American Samoa Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin has been named by the West Papua Advocacy Team as the 2011 recipient of the John Rumbiak Human Rights Defenders Award.
The advocacy team says Congressmember Faleomavaega has been an articulate and effective advocate for the defense of human rights in West Papua, and has long worked for a peaceful resolution in the Indonesian province.
It says his extensive knowledge of West Papua and the respect he is held in by Congressional colleagues has enabled him to alert successive US administrations and the US public to governance and development concerns in the province.
Last September Faleomavaega convened the first hearing in the history of the U.S. Congress to include testimony from West Papua's traditional and religious leaders.
