Hello, this post is dedicated to what you CAN do :
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=407
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25197
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=5385
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=394
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=395
Do join the facebook groups concerning Hu Jia:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24095936128
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20894947280
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Reflection
It has been one month since we created this blog, but it hasn't been month since we started caring about others and thus being interested in human rights.
I for one, have been a member of Amnesty International for a very long time. I strongly believe in the effectiveness of the letters, of the protest marches, of any and every event that takes places when organised by the organisation or local/grassroots members of the organisation. I have never been able to verify it of course. Other than in news provided by Amnesty itself or diverse news reports from even more diverse sources.
But I believe. Today's technological possibilities create a situation where one human being's plight seems to become any other human being's cross to bear. We share the "other"'s suffering on levels which weren't possible before. As an example : our facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24095936128) has , at the moment, 87 members. In contrast, the " Burma campaign" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24957770200) group has around 400 000 members. Now these numbers could mean absolutely nothing if the members hadn't chosen to enter the group.
Without wanting to start a study on group dynamics and the power of peer pressure, the simple choice of the click has opened a myriad of new possibilities for the new members. Access to more information, possibilities of action and so on.But above all, I believe these numbers are simple proof that people care. Thus the myth of apathy dies : Thus a movement is born.
And movements can do a lot. Be they virtual or real. The Tiananmen square massacre still influences the social and political make-up of today's China. The Madres de la plaza de Mayo in Argentina have become one of the most powerful groups in the country. If you're reading this, and are not part of a movement, of a group, of an NGO, do think about it. Possibilities are endless, it's up to us, human beings, to support each other. And help each other.
Just some thoughts... You, CAN help. Just because THEY have AK-47's and tanks doesn't mean a simple letter or e-mail cannot turn the tide.Again, it's up to you.
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it
Thus a movement is born.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=407
I for one, have been a member of Amnesty International for a very long time. I strongly believe in the effectiveness of the letters, of the protest marches, of any and every event that takes places when organised by the organisation or local/grassroots members of the organisation. I have never been able to verify it of course. Other than in news provided by Amnesty itself or diverse news reports from even more diverse sources.
But I believe. Today's technological possibilities create a situation where one human being's plight seems to become any other human being's cross to bear. We share the "other"'s suffering on levels which weren't possible before. As an example : our facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24095936128) has , at the moment, 87 members. In contrast, the " Burma campaign" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=24957770200) group has around 400 000 members. Now these numbers could mean absolutely nothing if the members hadn't chosen to enter the group.
Without wanting to start a study on group dynamics and the power of peer pressure, the simple choice of the click has opened a myriad of new possibilities for the new members. Access to more information, possibilities of action and so on.But above all, I believe these numbers are simple proof that people care. Thus the myth of apathy dies : Thus a movement is born.
And movements can do a lot. Be they virtual or real. The Tiananmen square massacre still influences the social and political make-up of today's China. The Madres de la plaza de Mayo in Argentina have become one of the most powerful groups in the country. If you're reading this, and are not part of a movement, of a group, of an NGO, do think about it. Possibilities are endless, it's up to us, human beings, to support each other. And help each other.
Just some thoughts... You, CAN help. Just because THEY have AK-47's and tanks doesn't mean a simple letter or e-mail cannot turn the tide.Again, it's up to you.
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it
Thus a movement is born.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=407
Friday, March 21, 2008
Short research on justice system in china
The Relationship between the Political and Justice System in China
“The Ministry of Justice was closed down in 1959, not to reopen until 1979, and the excesses of the Cultural Revolution wrought havoc on legal institutions and procedures. Efforts to reestablish a credible legal system resumed in 1977 (when there were no lawyers in China), as party moderates came to power. These efforts were accelerated in the early 1980s as China sought to provide the legal protection required by foreign investors.”
“The Law takes the Constitution as its basis. Article 28 of the Constitution stipulates that "The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms
Criminals.''”
The judiciary in China is independent; however it must follow the Communist's Party Guidance policy. The Judicial system tends to answer more to political leaders then the law, thus the judicial system is prone to interference by the Communist Party's leaders. In China's top-down political system, the Police, prosecutors and judges respond mostly to incentives from above. Maintaining the appearance of social order is important in gaining these incentives.
"As it rejects the notion of vertical separation of powers, the PRC also rejects the notion of horizontal separation of powers between different branches of government (for example, the traditional troika of legislative, executive, and judicial branches). A necessary separation of functions is acknowledged, but constitutionally speaking the National People's Congress (in form, a legislature) sits at the apex of China's political power structure. In reality, that position is occupied by the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, but both form and reality share the rejection of multiple power centers. Because the form of centralism, whether vertical or horizontal, does not match the reality of the need for delegation, the Chinese legal system does not deal well with the problem of defining the limits of the rule-making authority of subordinate bodies. To be sure, there are laws prescribing legislative hierarchies, but there are few institutional ways of making these rules meaningful.”
“According to the Chinese Constitution and relevant laws, the people's courts and people's procuratorates exercise judicial power and procuratorial power independently in accordance with the law, and are responsible to, and supervised by, the people's congresses. They are not subject to interference by any administrative organ, public organization or individual. The judicial organs carry out their duties independently within the limits as prescribed by the law, and any interference in their independent exercise of judicial power and procuratorial power in accordance with the law is a violation of the Constitution and the law. Based on this, China has established a system in which the courts independently exercise their judicial power to conduct civil, administrative and criminal trials in accordance with the law, and the procuratorates independently exercise their power to approve arrests, institute public prosecutions, lodge protests and supervise law enforcement in accordance with the law.”
“One obstacle is China's long history, in which criminal law was viewed as an extension of the power of the emperor rather than an objective code that applies to everyone. Confession amounted to a submission to authority, while a plea of innocence was viewed as a form of rebellion.” The justice system is confronting the tension between the demand for social and political liberalization and the demand for political stability.
It can be argued that the judicial system in China is set up to protect the authority of the government, by protecting the establishment of social order, thus no to undermine the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. It can be argued that it is thus less interested in upholding and protecting the rights of suspects, as most criminal investigations in China end in guilty verdicts.
Ian Mitchell
“The Ministry of Justice was closed down in 1959, not to reopen until 1979, and the excesses of the Cultural Revolution wrought havoc on legal institutions and procedures. Efforts to reestablish a credible legal system resumed in 1977 (when there were no lawyers in China), as party moderates came to power. These efforts were accelerated in the early 1980s as China sought to provide the legal protection required by foreign investors.”
“The Law takes the Constitution as its basis. Article 28 of the Constitution stipulates that "The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms
Criminals.''”
The judiciary in China is independent; however it must follow the Communist's Party Guidance policy. The Judicial system tends to answer more to political leaders then the law, thus the judicial system is prone to interference by the Communist Party's leaders. In China's top-down political system, the Police, prosecutors and judges respond mostly to incentives from above. Maintaining the appearance of social order is important in gaining these incentives.
"As it rejects the notion of vertical separation of powers, the PRC also rejects the notion of horizontal separation of powers between different branches of government (for example, the traditional troika of legislative, executive, and judicial branches). A necessary separation of functions is acknowledged, but constitutionally speaking the National People's Congress (in form, a legislature) sits at the apex of China's political power structure. In reality, that position is occupied by the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, but both form and reality share the rejection of multiple power centers. Because the form of centralism, whether vertical or horizontal, does not match the reality of the need for delegation, the Chinese legal system does not deal well with the problem of defining the limits of the rule-making authority of subordinate bodies. To be sure, there are laws prescribing legislative hierarchies, but there are few institutional ways of making these rules meaningful.”
“According to the Chinese Constitution and relevant laws, the people's courts and people's procuratorates exercise judicial power and procuratorial power independently in accordance with the law, and are responsible to, and supervised by, the people's congresses. They are not subject to interference by any administrative organ, public organization or individual. The judicial organs carry out their duties independently within the limits as prescribed by the law, and any interference in their independent exercise of judicial power and procuratorial power in accordance with the law is a violation of the Constitution and the law. Based on this, China has established a system in which the courts independently exercise their judicial power to conduct civil, administrative and criminal trials in accordance with the law, and the procuratorates independently exercise their power to approve arrests, institute public prosecutions, lodge protests and supervise law enforcement in accordance with the law.”
“One obstacle is China's long history, in which criminal law was viewed as an extension of the power of the emperor rather than an objective code that applies to everyone. Confession amounted to a submission to authority, while a plea of innocence was viewed as a form of rebellion.” The justice system is confronting the tension between the demand for social and political liberalization and the demand for political stability.
It can be argued that the judicial system in China is set up to protect the authority of the government, by protecting the establishment of social order, thus no to undermine the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. It can be argued that it is thus less interested in upholding and protecting the rights of suspects, as most criminal investigations in China end in guilty verdicts.
Ian Mitchell
Sunday, March 16, 2008
When Wushu doesn't work, use tanks, always more effective.
For those of you that understand german :
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,541799,00.html
For those who don't :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/16/tibet.china1
It seems all foreigners and foreign organisation have been kindly asked to leave the premises (i.e. Tibet) and have until Monday to do so. This situations is, I believe, history in the making. Very sad history indeed. The irony of it being that the PRC's government uses the excuse of necessary pacification to send troops in, accusing the Tibetans of dissent, when it accuses its own citizens and people of the "han" ethnic group of "unpatriotic" activities when they dare go against the party line.
I am worried, and check the news every hour or so. But the sad realisation I 've come to now is that the only thing I will be getting from my googling and clicking around, is a Tiananmen type picture :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nXT8lSnPQ
Wanna make a change ? Don't watch your national team trying to win the gold this summer. Keep sending e-mails . Get together with friends and write leaflets, teach people about the situation in the PRC. The games can take place. But people like Hu jia, and the ones who died in the past few days should not be forgotten
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,541799,00.html
For those who don't :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/16/tibet.china1
It seems all foreigners and foreign organisation have been kindly asked to leave the premises (i.e. Tibet) and have until Monday to do so. This situations is, I believe, history in the making. Very sad history indeed. The irony of it being that the PRC's government uses the excuse of necessary pacification to send troops in, accusing the Tibetans of dissent, when it accuses its own citizens and people of the "han" ethnic group of "unpatriotic" activities when they dare go against the party line.
I am worried, and check the news every hour or so. But the sad realisation I 've come to now is that the only thing I will be getting from my googling and clicking around, is a Tiananmen type picture :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-nXT8lSnPQ
Wanna make a change ? Don't watch your national team trying to win the gold this summer. Keep sending e-mails . Get together with friends and write leaflets, teach people about the situation in the PRC. The games can take place. But people like Hu jia, and the ones who died in the past few days should not be forgotten
Tibet and China enter a bar.... only one of them will get out alive, obviously
As many of you probably have been reading , the chinese government finally has decided to show its real face. Shooting in the crowds, using tear gas ,tanks and lorry to scatter protesters. This is Tiananmen, but in the era of the internet : more information :
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,29841,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299212.stm
From what information anyone can gather from newspapers and news agencies across the world, we have dozens of death in tibet at the moment. Troops wander the streets and foreigners are banned from circulating freely . Our main concern here, on chinesedissidents.blogspot.com, is freedom of speech and there is no more evident attack on it than uniformed stormtroopers in the streets of a supposedly free state. What can you do to help the people from Tibet ?
Join Amnesty International
Join HRW
Inform yourselves : http://www.savetibet.org/
Act now : http://www.savetibet.org/action/index.php
http://china.hrw.org/
We started this blog about a month ago, we showed our concern two months ago. The crisis is ongoing and we do not know when it will stop. Although, some would argue, it started when the PRC invaded the kingdom of Tibet.One thing remains sure : the PRC has decided to show its true self to the international community, in the era of the mass media, how little information is allowed to go through the Chinese media sift is fascinating. Are we westerners stopping ourselves from learning more on this because we don't want to be disturbed by the thought of Tibetans being mown down, when expecting our nice and entertaining olympics ?
Actions and protest marches are being organised around the world. The main point of interest here is that the olympic torhc is crossing the United Kingdom and the United States in the next 2 months. We'll be providing information on any different actions.
More soon....
N.L.
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,29841,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299212.stm
From what information anyone can gather from newspapers and news agencies across the world, we have dozens of death in tibet at the moment. Troops wander the streets and foreigners are banned from circulating freely . Our main concern here, on chinesedissidents.blogspot.com, is freedom of speech and there is no more evident attack on it than uniformed stormtroopers in the streets of a supposedly free state. What can you do to help the people from Tibet ?
Join Amnesty International
Join HRW
Inform yourselves : http://www.savetibet.org/
Act now : http://www.savetibet.org/action/index.php
http://china.hrw.org/
We started this blog about a month ago, we showed our concern two months ago. The crisis is ongoing and we do not know when it will stop. Although, some would argue, it started when the PRC invaded the kingdom of Tibet.One thing remains sure : the PRC has decided to show its true self to the international community, in the era of the mass media, how little information is allowed to go through the Chinese media sift is fascinating. Are we westerners stopping ourselves from learning more on this because we don't want to be disturbed by the thought of Tibetans being mown down, when expecting our nice and entertaining olympics ?
Actions and protest marches are being organised around the world. The main point of interest here is that the olympic torhc is crossing the United Kingdom and the United States in the next 2 months. We'll be providing information on any different actions.
More soon....
N.L.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
China’s Treatment of Journalists and Freedom of the Press in general
China’s Treatment of Journalists and Freedom of the Press in general
Freedom of the press has increased in China in recent years away from government control; however there is resistance to this from both the party and institutions wishing to limit media autonomy. The media still remains restricted and under government restrictions. Journalists at the Chinese television network CCTV are instructed and warned away from reporting news stories that the party does not wish to receive coverage. Stories that Journalists are instructed and warned away from reporting can cover a wide variety of subject areas, not just sensitive ones.
Certain subjects are not allowed, such as speculation about China's national leaders. Other issues such as health, education and inflation, are closely monitored because they are potentially controversial. Some subjects have more room for Journalists than others, so even though there are restrictions on subjects that should not be covered, they still can have the ability to give coverage to some of these issues in other ways, but journalists have to be careful not to push the boundaries of these subject areas too much.
“Within the People’s Republic of China (PRC), there is heavy government involvement in the media, with many of the largest media organizations (namely CCTV, the People’s Daily, and Xinhua) being agencies of the government of the PRC. There are certain taboos and red lines within the media in mainland China, such as questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China. Yet within those restrictions, there is a mixture and diversity of the media and fairly open discussion of social issues and policy options within the parameters set by the Party.”
“
The Committee to Protect Journalists {CPJ) reported that China "continues to be the world's leading jailer of journalists," with 42 imprisoned journalists at the end of 2004, and accuses private companies, both foreign and domestic, of having been complacent toward or complicit with government censorship. Also, in their Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, Reporters without Borders ranked China 163rd (or 7th from bottom) in terms of press freedom.”
Journalists will be censored for providing coverage or support for opposition parties, as well as posting articles on foreign websites.
Journalists can be given punishment for activities such as these, such as imprisonment. Journalists outside of the mainstream press are more at risk of this, due to not following the guidelines issued by the government, as well as not being approved by the government.
“In preparation of the 17th National Party Conference in 2007, new restrictions were placed on all sectors of the press, Internet-users, bloggers, website managers, foreign journalist, more than 30 of which have been arrested since the start of the year. In addition, a thousand discussion forums and websites have been shut down, and "a score of dissidents" have been imprisoned since July 2007.
Freedom of the press has increased in China in recent years away from government control; however there is resistance to this from both the party and institutions wishing to limit media autonomy. The media still remains restricted and under government restrictions. Journalists at the Chinese television network CCTV are instructed and warned away from reporting news stories that the party does not wish to receive coverage. Stories that Journalists are instructed and warned away from reporting can cover a wide variety of subject areas, not just sensitive ones.
Certain subjects are not allowed, such as speculation about China's national leaders. Other issues such as health, education and inflation, are closely monitored because they are potentially controversial. Some subjects have more room for Journalists than others, so even though there are restrictions on subjects that should not be covered, they still can have the ability to give coverage to some of these issues in other ways, but journalists have to be careful not to push the boundaries of these subject areas too much.
“Within the People’s Republic of China (PRC), there is heavy government involvement in the media, with many of the largest media organizations (namely CCTV, the People’s Daily, and Xinhua) being agencies of the government of the PRC. There are certain taboos and red lines within the media in mainland China, such as questioning the legitimacy of the Communist Party of China. Yet within those restrictions, there is a mixture and diversity of the media and fairly open discussion of social issues and policy options within the parameters set by the Party.”
“
The Committee to Protect Journalists {CPJ) reported that China "continues to be the world's leading jailer of journalists," with 42 imprisoned journalists at the end of 2004, and accuses private companies, both foreign and domestic, of having been complacent toward or complicit with government censorship. Also, in their Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, Reporters without Borders ranked China 163rd (or 7th from bottom) in terms of press freedom.”
Journalists will be censored for providing coverage or support for opposition parties, as well as posting articles on foreign websites.
Journalists can be given punishment for activities such as these, such as imprisonment. Journalists outside of the mainstream press are more at risk of this, due to not following the guidelines issued by the government, as well as not being approved by the government.
“In preparation of the 17th National Party Conference in 2007, new restrictions were placed on all sectors of the press, Internet-users, bloggers, website managers, foreign journalist, more than 30 of which have been arrested since the start of the year. In addition, a thousand discussion forums and websites have been shut down, and "a score of dissidents" have been imprisoned since July 2007.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Meanwhile in China... Indeed!
The cases of Hu Jia and Yang Maodong, unfortunately, are just a sample of what PRC has to present to the International scene months before the Olympic Games.
Evidently, therefore, the international press is daily reporting both on these (and similar) cases, as well as on the general developments of the several issues directly affecting the coming Games.
Get a broad idea of what is written on a daily basis, in terms of...:
Chinese Dissidents:
...So, is People's Republic of China so right, and the rest of the world so wrong...?
by Eleonora Voutyraki
The cases of Hu Jia and Yang Maodong, unfortunately, are just a sample of what PRC has to present to the International scene months before the Olympic Games.
Evidently, therefore, the international press is daily reporting both on these (and similar) cases, as well as on the general developments of the several issues directly affecting the coming Games.
Get a broad idea of what is written on a daily basis, in terms of...:
Chinese Dissidents:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1759815.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/may/30/china.johngittings
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/aug/13/china.johngittings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1189328.stm
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0123/p04s01-woap.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2008/feb/17/9
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/17/sudan.china...So, is People's Republic of China so right, and the rest of the world so wrong...?
by Eleonora Voutyraki
Meanwhile... in China
This blog is directly linked to our Facebook page.
For those of you reading us without the advantage of Facebook, I will link e-petitions created by other organisations. Sending an e-mail from above-mentioned pages takes you one second, so feel free to spam them.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=407and
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=411
Otherwise, news from the front :
Hu Jia is still detained, has been for 3 months.
Yang Maodong, a chinese cyber-dissident but also Human rights lawyer, has been on a hunger strike for the past 11 weeks now. Obviously, we are getting worried. (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25932)
We feel that these two cases remain important but also symbolic of the PRC's disrespect for human rights. In the light of the coming olympics, such situations remain unacceptable. At best.
By Nicolas Leistenschneider
For those of you reading us without the advantage of Facebook, I will link e-petitions created by other organisations. Sending an e-mail from above-mentioned pages takes you one second, so feel free to spam them.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
Otherwise, news from the front :
Hu Jia is still detained, has been for 3 months.
Yang Maodong, a chinese cyber-dissident but also Human rights lawyer, has been on a hunger strike for the past 11 weeks now. Obviously, we are getting worried. (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25932)
We feel that these two cases remain important but also symbolic of the PRC's disrespect for human rights. In the light of the coming olympics, such situations remain unacceptable. At best.
By Nicolas Leistenschneider
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