Hong Kong:Two human rights organizations have called for the immediate release of three detained laureates of the Gwangju Prize in Hong Kong and Thailand.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the May 18 Memorial Foundation and the Network of Laureates of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights have condemned the detentions of Chow Hang-tung in Hong Kong, as well as Thai activists Arnon Nampa and Jatupat Boonpattararaksa. They stated that these arrests signify a significant democratic crisis in Asia.
Chow, a human rights lawyer and the 2023 recipient of the Gwangju Prize, is currently detained in Hong Kong. Arnon, a human rights lawyer who received the award in 2021, and Jatupat, the 2017 laureate, are both detained in Thailand.
The organizations expressed solidarity with activists in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Myanmar who continue to defend democracy and human rights despite facing violence, imprisonment, and restrictions on basic rights.
The Gwangju Prize for Human Rights was established in 2000 to honor the spirit of the May 18 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju, South Korea, in 1980, where a military crackdown resulted in over 200 civilian deaths and 1,800 injuries.