back to the tragedy where it happened in 1965/1966 and the years after. Approximately 500,000 - 3,000,000 people were killed where previously they were arrested, tortured, imprisoned, forced to work like slavery, women became victims of sexual harassment.

For myself, as a young student who was 17 years old must not be able to continue my study because of being chased by the army, had to hide in the bush, sleep in the pedestrian, city parks, become a newspaper seller move from one place to another, which finally I was arrested, tortured, got an electrical shock, imprisoned for 9 years without being properly fed and I had to eat whatever animals I found in the camp.

This incident not only happened to me but by thousands and even millions of other victims. They were insulted, negative stigmatized, discredited. Those Victims ended up living in prisons, concentration camps of torture and forced labor for 9-14 years without due process of law.

Although in 1979 political prisoners had been released - due to international pressure - those who were former Political Detainees were still required to report themselves. Every ID card is marked with ET (Ex-Tapol) so that they are actually still in prison without barbed wire because their activities were restricted, controlled and monitored by security forces. And, to this day the Victims of 1965 are still experiencing persecution, intimidation, terrorize from the intolerant groups backed up by military officials. Meeting of victims is prohibited and disbanded by the security forces.

The May 18 Prize for Human Rights is a great and prestigious honor not only for me personally but it is a tribute to all the victims of gross human rights violations of the 1965/1966 tragedy throughout Indonesia and even abroad - the Exile Victims, whose passports were revoked by the dictatorship of Suharto.

In particular, I must thank to the Founders of YPKP 65: Pramoedya A Toer (late famous writer), Sulami (late women activist), Hasan Raid (late politician), Sumini (late women activist), Kusalah S Toer (late writer), Suharno (late student activist) and Tjiptaning (politician).

Also to Nominator Mr. Andreas Harsono (human rights activist) and Referee Mugiyanto (victim of enforced disappearance).

And very special I have to thank to all YPKP 65 volunteers who have worked hard, climbed up and down hills, along the path through the bush to conduct research, collect data on survivors and dead, record places of torture, identify mass graves from Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan and other places throughout Indonesia as well as victims of forced labor on Buru Island, Nusa Kambangan, Tangerang Prison, etc. . Up to April 2020 YPKP 65 has found 356 locations of Mass Graves throughout Indonesia. This great research work will be impossible without the support of the victims. Therefore, this award is actually a form of recognition and respect for the hard work of fellow victims in carrying out the work of truth telling and justice work for Victims of gross human rights violations of the tragedy 1965.

The Prize of Gwangju 5·18 Memorial Foundation inspires and motivates Victims to continue to fight for the realization of truth, justice, reparations, and democracy for the victims of the genocide while at the same time the State and Government of the Republic of Indonesia to this day still continue to deny and not account for crimes against humanity in that Tragedy. Although, the National Commission on Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia and the International People's Tribunal The Hague has recommended that the Indonesian government should take responsibility for its crimes.

We are Victims, learned a lot from the experience of the people and students in Gwangju who were valiantly and heroically sacrificed for the nation that finally the dictatorship Chun Doo-hwan fell.

YPKP 65 together with the civil society movement in Indonesia, will continue to work together to increase solidity and cooperation to fight for the enforcement of human rights and democracy.

YPKP 65 will continue to work on truth-telling, spreading and promoting the spirit of the Gwangju Pro-Democracy Movement because in fact the spirit of Gwangju is also in line with the spirit of the Indonesian people in resistance against the dictatorship. The spirit of the Gwangju May 18 Movement may continue to spread to various countries in the world including Indonesia.

On this very special opportunity on behalf of the Victims of 1965 and YPKP 65 I hereby urge that the government of the Republic of Indonesia President Ir. Joko Widodo ought to learn the experience of the Republic of Korea, to express his regret over the mass murder in 1965/1966, immediately take responsibility for crimes against humanity in 1965, uphold the truth, justice, and recovery for the victims through developing ad hoc Human Rights Court as it was recommended by Commission of Human Rights.

The world has changed. Stop violence, strengthen solidarity between nations on the basis of a fair and civilized humanity, stop conflicts based on differences in political views in the name of ideology. The People of Korea and Indonesia have the same experience as a result of World War II and Cold War. Therefore, YPKP 65 supports the efforts to develop the reunification of Korea in a peaceful, just and civilized manner. For the USA government, it is time to make corrections to its past policies that have caused tensions, conflicts in Asia, Japan, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia and Korea which have caused hundreds of thousands or even millions of people in the region become victims of human rights violations and mass killings.

Gwangju May 18 Movements are like torches which illuminate the world towards a New World order that respects Human Rights and Democracy

Keep Solidarity



The 2020 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights (GPHR) Jury has announced this year’s winner. The winner of the 2020 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights is Mr. Bedjo Untung who founded the YPKP65(Indonesian Institute for the Study of the 1965-1966 Massacre) and who is the representative of the organization.

Between 1965 and 1966, Mr. Bedjo Untung, a then high school student, witnessed the massacre committed under the military dictatorship of Suharto. Mr. Untung resisted the dictatorship and struggled to let people know of the truth of the atrocity he experienced. This resulted him to be labeled a wanted criminal who was sought after by the military. In 1970, he was caught by the Indonesian Military Intelligent Agency and for ten years he was detained without trial in extreme circumstance where torture, such as electrical shock, was prevalent and where he had to survive on eating mice, snakes, lizards, and insects due to lack of food. Soon the international society began to notice his lonely struggle and they pressured the Indonesian government for his release. On October 24, 1979, he was finally freed but it was an incomplete one – His ID card was encoded with ‘ET’ meaning that he was a former political detainee which enabled the security agency to easily spot him and to control his every movement.

On April 7, 1999, Mr. Bedjo Untung, along with some former political detainees, founded YPKP65 with vision and mission to unveil the truth of the Massacre. Since then he has traveled throughout the country from Sumatra to Java to meet victims and their families and has helped them know about their political rights and to claim their rights for just reparations. His unrelenting activism has resulted in the victims receiving medical care and psychological treatment by the government.

In 2015, Mr. Bedjo Untung testified at the International People’s Tribunal in The Hague, Holland. The tribunal acknowledged the massacre and crimes against humanity between 1965 and 1966 in Indonesia. The tribunal also recommended that the country establish a special court where human rights violation cases are dealt with.

The 2020 GPHR Selection Committee believed that the May 18 Spirit is realized through the actions of Mr. Bedjo Untung. It highly appreciates the actions of Mr. Untung who has relentlessly fought against dictatorial regimes regardless of multiple incarcerations and physical threats and his activities have shown the path to justice and are inspiration to world citizens who yearn for peace and democracy.

The May 18 Memorial Foundation believes that today’s decision will serve as a momentum to secure transitional justice in Korea and countries in Asia through truth unveiling of the May 18 Democratic Uprising and to move towards the development of democracy and the expansion of human rights.

Chief

• Moon, Kyoo-hyun (Chair / People for Peace and Reunification)

Members

• Jeong, Jin-woo (Vice Chairman / Korea Democracy Foundation)
• Lee, Cheol-woo (Chairman / The May 18 Memorial Foundation)
• Lee, Youn Jung (Professor / Chosun University)
• Oh, Heung Sook (Representative / Busan Lifeline)
• Song, Gapseok (National Assembly Member / The Democratic Party)
• Song, So-yeon (Secretary-General / National Human Rights Commission of Korea)