By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The Gwangju Human Rights Committee named Min Ko Naing, a prisoner of conscience from Myanmar, as the winner of its 2009 human rights prize for his contributions to his country's democratization.
He is currently in prison for organizing a demonstration, which gave rise to the Saffron Uprising in the Southeast Asian country. He was sentenced to 65 years imprisonment.
The committee, chaired by Moon Young-hee, vice president of the Korea Democracy Foundation, called on the Myanmar government to release Naing and other prisoners of conscience as soon as possible.
Born in Yangon, in 1962, Naing organized the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), a nationwide body, in 1988.
He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for triggering the ``8888 Uprising,'' so called because of its having occurred on Aug. 8, 1988. After being jailed for 15 years, he was released and continued his pro-democracy resistance.
Approximately 2,000 prisoners of conscience have reportedly been arrested and imprisoned by Myanmar's military junta for engaging in protests and anti-government activities. Naing is one of them.
The committee has awarded the prize for the past 10 years to commemorate the May 19 Gwangju Uprising in 1980, a Korean pro-democracy movement launched under the authoritarian government of Chun Doo-hwan who rose to power in a military coup on Dec. 12, 1979.
Previous winners include former President of East Timor Xanana Gusmao in 2000 and Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission Basil Fernando in 2001.