Thai Human Rights Lawyer 'Anon Nampa' Receives Gwangju Human Rights Award

Awards Ceremony on the 18th... Special Award Goes to 'Watchdog Documentary Maker'

Anhon Nampa, the award recipient, was unable to attend the Gwangju Human Rights Award ceremony held on the 18th, so a representative accepted the award on his behalf.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Thai human rights lawyer ‘Anon Nampa’ was awarded the 2021 Gwangju Human Rights Award.

On the 18th at 2 PM, the Gwangju Human Rights Award ceremony was held at the May 18th Memorial Culture Center Democracy Hall.

Anon Nampa, the recipient of the Gwangju Human Rights Award who called for reform of the Thai monarchy, is currently imprisoned and could not attend, while the special award-winning team ‘Watchdoc Documentary Maker’ participated online due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Anon Nampa has provided free legal support to people whose human rights were violated under the Thai military regime and has led efforts for democratization and human rights protection in Thai society.

In particular, on August 3rd last year, his speech publicly advocating monarchy reform in Thailand, where criticism of the royal family was taboo, caused a great impact on the Thai democratization movement. As a result, he was detained several times.

The book containing the content of this speech, titled ‘Anon Nampa’s Speech: The Monarchy and Thai Society,’ is credited with sparking the democracy movement in Thailand.

He is currently charged with lese-majeste and other offenses and was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

Anon Nampa’s family conveyed their gratitude through a video on his behalf.

The special award-winning organization of the Gwangju Human Rights Award, ‘Watchdoc Documentary Maker,’ is a documentary video production group founded in 2009 by Indonesian journalists Andhy Panca Kurniawan and Dandhy Dwi Laksono.

They highlight various social issues such as human rights, democracy, rule of law, environment, women, minorities, and history, and all their produced videos are provided free to the public, being used as campaign and educational materials by many human rights organizations and schools.

In particular, many of their works dealing with human rights issues have greatly contributed to the promotion of human rights in Indonesia.

Additionally, their works have been selected as award-winning films at numerous international film festivals, including the Brazil International Anti-Corruption Documentary Film Festival and the Amsterdam CinemAsia Film Festival, playing a pioneering role in the cultural and artistic field for human rights promotion.

Immediately after the award ceremony, the 2021 Gwangju Democracy Forum was held.

The forum, running until the 21st, comprehensively analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on democracy and democratization movements and seeks mid- to long-term response measures for democratization movements.

Past recipients of the Gwangju Human Rights Award are expected to participate online and engage in heated discussions.

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Human Rights Award was established in 2000 to widely promote the spirit of May 18th. It discovers and awards domestic and international individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to human rights, unification, and world peace.

In 2011, a special award was established, and every two years, individuals who have contributed to the promotion of democracy and human rights in the fields of culture, arts, media, and academia are selected as recipients.

Jeong Dong-nyeon, chairman of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, is giving a greeting speech at the 2021 Gwangju Human Rights Award ceremony.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.