Posts Tagged ‘Tibet’
March 7, 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the United Nations in Geneva, 18 January 2017. © 2017 Denis Balibouse/Reuters
It all sounds so nice: “universality,” “constructive dialogue,” “win-win cooperation.” China’s unexpected resolution on “Promoting the International Human Rights Cause through Win-Win Cooperation,” being presented this week at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, is chock full of such phrases. China’s government wants the world to believe it is a model citizen when it comes to human rights, but its draft resolution actually betrays the opposite intent, says John Fisher, Geneva Advocacy Director of Human Rights Watch on 5 March 2018.
Focusing only on intergovernmental dialogue and cooperation, rather than actual human rights violations or accountability for those, is obviously a “win” for China, but it’s not clear who the other winner is. Writes John Fisher. Certainly not victims. A true example of “win-win” might be releasing those wrongly detained, respecting the right of ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans. Releasing Tibetan language rights advocate Tashi Wangchuk and Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti would be a true double-win.
…..China’s draft resolution fails to even acknowledge the Human Rights Council’s mandate to “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations,” and does not spell out any consequences when countries refuse to cooperate. As written, China’s resolution is a win only for itself, and, if adopted, a serious loss for any country serious about human rights inside China and around the world.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated on Wednesday 7 March that China’s actions on human rights did not match its words and the level of respect for basic liberties remained low in the country. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein did so in his annual report on human rights in the world to the UN Human Rights Council, “President Xi Jinping has called for ‘people-centred development for win-win outcomes as part of a community of shared future for mankind’, a commendable ambition. Sadly, China’s global ambitions on human rights are seemingly not mirrored by its record at home,” he said.
“My office continues to receive urgent appeals regarding arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and discrimination, emanating from human rights defenders, lawyers, legislators, booksellers, and members of communities such as Tibetans and Uyghurs,” he added. Hussein said many of the cases involved people fighting against economic, social and cultural injustices such as corruption, illegal seizure of land and forced evictions or destruction of cultural sites.
Before the start of the current session of the UN Human Rights Council twenty NGOs had called on all member states to hold China accountable at the UN Human Rights Council, appears from a piece by the ISHR on 26 February 2018
In a private letter sent to select UN Member States, the NGOs called for clear and concrete actions to denounce China’s current rollback in respect for human rights at the UN Human Rights Council.
The organisations highlight five cases of human rights defenders that would benefit from further pressure being brought to bear on the Chinese government. They include:
- Liu Xia, a poet kept under house arrest after the death of her husband, Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, in July 2017
- Wang Quanzhang, a rights lawyer held incommunicado since 9 July 2015
- Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen arbitrarily detained in China since he vanished from Thailand in October 2015
- Tashi Wangchuk, a Tibetan cultural rights and education advocate who has been detained more than two years on charges of inciting separatism (a press release by a group of UN experts on 21 February)
- Yu Wensheng, a prominent human rights lawyer disbarred, then arbitrarily detained, in January 2018.
The organisations urge the governments to:
….This year is particularly important, as human rights defenders inside and outside China prepare for the country’s next Universal Periodic Review, scheduled for November 2018. The letter to governments concludes: ‘For human rights defenders to have the courage to engage in this important process, with all the risks that it entails, it’s critical that they know that they are not alone’.
(Amnesty International, China Labour Bulletin, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, CIVICUS – World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Human Rights in China, Human Rights Watch, the International Campaign for Tibet, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, the International Service for Human Rights, Lawyers for Lawyers, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, PEN America, Swedish PEN, the Tibet Advocacy Coalition (comprised of the International Tibet Network Secretariat, Students for a Free Tibet, Tibet Initiative Deutschland, Tibet Justice Center, and Tibetan Youth Association in Europe), and the World Uyghur Congress.)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/03/05/chinas-win-win-resolution-anything
http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/china-shows-little-respect-for-human-rights-un-high-commissioner-118030701132_1.html
https://www.ishr.ch/news/china-ngos-call-states-hold-china-accountable-un-human-rights-council
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | 4 Comments »
Tags: China, detention, diplomatic pressure, draft resolution, Gui Minhai, HRW, Human Rights Defenders, Ilham Tohti, ISHR, NGOs, Tashi Wangchuk, Tibet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid, UN Human Rights Council, Wang Quanzhang, Yu Wensheng
January 20, 2017
On 12 January 2017, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its World Report on global human rights violations in 2016 and on the dangers the world will be facing in 2017. HRW shines its spotlight on the global rise of authoritarian populism and the concomitant toughening and broadening of anti-terrorism legislation around the world, which endangered throughout 2016 – and must be expected to keep challenging in 2017 – the very foundations of human rights law and the personal dignity inherent in every human being just as much as the despicable extremist attacks, to which they are a direct reaction.
Below the UNPO‘s (stand for the UNREPRESENTED NATIONS AND PEOPLES ORGANIZATION) reading of the report which notes with satisfaction that HRW does not neglect to emphasize in its country reports the persisting human rights abuses directed against indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious minorities around the world, but also sees some shortcomings (from its own perspective): Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in HRW, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: annual report, China, Ethiopia, HRW, Ilham Tohti, indigenous peoples, minorities, Pakistan, Tibet, UNPO
January 19, 2017
KIOS is perhaps not the best-known human rights foundation in the world but that is surely mostly due to the fact that it operates from a small base: Finland. KIOS was founded by 11 Finnish human rights and development NGOs. The representatives of the founding NGOs form the Board of KIOS. In Finland, KIOS raises awareness on the significance of human rights and the work of human rights defenders in developing countries. It also advocates for the development of good practices in Finnish foreign and development policy in support ofHRDs. KIOS focuses its external support on 3 countries in East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) and 3 in South Asia (Nepal, Sri Lanka and to Tibetan civil society organizations in exile). Some long-term partner organizations of KIOS are also supported in Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia and Pakistan. Ulla Anttila is the Executive Director.
On 17 December 2016 KIOS published four video links of interviews with human rights defenders from Asia and Africa (video links), available on You Tube:
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Adilur Rahman Khan, Andrew Anderson, Bangladesh, Finland, Hala Al-Karib, Human Rights Defenders, interview, Kenya, KIOS foundation, Nepal, Renu Rajbhandari, Tibet, Ulla Anttila, video clip, Yussuf Bashir
June 13, 2015
In case the focus on the Baku Games is seen as too partial, here a reference to a protest against China‘s bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics
Tibetan Protesters in Switzerland Disrupt Beijing’s Bid to 2022 Winter Olympics
The Tibetan Youth Association of Europe (TYAE) organized a demonstration outside the IOC hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland on 10 June, 2015. Some of the protesters outside the hotel acted a scene of Chinese human rights violations inside Tibet, while a few others managed to get inside the hotel and chant slogans such as “Free Tibet” and “No More Bloody Games”, just as the Chinese officials were making their case for Olympic bid in front of the International Olympic Committee members.
Golok Jigme, a former Tibetan political prisoner who participated in the protest said in a statement to IOC President Bach, “I stand here today as a witness of Chinese repression in Tibet. But this is not only about me. Many Tibetan human rights defenders and protestors were jailed and killed in 2008. If the Olympic Games 2022 should be awarded to China again you will be co-responsible for such atrocities. If you cannot support us, don’t treat us like toys for the sake of flattering the Chinese Communist Party. We the Tibetan people are also citizens of this world and our dignity and rights must be respected.”
On Thursday, China’s foreign ministry condemned Wednesday’s protest in Switzerland calling it, provocative:”Their behavior will not shake the resolve of the Chinese government and people to apply to hold the Winter Olympics in Beijing“.
via Tibetan Protesters in Switzerland Disrupt Beijing’s Bid to 2022 Winter Olympic.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: 2022 Winter Olympics, Baku Games, China, demonstration, Golok Jigme, Human Rights Defenders, International Olympic Committee, IOC, Lausanne, sports and politics, Tibet, Tibetan Youth Association of Europe
June 6, 2014
On 5 June 2014 Dhondup Wangchen, the imprisoned Tibetan video-activist, was released from prison in Qinghai’s provincial capital Xining, China, after serving a six-year sentence. In a phone call to Gyaljong Tsetrin, cousin and president of Filming For Tibet, living in Switzerland, a very emotional Dhondup Wangchen said: “At this moment, I feel that everything inside me is in a sea of tears. I hope to recover my health soon. I would like to express my feeling of deepest gratitude for all the support I received while in prison and I want to be reunited with my family.”
Lhamo Tso, wife of the imprisoned filmmaker who was granted US asylum in 2012 and now lives in San Francisco, is overjoyed: “Six years of injustice and painful counting the days ended today. It is a day of unbelievable joy for his parents in Dharamsala, our children and myself. We look forward to be reunited as a family.”
Gyaljong Tsetrin, his cousin and co-producer of “Leaving Fear Behind”, said after talking him to: “Though Dhondup is still under the control of the Chinese authorities I am very relieved that he finally could leave prison and has now the possibility to consult a doctor.” The self-taught cameraman and video-activist travelled across Tibet with his assistant Golog Jigme in 2007/2008. His film “Leaving Fear Behind” (28 min.) has been translated into a dozen languages and has been screened in more than 30 countries worldwide. Golog Jigme recently just arrived in India after a spectacular escape from Tibet. Dhondup Wangchen has been given awards by various NGOs, such as Committee to Protect Journalists, for his courageous work making the documentary “Leaving Fear Behind” and his case was the focal point of many campaigns of international human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Reporters without Borders. Government representatives around the world have brought up his case in their talks with their Chinese counterparts.
Tibetan Filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen Released from Prison.
Posted in AI, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, RSF | Leave a Comment »
Tags: AI, awards, China, Committee to Protect Journalists, Dhondup Wangchen, Documentary film, film makers, Filming For Tibet, free, Golog Jigme, Gyaljong Tsetrin, Human rights defender, human rights films, images, jail, Leaving Fear Behind, prison, Reporters without Borders, Tibet, Tibetans
May 5, 2014
On 2 May 2014 the Human Rights Foundation announced as the recipients of its 2014 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent the Turkish performance artist Erdem Gunduz, Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, and imprisoned Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen. They will be honored at a ceremony during the Oslo Freedom Forum on Wednesday, May 14. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Human Rights Foundation | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, China, Dhondup Wangchen, digest of human rights awards, Erdem Gunduz, human rights awards, Leaving Fear Behind, on-line, Oslo, Pussy Riot, Russia, Standing Man, Tibet, Turkey, Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent
April 4, 2013
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Most of you (but fortunately not all) seem to have understood that my previous post “Gadaffi Human Rights Award resurrected: Mugabe rumored to be Laureate” was not without good reason announced for April 1st.
There is however also more serious news on the awards front: On 13-14 April 2013 the Dalai Lama will hand out the Light of Truth Awards at a ceremony in Fribourg, Switzerland. The award is organised by the International Campaign for individuals and institutions who have made significant contributions to the public understanding of Tibet and the struggle for human rights and democratic freedoms for the Tibetan people. Among The Light of Truth honorees 2013 are:
- The International Commission of Jurists, a member on the MEA Jury, and
- Theo van Boven, Dutch professor emeritus in international law, former Director of Human Rights in the UN and a Patron of the MEA.
Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of the international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will introduce the Dalai Lama.
Details and tickets: http://dalailama2013.ch/index.php/en/.
Press contacts: Kate Saunders, email: press@savetibet.org, tel: +447947138612, www.savetibet.org.
Previous videos of Light of Truth awards: http://www.youtube.com/intercampaigntibet
Posted in Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: awards, Bernard Kouchner, China, Dalai Lama, Fribourg, human rights, International Commission of Jurists, Light of Truth Awards, Médecins Sans Frontières, MEA, media, Theo van Boven, Tibet
