2024 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Announcement

The 2024 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Jury Committee has selected the human rights activist from Sri Lanka, Suganthini Mathiyamuthan Thangarasa, as the winner of the 2024 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.

As the leader of the organization called Amara, meaning "unending struggle for dignity" in the Tamil language, Suganthini has been fighting to defend women whose rights are constantly violated by Sri Lankan government security forces on a daily basis.

Due to the war that broke out in 2009, the whole state of Tamil Eelam suffered intensive air, ground, and sea attacks from Sri Lankan security forces, and hundreds of thousands of Tamils were forced to move to military-controlled areas. That October, Suganthini was illegally detained at the infamous Pampaimadu military camp, where she was raped and tortured on multiple occasions and kept blindfolded for most of her imprisonment.

On April 10, 2012, the Sri Lankan judiciary found Suganthini not guilty of all charges against her by the Sri Lankan security forces, and she was released from detention. She later relocated to Jaffna, where she established Amara with other female survivors of the war to empower women who live under the total control of the Sri Lankan military.

Suganthini has fought long and persistently for the human rights and empowerment of survivors of war. She has been working with Amara for many years, and she is a symbol of bravery and hope for many other women who have lost everything to soldiers.

The 2024 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Jury Committee is confident that her activities are aligned with the May 18 spirit, and we express our sincere support and admiration for her dedication to improve the human rights situations of Tamil women in Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, we hope that this year's Gwangju Prize for Human Rights will contribute to the enhancement of democracy and human rights in Sri Lanka, and we hope that the international community's awareness, partnership, and solidarity will enable the truth about the massacre perpetrated by the security forces in the Tamil Eelam region to be uncovered.