賞の権威を高めたスザンヌ・ショルティ「ソウル平和賞」受賞 |
下記ニュースについて
スザンヌ・ショルティは、北朝鮮住民の解放のため、本当に献身的な活動をしてきた人だ。金正日体制打倒を掲げるのはもちろんのこと、脱北者強制送還を続ける中国共産党に対する抗議活動でも先頭に立ってきた。
2006年4月に、横田早紀江さんの米下院公聴会における証言が実現したが、これもショルティ氏の尽力によるところが大きい。
過去の受賞者を見ると、脱北者救援にさして熱心だったとも思えない緒方貞子・元国連難民高等弁務官や“オリンピック俗物”サマランチ氏、国連の腐敗を一段と進めたアナン前国連事務総長などが入っていて首をかしげさせられるが、黒田記者の記事にあるように、金大中、盧武鉉の「失われた10年」の後、ようやく韓国も人権問題に関して正常化しだしたということだろう。
「ソウル平和賞」という聞き慣れない賞の権威もこれで大いに上がった。
ショルティ氏には、続いてノーベル平和賞が与えられてもよいはずだ。そうなれば、金大中受賞で地に墜ちた平和賞の権威も多少は回復するだろう。
ソウル平和小委員会の発表文(英語)も資料として添付しておく。
2004.11.17 ワシントンにて。中央ショルティ、右ナム・シヌ(著名な人権活動家)、左筆者。
イザ!ニュース
【外信コラム】ソウルからヨボセヨ 北の人権でソウル平和賞
08/9/6 05:14更新
北京五輪より20年前の1988年にソウル五輪があり、韓国ではソウル五輪を記念し「ソウル平和賞」が創設された。ソウル五輪前のモスクワ五輪が、ソ連のアフガン侵攻に抗議する西側諸国のボイコットで片肺開催だったため、ソウル五輪は東西勢ぞろいの文字通りの“平和の祭典”になったからだ。
「ソウル平和賞」は隔年で過去、国際オリンピック委員会(IOC)の会長だったサマランチ氏や「国境なき医師団」、国連難民高等弁務官だった緒方貞子氏らが受賞し、第9回の今年は米国の人権団体「ディフェンス・フォーラム」のスーザン・ショルティ女史に決まった。
彼女は北朝鮮の人権問題に取り組み、北朝鮮の過酷な人権状況を米国をはじめ世界に広く訴えてきたことで知られる。
とくに北朝鮮の政治犯収容所や脱北者の実態を米議会で取り上げさせ「北朝鮮人権法」成立に功績があった。亡命者の黄長燁・元労働党書記の訪米を実現させてもいる。
韓国メディアとの受賞インタビューで彼女は「北朝鮮の人権問題は核問題より重要」「(韓国の)対北支援の“太陽政策”は失敗した」「北朝鮮の“軟着陸”(という変化)は金正日への圧力から始まる」と発言している。
北の独裁体制を厳しく批判する外国の人権活動への「ソウル平和賞」は李明博政権下の韓国社会の“正常化”だ。
それにしても民主化が大好きな過去の政権が北朝鮮の人権問題に冷淡だったとは、まさに「失われた10年」である。(黒田勝弘)
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Press Release
Ms. Suzanne Scholte Wins
(
The Seoul Peace Prize Committee (President, Chul-Seung LEE) held the final screening committee meeting on September 3 at the Korea Press Center and announced that Ms. Suzanne Scholte, a human rights activist and the president of the Defense Forum Foundation, was selected as the 9th Seoul Peace Prize laureate in recognition of her contribution to world peace she has made while working to promote the freedom and human rights of the North Korean people and the status of the Sahrawi refugees in West Sahara.
President Lee said that the selection committee, comprised of 15 members from various fields in the nation, decided to award Ms. Scholte after a rigorous and careful screening process. The nominated candidates included incumbent and former presidents, politicians, international human rights and rescue organizations, and the leaders from the economic sector, religious groups, academia and the press.
After starting her career as the youngest-ever adviser to a U.S. legislator, Ms. Scholte, the mother of three children, has served as president and chairwoman of human rights organizations such as the Defense Forum Foundation and the North Korea Freedom Coalition and has shown special interests in the human rights situations in North Korea. In particular, when
Since 1996, Ms. Scholte has engaged in the efforts to improve human rights conditions in
To help galvanize support for the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, Ms. Scholte chaired and organized the first North Korea Freedom Day in April 2004 in
Ms. Scholte has helped organize numerous Congressional hearings and briefings on
In an effort to protest against the repatriation of North Korean refugees hiding in
Prior to her engagement in the promotion of freedom and human rights for the people of
Ms. Scholte’s human rights activities and concerns are not confined to
As a human rights activist, Ms. Scholte has shown unlimited affection and interest in refugees across the globe whose human rights are not respected properly. Although she is interested in both the North Korean and Sahrawi refugees, it seems to her that the human rights situations facing North Koreans and North Korean refugees are more serious and severer. This has forced her to more concentrate on the North Korean issues even though she still believes that the Sahrawi people are also in desperate need, which leads us to imagine difficulties facing her as a human rights activist.
At a time when countries are purposely neglecting the human rights conditions in
Upon hearing the news of her selection as the laureate, Ms. Scholte said, “I feel ashamed but also I feel honored. It is a great honor to receive this great prize even when I just did what I should do.” “Doing all that we can do for the promotion of the human rights for
Ms. Scholte will formally receive a diploma, a plaque and an honorarium of 200,000 US Dollars at an awarding ceremony to be held on October 7 in
The previous winners of the Seoul Peace Prize, which has been awarded biennially from 1990, include former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch, former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Doctors Without Borders, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, Oxfam, former President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, and Dr. Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Of them, Doctors Without Borders, Secretary-General Annan and Dr. Yunus later became the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, respectively.
September 3, 2008