Hispanic World Renowned Human Rights

Activist to be Honored in LA

LOS ANGELES---Internationally renowned cartoonist Martha Montoya was awarded the International Human Rights Hero Award for “for stellar work in creating broad public awareness about human rights.” The event, which was hosted by Artists for Human Rights, was held on October 2nd at the Church of Scientology International Celebrity Center.

  Martha Montoya is the artist and creator of Los Kitos, a popular series of comic characters that teach positive lessons to Latino adults and children worldwide. 

   Every week Los Kitos syndicated comic strips are read by 12 million and Los Kitos cartoons are now sponsored and shown in promotional materials by corporations such as Bank of America, US Postal Service, US Department of Agriculture and a clothing line for kids by Wal-Mart. A book featuring Los Kitos is soon to be released, as well as a DVD and a possible TV series.

   With her famous “Los Kitos flair,” Ms. Montoya has brought to life the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in illustrations that includes her beloved Los Kitos characters.  

    Ms. Montoya has received many honors for her work including, the Advisory Board Cartoonist of the Year Award, Latin Business Association Latino Entrepreneur of the year, Hispanic Businesswoman of the year by California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She was also named one of the 100 most influential people in he U.S. Market by several publications and organizations including Hispanic Business Magazine.

    The Human Rights Hero Awards ceremony was one of the events of the Global Human Rights Summit 2007. Co-organized by Youth for Human Rights International, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International Artist for Human Rights and Global Peace Leadership Conference, this international summit gathered delegates from around the world to Los Angeles to represent their nations. 

  The summit, which was held at the UCLA Faculty Center, served as a joint effort to help eradicate public ignorance regarding human rights. One of the key topics focused on was human trafficking, a pandemic industry with estimated profits of ten billion dollars annually – only surpassed by the illicit drugs industry –which affects an estimated 27 million people in the world. Seventy percent of these people are women and children (some as young as 8 or 9 years old), who are forced into servitude or sexual slavery.