Gustaf Kawer and Yohanis Mambrasar: Pro Bono Champions 2019

TAPOL congratulates West Papuan lawyers Gustaf Kawer and Yohanis Mambrasar as the winners of Hukumonline Awards Pro Bono Champions 2019.  The awards for Pro Bono Excellence Hours and the Most Inspiring Lawyer in the Field of Pro Bono Non-Litigation respectively were given in Jakarta on Wednesday, 11 December 2019. 

Hukumonline.com is an internet portal established in Indonesia at the turn of the millenium by lawyers and legal practitioners to provide educational information and training about law and legal matters. Since 2018, the prize of Pro Bono Champion is being awarded annually to commercial law firms and lawyers in Indonesia who dedicate their time to serving marginalised people and communities for free, i.e. pro bono.

Kawer and Mambrasar are partners in the Jayapura-based law firm Gustaf Rudolf Kawer & Partners. Both are well-known among the human rights community in West Papua and beyond, with Mambrasar, who has just acquired his legal practice licence this year, following in the footsteps of his senior, Kawer. Kawer is also co-founder of non-profit organisation PAHAM, the Association of Human Rights Lawyers of Papua. 

This is not the first time that Kawer's dedication and courage have come into the spotlight. In 2013, together with the late Olga Hamadi, he was shortlisted for the Lawyers for Lawyers Award. 

In his acceptance speech on Wednesday night, Kawer highlighted the plight of seven Papuan political prisoners who were wrongly transferred to East Kalimantan, more than 3,000 km away from where they were arrested. The move not only denies the prisoners visits from their family and friends but also pro bono legal aid, as provided by Kawer and partners. 

Proficiat, Gustaf and Yohanis!

London, 12 December 2019