United Nations: Genocidal Sudan Nominated to Head U.N. Anti-Racism Panel
Month: October 2009
Communist China: “After 60 years in power, Communist regime still fears protesters”
DC: “After Crushed Legs and Dreams, Fang Zheng Stands for Freedom”
After Crushed Legs and Dreams, Fang Zheng Stands for Freedom
October 5, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC–To celebrate his heroic dedication and perseverance, former Tiananmen Square student leaders will be joining re-enabled Chinese athlete Fang Zheng in a celebration of his receiving new legs, and to witness this human rights hero’s stand for freedom. The event will be held in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Room HVC-215, at 4:00 PM, Wednesday, October 7, and will be attended by US Members of Congress as well as other distinguished guests concerned with human rights and freedom in China.
A star collegiate sprinter, who qualified to compete in the Olympic Games for China, Fang Zheng’s dreams were cut short, when he pushed a fellow Tiananmen student out of the way of an oncoming tank, only to have his legs crushed beneath its treads on that fateful June 4th day in 1989. Undeterred by the loss of his legs, Fang Zheng refused to stop competing, and the former sprinter shifted his focus to other track events. The Chinese government feared Fang Zheng’s status as a national athletic figure would raise awareness of his injuries at the hand of the People’s Liberation Army. The pressured him to publicly state he had suffered the loss of his legs in an accident; when Fang Zheng refused, they denied him his degree from the Beijing College of Physical Science, and forcefully warned him not to speak with foreign media.
In 1992, he medalled in both discus and javelin events, breaking Asian records in the All-China Disabled Athletic Games. When he qualified for the Far East and South Pacific Disabled Games, he was again pressured into silence. Fang Zheng agreed to keep the story of his legs quiet in order to compete, but was still banned from the competition. Barred from all future competitions, Fang Zheng looked for alternative work, even working on the streets in Hainan, as he was repeatedly harassed by the China National Security Bureau. He began telling his story to the media, exposing the truth of Tiananmen and his treatment. Security forces frequently cut his communication and power sources, hoping to deter him from speaking out. He was detained for 10 days at a train station in 1999, while traveling to Beijing to look for work, and was denied job opportunities for his lack of credentials and degree.
Miraculously, in 2008, Fang Zheng was granted a visa to the United States. Upon arriving in early 2009, he met with ChinaAid employees, human rights activists Zhou Fengsuo, Chai Ling, and Michael Horowitz, and US Congressmen Pitts and Wolf, as well as many others who were compelled by his story. The Ossur Corporation offered to donate new legs to him, and in the care of Dr. Terrence Sheehan and other specialists at the Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital in Maryland, the sprinter has once again been able to stand on his own two feet.
Click here to see Radio Free Asia’s coverage of Fang Zheng walking with new legs, 10/2/2009.
Fang Zheng’s powerful story has inspired many in China who have been repressed and denied their fundamental freedoms of speech and belief. He has used his story to expose the truth of human rights adversity in China, and is a living testimony that change can happen. Fang Zheng firmly believes that the time is coming when all in China will experience true freedom.
Join Fang Zheng and his friends and family in celebration, as he stands for freedom, and leads his wife in their first dance. Fang Zheng’s New Steps for Freedom will be held at 4:00 PM in the US Capitol Visitor’s Center, Room HVC-215. To attend, Please RSVP to Step4Freedom@gmail.com.
Click here to view and print out the formal event invitation.
The event is being co-sponsored by the following organizations:
Humanitarian China
Initiatives for China
ChinaAid
Jenzabar Foundation
China Rights Network
Chinese Alliance for Democracy
Federation for a Democratic China
Photos have been provided for ChinaAid’s use by members of Fushan Christian Church. ChinaAid grants permission to reproduce photos and/or information for non-fundraising purposes, with the provision that www.ChinaAid.org is credited. Please contact: Annee@ChinaAid.org with questions or requests for further information.
ChinaAid
Media Coordinator: Annee Kahler (267) 210-8278 or Annee@ChinaAid.org
Directory of Advocacy (Washington, DC): Jenny McCloy (202) 213-0506 or Jenny@ChinaAid.org
Websites: www.ChinaAid.org and www.MonitorChina.org
Fax: (432) 686-8355
— see also May 31, 2009 – Washington DC: Many Attend Candlelight Memorial Remembering Tiananmen Square Martyrs
Pakistan: “Islamists Attack Pakistani Christian Family For Refusing to Convert”
— ICC reports: “Islamists Attack Pakistani Christian Family For Refusing to Convert”
— “International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on September 28, Islamists attacked the home of a Christian family for refusing to convert to Islam in Murree, a town near the Pakistan capital of Islamabad.”
— “Rafiq Mashi Bhatti and his family had lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim neighbors for years. However, in the past few months, they received anonymous phone calls and letters warning them to convert to Islam, leave their home or die.”
— “In one of the letters, the Christian family was told, ‘You Christians are agents of US led forces… Therefore it is our religious duty to wipe out all Christians from Islamic Holy land of Pakistan.'”
— “The family reported the death threats to the police but the police were unable to prevent the attack. The police are investigating the attack but the unknown assailants remain at large.”
Mississippi: “Election signs defaced” – racial epitaphs and “KKK” slogans written
Mississippi: “Election signs defaced”
— The Natchez Democrat reports:
— “NATCHEZ — Adams County sheriff candidate Ray Brown got a call he wasn’t expecting Sunday morning”
— “The sign, bearing Brown’s picture, had been painted with a target over Brown’s forehead and the racial epitaphs ‘n—-r’ and ‘KKK’ painted below that.”
— AP report:
— Adams Co. candidate says sign defaced with racial slur and letters ‘KKK’
New York: Cortlandt cross-burner back in jail — checking suspected ties to white supremacists
New York: Cortlandt cross-burner back in jail
— The Journal News reports: “A convicted cross-burner from Cortlandt was sent back to jail Tuesday for violating his probation, and authorities are checking suspected ties to white supremacists and other hate groups.”
— “Westchester prosecutors said 21-year-old Christopher Hudak, who burned a cross at the home of a Cortlandt family in 2007, posted such ‘vile and dangerous’ messages on the Internet that he was considered a security threat when President Barack Obama visited New York City last month.”
— Cortlandt cross burner back in jail; linked by authorities to hate groups
UK: Man in court over ‘honor’ killing of Banaz Mahmod
(UK) Man in court over ‘honour’ killing
— UK Press Association reports: “A man has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with the ‘honour’ killing of Banaz Mahmod.”
— “Mohammed Saleh Ali, 27, of no fixed address, appeared by videolink and was remanded in custody to face trial in March.”
— “Ali was extradited to Britain from Iraq in June and charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and perverting justice. Ms Mahmod, 20, of Mitcham, south London, was strangled and her body buried in a suitcase on the orders of members of her family. Her father and uncle were jailed for life in 2007.”
Pakistan Federal Shariat Court acquits rape convict
Pakistan Federal Shariat Court acquits rape convict
— Pakistan Daily Times reports:
— “The Federal Shariat Court on Tuesday acquitted a convict, Zahid Hussain, who had been awarded five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000 in a rape case.”
— “The convict had filed a jail appeal, challenging his conviction and sentence. According to the prosecution, Hussain had sexually assaulted a girl in Larkana. The trial court had found him guilty and convicted him under Section 10 Offence of Zina (EOH) 1979. He was handed down awarded five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000. Justice Salahuddin Mirza after hearing arguments by the appellant’s counsel, Haji Abdul Mujeeb, acquitted him”
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: “Bodies of couple found in well in Gadap Town”
Pakistan “Honor Killing”: “Bodies of couple found in well in Gadap Town”
— Pakistan Daily Times reports: “Police believe the eloped couple were killed by their families over honour”
— “The bodies of a young man and a pregnant woman were found in a 200-feet deep well in Gadap Town.”
— “Police officials believe that their families might have killed them on the pretext of honour.
— “After the residents of the area informed the police about a foul stink emitting from a well located in Yasrab Colony near Sehra-e-Madina, Superhighway, in the jurisdiction of Gadap City police station, Edhi volunteers were called in who recovered the bodies from the well and shifted them to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. The woman was identified as Hazrat Bibi, 29, daughter of Painda Khan, and the man as Shahenshah, 25, son of Safoon Khan, both of Afghan descent.”
— “The police said the woman was married to a man named Zahir Shah, a resident of Yasrab Colony, and had two children with her husband. At the time of her death, she was four months pregnant.”
Palestinian Report on “Honor Killing” Strangulation of Child in West Bank
Palestinian Report on “Honor Killing” Strangulation of Child in West Bank
— Maan News Report: “According to the report, it was recorded last month, deaths and one against the background of the so-called family honor, took place in the West Bank and were as follows:”
— “On citizenship, the child died 30.9.2009 (E.. G. A. P) and aged 16, from Beit Oula village governorate of Hebron, was killed by strangulation by handkerchief, has been converted into the body by the public prosecutor and the police to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for autopsies to determine cause of death, according to information the Commission has recognized the mother to kill her for her daughter against the backdrop of the so-called family honor.”