Thai Working Group Chair Receives Special Citation for Human Rights

 

Dr. Petcharamesree (third from right) stands beside Ms. Editha Burgos, who received the 4th Ka Pepe Diokno Award on behalf of her husband and press freedom icon Jose G. Burgos Jr.

Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree, chairperson of the Thai Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism (Thai Working Group), received a special citation for her outstanding human rights work from the Jose W. Diokno Foundation on February 27, 2008.

The Foundation annually bestows an Award of Recognition and Special Citation on individuals who imbibe the libertarian and human rights values of the late Senator Jose "Pepe" Diokno. The former Senator is renowned for being a human rights lawyer who crusaded for victims of military oppression during the Marcos regime in the Philippines.

Petcharamesree is the first non-Filipino and the first surviving recipient of the Special Citation. She is recognized nationally and regionally for her contributions on issues of citizenship, economic, social and cultural rights, community rights, and human rights education. The Office of Human Rights Studies and Social Development (Mahidol University), where she sits as director, is the only institution in Southeast Asia which offers a graduate degree and Ph.D in human rights. Petcharamesree is also the current chairperson of the Human Rights Education Working Group of the Thai Ministry of Education.

"I am grateful that my little contribution is being recognized by the Graduate School of Business of De La Salle Professional Schools and the Jose W. Diokno Foundation," said Petcharamesree as she accepted her award, "My final words as a teacher who has been learning human rights together with our students would be about human rights education. I strongly believe that if each of us teaches our students how to live with others and how to care about suffering of others, one day we will have a better society".

Read the complete transcript of Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree’s speech here.