JB Off-Screen | 2005 | YOUNG HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CELEBRATED FOR UNCOMMON COURAGE (07/03/05)

Los Angeles, CA (March 7, 2005) — A courageous witness to atrocities against civilians in Chechnya, a videographer dramatizing the struggle for rights of indigenous people in Mexico, a human rights crusader in Liberia, and an advocate for refugees from Burma on the Thai border today were named recipients of the 2005 Reebok Human Rights Award. The award honors young people who—against great odds and often at great personal risk—have made significant contributions to the field of human rights through nonviolent means.

The 2005 awards will be presented at a ceremony on May 11, 2005, in Royce Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). This marks the first time the awards have been presented in Los Angeles.

“Each of these four young people has risked personal safety to fight for the rights of those too vulnerable to fight for themselves,” says Paul Fireman, chairman and CEO of Reebok International Ltd. “They have taught us first-hand about tyranny and the courage it takes to stand up against it. They have taught us what can be accomplished by just one person—and they will continue to show us what can be achieved when one becomes many.

The 2005 Reebok Human Rights Award recipients are:

ZAREMA MUKUSHEVA (29), A human rights monitor, works amid great danger to record brutal human rights abuses against civilians in Chechnya. Since 1994, Chechnya has been engaged in a battle for independence from Russia, and both sides of the conflict have committed egregious human rights violations against Chechen civilians. Zarema documents and reports abuses, interviews victims and their families, films the violence and its aftermath, and meets with local authorities to denounce the attacks. Her work has succeeded in bringing international attention to murders, mass graves, disappearances, and kidnappings. “Statistics don’t translate into human lives,” she says, “and it’s only when we describe those lives and document those deaths that the outside world can truly understand the horrendous costs that the Chechen people are being forced to pay every day.”

CARLOS ROJAS (28), An indigenous Mixe from Oaxaca, Mexico, uses video to monitor and document human rights abuses against indigenous and peasant communities that have long endured discrimination, especially in Mexico’s southern states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Carlos has created powerful documentaries that have exposed injustices, freed mistreated victims, provided crucial evidence against human rights violators, and furthered the fight for the rights of the indigenous people. And his passion for creating a new generation of indigenous filmmakers has helped ensure that their voices will not be forgotten. “I want not only to reveal the abuses,” he says, “but also to train indigenous people to use video as a tool for their own empowerment.”

ALOYSIUS TOE (27), One of Liberia’s leading activists, takes courageous stances on critical human rights issues, advocates against human rights abuses, and educates Liberians about their rights, which have been brutally undermined since the first of two civil wars began in 1989. With former President Charles Taylor now exiled, the interim government is trying to rebuild a devastated nation, and Aloysius’s role as a human rights leader has become more crucial than ever. He now works on transitional justice issues to ensure that human rights are central to the peace process in postwar Liberia. “I dream of one day being able to sleep in peace in my own home, in my own country,” Aloysius says. “And I dream that one day we’ll be regarded as a dignified people, as a country with direction, as a country with national spirit.”

CHARM TONG (23), A Shan refugee, relentlessly fights for the rights of Burma’s ethnic groups, particularly the Shan people. For years the Burmese military has perpetrated atrocities against ethnic minorities, displacing more than 300,000 Shan and forcing thousands—including children—into forced labor. The Thai government’s refusal to recognize the Shan as refugees has only heightened their vulnerability to human rights abuses. Charm Tong has co-founded a network of human rights monitors on the border of Thailand and Burma, established a school for refugee youth from Shan State, Burma, and—despite the threat of reprisals—helped bring to light the high incidence of rape of ethnic women by the Burmese military. “I have promised the women who have endured this brutality,” she says, “that I would speak out about all the horrible acts against them.”

“Reebok Human Rights Award recipients, who must be 30 years of age or younger, receive a $50,000 grant from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation to help further their work. They also gain the opportunity to participate in Forefront, an independent nongovernmental organization formed by past award recipients to help each other respond to crises, communicate with the international community, gain skills and resources, and share strategies.

Editors note: For press releases, recipient biographies and jpeg photos, please go to: www.reebok.com/Static/global/initiatives/rights/news/

Source | Reebok.com

[ 2005 Reebok Human Rights Awards ]