PAIR FROM NO MORE DEATHS TO GET AWARD: Volunteers aided ailing
migrants on border, faced U.S. charges
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/48485.php

CLAUDINE LoMONACO
Tucson Citizen

Two young humanitarian volunteers cleared of human-smuggling charges
have won a human rights award for their work aiding distressed
migrants along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Shanti Sellz and Daniel Strauss, along with the humanitarian group No
More Deaths, will receive the Oscar Romero Award for Human Rights at
a ceremony in Houston on April 22.

Sellz, 24, and Strauss, 25, were arrested July 9, 2005, while driving
three illegal immigrants from the desert near Arivaca to a temporary
health clinic at a church in Tucson. If convicted, the two could have
faced a 15-year sentence and $500,000 fine.

A federal judge threw out the charges against them in September 2006
because, he said, the government led the group to believe its members
could transport ailing migrants.

"They were young and very courageous," said Mary Welch, executive
director of the Houston-based Rothko Chapel, a church that advocates
for human rights. "They would not accept a plea bargain, and they
were willing to go to jail because they felt what they were doing was
right."

The award was established in 1986 to honor the former archbishop of
San Salvador, Oscar Romero, who had been an vocal opponent of
government-sponsored violence and was slain March 24, 1980. The
chapel gives the award every two years to honor those willing to risk
their lives to promote human rights.

Previous winners include Ishai Menuchin, a soldier in the Israeli
army who refused to serve in protest of Israel's occupation of
Palestine, and Diana Ortiz, an American nun who was tortured by the
Guatemalan military during the 1980s and later established an
organization to aid torture survivors.

Sellz, who is pursuing a degree in public health from the University
of Arizona, said she was honored that the chapel recognized the work
of No More Deaths. But she also felt uneasy.

"It's a little difficult to feel that I should be accepting an
award," she said. "I know Daniel and I were in a unique situation,
but our work is not unique. So many people do this work, and so many
people were involved in this."

The award comes with a $20,000 prize. Half will go to support the
work of No More Deaths, while Sellz and Strauss will each receive
$5,000.

Sellz said she plans to donate her share to an organization that
combats poverty and other causes of immigration.

This is the first time the award has highlighted a human rights issue
in the United States, said Jacqueline Andre Schmeal, who led the
chapel search committee.

"We think it's important to stress that we have human rights issues
in America," she said.