KOREA: The 11th Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following open invitation from the Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Foundation, requesting for nominating candidates for the 11th Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award.

Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong

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An open invitation to nominate candidates for the Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

KOREA: THE 11TH TJI HAK-SOON JUSTICE & PEACE AWARD

An invitation to Nominate Candidates for the Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award

Dear friends,

Greetings of Peace and Justice from Seoul!

We are writing this letter to remind you that it’s time to nominate candidates for the 11th Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award.

As you may know well now, the Award was set up to honor the late Bishop Daniel Tji Hak-soon who campaigned for justice and peace and died in 1993. Since 1997 the international award has been given to a person or group who significantly contributed to justice and peace, regardless of religion, sex or creed.

It has been 10 years since the Bishop Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Foundation Award was established. The Bishop Tji Hak-soon’s spirit is alive in every nation in Asia including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Myanmar.

The Justice and Peace Award went to Dr. Sali Tun Than of Myanmar last year. He has been living in America as the status of refugee since he was exiled from his country by the military government under the pretence of his fighting for the democratization in Burma against the long military dictatorship and the ruthless suppression of human rights. No matter what, he’s never bowed to power and been fighting for the democratization in his country.

Our Foundation has been granting the Justice and Peace Award to those who are risking their lives and fighting for the justice and peace of the world, no matter what hardships life brings their way.

Just look at your neighbors and friends who work for justice and peace, and we would much appreciate if you could have a time to recommend them until the end of November.

For more details, we enclose some information as below. The nomination form is attached with this letter.

[Rules & Regulations]

The prize:
An Award and prize of 10,000 (US$)

Time & Place of Award Ceremony:
March 24, 2008 Seoul Korea

Administrative Organization:
– It is sponsored by the Tiji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Foundation.
– It is administrated by the Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Award Adjudicating Committee.
– It is supported by: KBS (Korea Broadcasting System), PBC (Pyonghwa Broadcasting Corporation), the Hankyore Newspaper, the Catholic Times and the Pyonghwa Newspaper.

The Meaning and the Purpose of the Award:
– It seeks to support individuals or organizations who have contributed to the Justice and Peace of Humanity. People or organizations who have generously given of themselves to the cause of freedom and equality of people while not bowing in the face of oppressive society structures.
– It is a memorial to the life work and the will of the late Bishop Tji Hak-soon who contributed to social justice and democracy by seeking to humanize the oppressors and free the oppressed.
– It seeks to incarnate a Gospel over-flowing with Peace and Love; to make justice flow like a river through the promotion of genuine reconciliation of the tensions and divisions arising from poverty and racism, religion and ideology, nationalism and gender.
– It is the only International Human Rights Award in Korea funded entirely by the Public.

Qualifications of the Nominee:
– An organization or person who has worked for democracy or reform in any country.
– An organization or person who has denounced and sought to resolve torture, kidnapping, murder etc. all of which destroy the basic rights of people in oppressive social structures.
– An organization or person who has contributed to peace and reconciliation of humanity by fighting or struggling against the invasion, occupation or the usurpation of the right to self determination of a country or people.
– An organization or person who ha sacrificed themselves for genuine reconciliation. People who have publicized issues, researched or engaged in national or international solidarity in the face of the tensions and divisions arising from poverty and racism, religion and ideology, nationalism and gender.
– Apart from the above any person or organization who has contributed to social justice or international peace.

Basic Regulations:
– Candidates for the Award must receive a nomination, in accordance with the official form, from a person designated by the adjudicating committee or some other individual or group.
– Candidates for the Award must respond conscientiously to scrutiny by the adjudication committee in terms of interview, request of additional documentation, questions, etc. If any falsehood or distortion of the truth is discovered in the submissions then the prize can be cancelled or withdrawn with no prior notice.
– In the final decision the prize can be divided between different candidates. The winer is expected to attend the award ceremony and the accompanying events unless there are extenuating circumstances.

Timetable for the Award:
– Final Date for Submission: November 30, 2007
– First Adjudication (Examination of materials submitted): December 30. 2007
– Second Adjudication (interview, questions and additional inquiries): January 20, 2008
– Decision and informing the Winner: January 31, 2008

Remarks:
– Nomination should be based on the truth.
– Belonging to the Catholic Church is not a condition.
– It would be appreciated if you could furnish us with the data or materials, such as audio/video, photographs and literatures, helpful for us to have access to the nominee in a short length of time.
– You can download the nomination form from our official website at http://www.justice.or.krIf you want to know more about Bishop Tji Hak-soon as well as the Award, please also visit our website.

Send to:

The Tji Hak-soon Justice & Peace Foundation
Address: #313, Chungmu Building 10, Pil-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, 100-272, Korea
Tel: +82-2-2266-7001
Fax: +82-2-2269-2932
E-mail: peacejt@chol.com
Website: http://www.justice.or.kr

Thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Msgr. Byeong-sang Kim
Chairman

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

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