JOINT STATEMENT
Gwangju Laureates Stand in Solidarity with Human Rights Defenders and Democracy Activists
The Network of Gwangju Prize for Human Rights Laureates (NLG)
11 October 2026
We, the laureates of the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, express our solidarity with all those who continue to defend democracy and human rights in the face of repression. Across the world, including in Thailand, Myanmar, and Hong Kong, human rights defenders, political prisoners, civil society activists, and ordinary citizens continue to face imprisonment, violence, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms. In Myanmar, civilians continue to suffer from military violence and restrictions on humanitarian assistance, while political prisoners remain deprived of their freedom. We stand in solidarity with all those who continue to defend human rights, democracy, and peace under these difficult circumstances.
In particular, we
stand in solidarity with our fellow Gwangju Prize laureates and human rights
defenders Arnon Nampa, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, and Chow Hang-tung, who have
been imprisoned for their peaceful efforts to defend democracy and fundamental
freedoms. We call on the Thai and Hong Kong authorities to immediately release
them and unconditionally drop all charges against them. They are not criminals,
but defenders of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in their
societies.
The
Gwangju Prize for Human Rights was established in 2000 to carry forward the
spirit of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, when the people of Gwangju stood up
against military repression in defense of democracy and human rights. The Prize
recognizes individuals and organizations who have contributed to the
advancement of human rights, democracy, and peace in their communities and
countries. As laureates of the Prize, we recognize in Arnon, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, and Chow the same commitment to these values and
the courage to defend them in the face of repression.
Arnon
Nampa, who was awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2021, is a Thai
human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist. Since 2009, Arnon has defended
people prosecuted under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, before standing at the
forefront of the movement himself and delivering speeches that broke years of
taboo around the role of the monarchy in Thai society. Even after being
sentenced to imprisonment on 26 September 2023 for his peaceful advocacy for
democratic and monarchy reforms, he continued to represent clients in
court—barefoot, shackled, and clad in a prison uniform. He has since been
convicted 11 times under the lèse-majesté law and sentenced to more than 31
years and nine months in prison. Separated from his two young children, his
only crimes were speaking the truth to those in power who were not ready to
hear it.
Jatupat
Boonpattararaksa, awarded the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2017, is a Thai
human rights defender and one of the core leaders of Dao Din, a student-led
movement that has long stood for community rights, social justice, and
democracy. He was among the young activists who resisted the 2014 military coup
and has since been at the forefront of the struggle for democracy, freedom of
expression, and community rights across Thailand. For refusing to be
intimidated into silence, he has been prosecuted in at least 27 cases since
2014, including three under the lèse-majesté law, and sentenced to more than
nine years in prison under various repressive laws. Since his most recent
conviction on 3 September 2025, he has remained detained at Bangkok Remand Prison.
Yet imprisonment has never stopped Jatupat Boonpattararaksa from standing up
again. His courage is the courage to keep resisting, even when he knows exactly
what it may cost him.
Chow Hang-tung, awarded the Gwangju Prize
for Human Rights in 2023, is a Hong Kong human rights lawyer and pro-democracy
activist who has been imprisoned since 2021 for her peaceful activism. On
September 11 this year, she was sentenced to seven years and three months in
prison on charge of “inciting subversion” under the National Security Law. As a
former vice-chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic
Movements of China, she has worked to preserve the memory of the 1989 Tiananmen
crackdown and defend freedom, democracy, and human rights. Even from prison,
Chow has continued to speak out for these values. In her acceptance speech for
the Gwangju Prize, she declared that fighting for freedom and democracy was her
lifelong aspiration and that she would not give up. More recently, in her
closing statement before the court, she invoked the May 18 Gwangju
Democratization Movement as an example of citizens defending democracy and the
constitutional order in the face of repression. Her continued imprisonment for
peaceful advocacy stands in direct contradiction to the fundamental freedoms
she has devoted herself to defending.
We call on the authorities to immediately cease prosecuting or detaining Arnon Nampa, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, Chow Hang-tung, and other human rights defenders who have raised their voices for democracy and human rights for exercising their freedom of expression. The Gwangju Prize for Human Rights honors those who have shown courage in the struggle for human rights, democracy, and peace. Arnon, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, and Chow embody these values through their unwavering commitment to speaking out against injustice, defending fundamental freedoms, and standing up for democratic societies, even in the face of repression. Their courage is the very spirit that the Gwangju Prize was created to honor. We stand with them and call for their immediate release.
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