Yap Thiam Hien
Encyclopedia
Yap Thiam Hien was an Indonesian human rights lawyer.
His father was Yap Sin Eng and his mother was Hwan Tjing Nio. He was one of the most notable people from Chinese
heritage in Indonesia
. As an advocate, he always fought for human rights, he realized that defense
of minority rights made sense only as part of the larger struggle for the rights of all citizens.
Yap moved from place to place when he was young to pursue his studies. He obtained the Meester de Rechten degree from Faculty of Law, Leiden University, Netherlands in 1947. He returned to Indonesia and started his career as lawyer in Jakarta. In 1950, he opened a law firm together with John Karwin,and later joined the firm of Lie Hwee Yoe. He opened his own law firm in 1970. Since then, he has fought for human rights and for justice and equality for ethnic minorities and the poor. He was one of the founding members of PERADIN (Persatuan Advokat Indonesia) and served as the leader.
Together with Buyung Nasution, Yap was one of the founders of Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI), formerly known as Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH), which was a legal aid society to help the poor.
In order to fight discriminative action toward Indonesian Chinese, in
1954 Yap was an early member of BAPERKI (Badan Permusyawaratan Kewarganegaraan Indonesia), an organization originally dedicated to obtaining citizenship for ethnic Chinese. After the 1965 fall of the Soekarno regime, BAPERKI was accused of having links with the PKI
and was banned by the new Suharto regime.
While attending the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development conference in Brussels
, Yap suffered from internal bleeding and was treated at St. Augustin Hospital for two days before he finally died on April 25, 1989.
The Yap Thiam Hien Award
is a human rights award named after him to commemorate his steadfastness and commitment. The Yap Thiam Hien Award Program has been managed by the Human Rights Study Center Foundation (Yayasan Pusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia or YAPUSHAM) since 1992.
His father was Yap Sin Eng and his mother was Hwan Tjing Nio. He was one of the most notable people from Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
heritage in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. As an advocate, he always fought for human rights, he realized that defense
of minority rights made sense only as part of the larger struggle for the rights of all citizens.
Yap moved from place to place when he was young to pursue his studies. He obtained the Meester de Rechten degree from Faculty of Law, Leiden University, Netherlands in 1947. He returned to Indonesia and started his career as lawyer in Jakarta. In 1950, he opened a law firm together with John Karwin,and later joined the firm of Lie Hwee Yoe. He opened his own law firm in 1970. Since then, he has fought for human rights and for justice and equality for ethnic minorities and the poor. He was one of the founding members of PERADIN (Persatuan Advokat Indonesia) and served as the leader.
Together with Buyung Nasution, Yap was one of the founders of Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia (YLBHI), formerly known as Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH), which was a legal aid society to help the poor.
In order to fight discriminative action toward Indonesian Chinese, in
1954 Yap was an early member of BAPERKI (Badan Permusyawaratan Kewarganegaraan Indonesia), an organization originally dedicated to obtaining citizenship for ethnic Chinese. After the 1965 fall of the Soekarno regime, BAPERKI was accused of having links with the PKI
Communist Party of Indonesia
The Communist Party of Indonesia was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world prior to being crushed in 1965 and banned the following year.-Forerunners:...
and was banned by the new Suharto regime.
While attending the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development conference in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Yap suffered from internal bleeding and was treated at St. Augustin Hospital for two days before he finally died on April 25, 1989.
The Yap Thiam Hien Award
Yap Thiam Hien Award
Penghargaan Yap Thiam Hien is an award given by Yayasan Pusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia to people with contributions in human rights issues in Indonesia. The name is based on an Indonesian Chinese lawyer and a human right activist Yap Thiam Hien. The award is usually given every 10 December since 1992...
is a human rights award named after him to commemorate his steadfastness and commitment. The Yap Thiam Hien Award Program has been managed by the Human Rights Study Center Foundation (Yayasan Pusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia or YAPUSHAM) since 1992.