Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (born 11 November 1946) is a

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist who lives and works in

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Early years and education

Gonçalves was born as Lilian Ho Kang You in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

. Her father, a dentist, was from a

Chinese Surinamese Chinese Surinamese people are Surinamese residents of ethnic Chinese origin. The earliest migrants came in the 19th century as indentured laborers; there was another wave of migration in the 1950s and 1960s. There were 7,885 Chinese in Suriname ...

indentured laborers' family. Her mother had French, African and Portuguese-Sephardi Jewish ancestors. After her high school education in Paramaribo, she left to

to study law at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. After her graduation in 1970, she returned to Suriname and started working for Jules Sedney's government. In this role, she met her future husband Kenneth Gonçalves, whom she married in 1977 and they jointly working in their own law practice.

Surinamese coup d'état

On 25 February 1980, a group of 16 sergeants of the Surinamese Armed Forces (SKM) led by

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

overthrew the government of Prime Minister

Henck Arron Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 ...

with a violent

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

, known as the

1980 Surinamese coup d'état The 1980 Surinamese coup d'état, usually referred to as the Sergeants' Coup (), was a military coup in Suriname which occurred on 25 February 1980, when a group of 16 sergeants () of the Surinamese Armed Forces (SKM) led by Dési Bouterse ...

or the Sergeants' Coup. Both Gonçalves-Ho Kang You and her husband publicly spoke out about the injustices and the lack of democracy. Shortly after the coup, her brother Milton Ho Kang You was found dead in his garage. It has been speculated that he was shot by the military, however his murder was never solved. Her husband was arrested and killed in the night following 7 December during the

December murders The December murders (Dutch: ''Decembermoorden'') were the murders on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized the military dictatorship then ruling Suriname. Thirteen of these men were arrested on De ...

Later career

After her husband's murder, Gonçalves-Ho Kang You continued her law practice. However, for safety reasons she decided in 1983 to emigrate to the Netherlands with her daughter. She worked as a lawyer, and was active for the Dutch national bureau against racism (landelijk bureau racismebestrijding) and

development aid Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political International development, development of developing countries. It is distinguishe ...

organisations. From 1994 to 2000, she was vice-president of the

Dutch Equal Treatment Commission The Dutch Equal Treatment Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a p ...

. From 1997 to 2006, Gonçalves-Ho Kang You was a member of the Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit (English: Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority), an independent government agency charged with enforcing Dutch law on telecommunication, post and cable TV services. From 2001 to 2005, she was the president of the Dutch branch of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, for which she received an award from the Nederlandse Juristen-Vereniging in 2005. In September 2006, she was elected president of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International, but she was not re-elected to this position. She remained a committee member until 2009. In 2009 Gonçalves-Ho Kang You became a member of the

Council of State (Netherlands) The Council of State () is a constitutionally established advisory body in the Netherlands to the Cabinet of the Netherlands, government and States General of the Netherlands, States General that officially consists of members of the royal famil ...

. On 7 October 2020, the Dutch Council for Culture presented the recommendation 'Colonial Collection and a Recognition of Injustice' to the Dutch

culture minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

. This recommendation was written by the Advisory Committee on the National Policy Framework for Colonial Collections, of which Gonçalves-Ho Kang You was chairperson. The recommendation was to return objects unconditionally when the country of origin requests so.

Awards and honors

In 2007, Gonçalves-Ho Kang You gave the 13th Mandeville-lecture at

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

. In 2008, the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

awarded her the

Aletta Jacobs Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (; 9 February 1854 – 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. As the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, she became one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. I ...

prijs, for her social involvement and efforts in the field of human rights and women's rights. In 2015, she received a

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Leiden University. In 2020 she received the Gouden Zandloper Oeuvreprijs which recognizes excellence in the legal profession.

References

External links

2doc.nl documentary on visit of Gonçalves-Ho Kang You to Suriname
(in Dutch). {{DEFAULTSORT:Goncalves-Ho Kang You, Lilian 1946 births Living people Dutch lawyers Dutch people of Surinamese descent Amnesty International people Human rights lawyers People from Paramaribo 21st-century Surinamese lawyers Surinamese people of Chinese descent Surinamese people of Portuguese descent Leiden University alumni