Awards // Current

Man stabbed at music awards show

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Jonathan Ross nominated for award

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Kanye West Accuses MTV of “Fixing” Music Awards

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TOP POT

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Coldplay are world's top-selling act of 2008

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Rick Astley scoops 'Best Act Ever' at MTV awards

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Anne Furbank wins ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award 2008

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Leona Lewis to join AMAs

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"As I am " Solo (Dream Theater Cover) + Impro Jacqueline Mannering

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Cristiano Ronaldo voted Number 1 by fellow footballers

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Indians, Peruvians Honored for Human Rights Work

In the midst of applause, tears, and multiple standing ovations, a group of Indian workers trafficked into the United States and a Peruvian human rights organization seeking justice for crimes against humanity were honored here Wednesday evening for their bold actions.

The 32nd annual Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Awards saluted the work of the Indian Workers Congress and Peru's Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH).

The honors are presented each October by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a Washington, DC think tank working for policies that are "progressive, green, fair, and just," according to the group's director John Cavanagh.

The awards recognize leaders in the human rights movement in the United States and elsewhere in the Americas.

Author and IPS Scholar Barbara Ehrenreich presented the Domestic Award to the Indian Workers Congress for their "amazing example of courage and physical endurance" during a journey from New Orleans to Washington, DC by foot. This "journey of justice" was followed by a month-long fast to protest the abuses the members had suffered from a U.S. corporation.

Aby Raju accepted the Domestic Award on behalf of the Indian Workers Congress. His words were translated into English during a heartfelt speech that detailed the ordeal he and his fellow workers endured.

Raju said the members of the Indian Workers Congress were among several hundred Indians recruited in 2006 for post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction work. The recruiters, who were hired by Signal International, promised the men green cards if they each paid $15,000 or more, according to Raju. Instead, Raju said, upon arrival in the United States they were given 10-month guest worker visas and placed in isolated labor camps.

Signal International, a subsidiary of defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is a marine construction company based in the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Indian workers were hired to help with reconstruction on the company's sites that had been damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

"I personally gave about $20,000 to come into this country," Raju said. "Right now, my mother, my father, my wife, and a son I've never seen live in a rental home. If you ask me, 'Why did you give this money?' I will say because I thought I was saving my parents and I would be able to live with my family here."

Raju paused to regain control of his shaking voice. "But the experience I had after coming here was living like a slave," he said.

Raju went on to detail the "journey of justice," where more than 100 workers formed the Indian Workers Congress and walked off the job site in March. The men walked from New Orleans to Washington, DC, where they embarked on a 29-day hunger strike and testified before Congress about the abuses they suffered. As a result of their advocacy, four witnesses from the Indian Workers Congress have been interviewed by the Department of Justice, and an investigation into the case is ongoing.

"There is still a need for all of your support," Raju said. "I hope that we can all join hands to work against the injustices that have been perpetrated against workers and human beings in the United States."

***********CONTINUESIn the midst of applause, tears, and multiple standing ovations, a group of Indian workers trafficked into the United States and a... more