Author: R.E.A.L.
December 10, 2009 – Human Rights Day News Conference
Press Release
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
Jeffrey Imm, usa@realcourage.org
Human Rights Day News Conference
December 10, 2009, 12:30 p.m., National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW 13th Floor, Washington, DC
https://www.realcourage.org/news-conference/
Time: 12:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Event Type: News Conference
Sponsored by: Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
Event Location: Zenger Room
Details: Human rights activists discuss importance of religious, racial, ethnic, and gender equality and liberty on “Human Rights Day,” addressing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Please join us at the National Press Club for a thought-provoking briefing and panel discussion that will address threats to universal human rights from ideologies that seek to deny both human equality and liberty.
The speakers will focus special attention on human rights challenges to women and children. Emphasis will be on increased individual responsibility in defending universal human rights as a shared social priority.
Panelists will include:
* Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), on women’s and children’s rights, the dual challenge of religious extremism and freedom, the challenges to human liberty by totalitarian ideologies, and growing challenges to racial equality by supremacists
* Dr. Nazir Bhatti, Pakistan Christian Congress, on Pakistan’s blasphemy law, threats, attacks, and killings of Christian religious minorities in Pakistan
* Lisa Tao, Falun Dafa (Falun Gong), on human rights atrocities against the Falun Gong over the past 10 years in Communist China (in Chinese with English Interpreter).
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has support in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Europe for the mission of renewed focus on national and international policies designed for consistent support of our universal human rights. The press conference will be a part of other international public outreach events on December 10, Human Rights Day. Jeffrey Imm has spoken at the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) on the challenge of the ideology of extremism, which was reportedly attended by Fort Hood attack suspect Major Nidal Hasan.
Visit www.realcourage.org.
Contact:
Jeffrey Imm
usa@realcourage.org
December 10, 2009 – R.E.A.L. Europe Human Rights Day Event
On Thursday, December 10, Human Rights Day, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) and Other Human Rights Groups in Europe will hold public awareness events on human rights in Nuremberg, Germany (for more information, email europe@realcourage.org)
—- Nuremberg, Germany — 12:00 – 15:45 Hrs, Chilli’s, Pfannenschmiedsgasse 1.- D90402 – Nürnberg – 15:45 Hrs – Candle light march till Human rights street ( Straße der menschenrechte )
Speakers will include:
— Jeffrey Imm – via weblink – Responsible for Equality And Liberty – on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Why It is Essential to Us Today
— Mohammed Yahya, from Damanga, will be speaking on the Human Rights Crisis in Darfur
— Karmen Wynick will be speaking about women’s right violations in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas.
— Puneet Madaan will be addressing the oppression of religious minorities
— Thomas P. Gross, From CSI Germany will be speaking about copts in Egypt.
— There will be an address on Sharia finance and its impact on human rights issues.
— Steven Gerson will be addressing the plight of Jewish refugees
Speeches will be held between 12 and 15:30 hrs… from 15:30 to 1600 hrs, the supporters will hold a candle light march until human right street
The following provides an online link to the map
Louisiana: Feb. 22 trial date set for son of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) killing suspect
Louisiana: Feb. 22 trial date set for son of Klan killing suspect — Shane Foster in killing of Cynthia Lynch
— Advertiser reports: “Authorities have said Lynch was recruited by way of the Internet to join a Klan faction led by the elder Foster but that she was shot after saying she wanted to leave the site of a planned initiation.”
Civil rights-era murder draws renewed attention
Chicago: “Hate Group” Leader Louis Farrakhan: “America’s time is up”
Louis Farrakhan is reported speaking at Chicago’s Mosque Maryam which is the national headquarters for the SPLC-designated “hate group” Nation of Islam (NOI). “Hate group” leader Farrakhan told a standing room only audience in Chicago: “The government already knows that your time to be a slave in America is over!” and that “America has run out of time.”
Farrakhan stated that Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad “met with God… [to]… challenge the government of America, the White people of America and warn them of their inevitable destruction…” According to the Final Call report, “Farrakhan challenged the Black man and woman to stand up and reclaim their rightful place of rulership.”
Farrakhan concluded that “There is nothing in either (Bible or Holy Qur’an) that teaches integration of the righteous with the wicked.”
The report also stated that “Akbar Muhammad [and Farrakhan associate], a world traveler who has been to 139 countries during his work as international representative of the Nation of Islam, said it is important for the people to know the type of respect and honor Minister Farrakhan receives from prominent leaders within the Muslim world. Regarding the Minister’s message, Akbar Muhammad called it a ‘clear warning’ to those involved in ‘diabolical schemes’ to prevent our rise.”
In 2007, the Nation of Islam’s Akbar Muhammad (aka Larry 4X Prescott) appeared at a Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) meeting with Siraj Wahhaj, reportedly “to deliver a passionate speech defending convicted cop killer Jamil Alamin.” (Siraj Wahhaj has also been vice president of ISNA, has called for replacement of the U.S. government with an Islamic caliphate, and spoke at the July 4, 2009 ISNA convention in Washington DC.)
According to supporters of Jamil Alamin, MANA’s call for an alliance of “indigenous Muslims in America” “initiative began almost two years ago when Imam Jamil Al-Amin made a call for the formation of such an alliance.” In October 2009, when reported Violent Extemism plotter Luqman Ameen Abdullah was killed in a shootout in Michigan, the FBI criminal complaint regarding members of the Masjid Al-Haqq’s role as part of the “The Ummah” was as follows – “Their primary mission is to establish a separate, sovereign Islamic state (‘The Ummah’) within the borders of the United States, governed by Sharia law. The Ummah is to be ruled over by Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rapp Brown, who is currently serving a life sentence in the Florence, Colorado Supermax for shooting two police officers in Georgia.” MANA’s Ihsan Bagby disputed this FBI report and indicated that while members of “The Ummah” were “anti-government,” they did not promote violence.
The Final Call report on Farrakhan’s speeech in Chicago concludes with demonstrating the power of Farrakhan’s outreach, stating that “Nare Makhan, a Chicago resident who had just returned from Florida early Sunday morning said, ‘There was so much information that was so empowering.’ ‘It was overwhelming. It’s touching in a way. I’ve never owned a Qu’ran, but now I just bought me a Qu’ran and I am going to study it. I just bought everything to catch up as far as what I think is necessary for me to move forward now in life. It’s a serious hour.’ ”
Related Reports:
U.S.: Nation of Islam Hate Group Leader Louis Farrakhan speaks on the Taliban
Michigan: Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will have ‘message for everyone’
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Reports on Racial Supremacism
Turkey: Survey Shows Intolerance Against Non-Muslim Religious Freedom in Turkey
R.E.A.L. reports of multiple media reports on Dr. Ali Carkoglu‘s ISSP-sponsored survey studies of growing intolerance against non-Muslims public meetings or publications in Turkey
— Compass reports: ” More than Half in Turkey Oppose Non-Muslim Religious Meetings”
— “Survey finds nearly 40 percent of population has negative view of Christians.”
— “More than half of the population of Muslim-majority Turkey opposes members of other religions holding meetings or publishing materials to explain their faith, according to a recently issued survey.”
— “Fully 59 percent of those surveyed said non-Muslims either ‘should not’ or ‘absolutely should not’ be allowed to hold open meetings where they can discuss their ideas. Fifty-four percent said non-Muslims either “should not” or “absolutely should not” be allowed to publish literature that describes their faith.
— “The survey also found that almost 40 percent of the population of Turkey said they had ‘very negative’ or ‘negative’ views of Christians. In the random survey, 60 percent of those polled said there is one true religion; over 90 percent of the population of Turkey is Sunni Muslim.”
— “Ali Carkoglu, one of two professors at Sabanci University who conducted the study, said no non-Muslim religious gathering in Turkey is completely ‘risk free.’ ”
— “The report, issued last month, was part of a study commissioned by the International Social Survey Program, a 45-nation academic group that conducts polls and research about social and political issues. The survey quantified how religious the population is in each of its 43-member countries.”
— “Carkoglu, along with Professor Ersin Kalaycioglu, carried out the research in 2008. The completed study with the results of all 43 countries will be released in 2010. The study has been conducted previously three times at roughly 10-year intervals.”
— “This year marked the first time study data has been collected in Turkey. Turkey was the only Muslim-majority population in the study.
— “The survey includes significant nuance. While 42 percent of the population agreed with the statement that religious people should be tolerant, 49 percent of those surveyed said they would either ‘absolutely’ or ‘most likely’ not support a political party that accepted people from another religion. But 20 percent of those surveyed said they had ‘very positive’ or ‘positive’ views of Christians – 13 percent ‘very positive,’ and 7 percent ‘positive.'”
— “New Poll On Religion in Turkey”
—- “Updating his 1999 social survey of Turkey, Sabanci University political scientist Ali Carkoglu along with Ersin Kalaycioglu reported new research findings on religiosity in Turkey under the framework of the International Social Survey Program, or ISSP, which measures religious values from 43 different countries.”
— Hurriyet Daily News: ‘Religion loves tolerance, but is not tolerant’
— 2006 TESEV report — English version of the 2006 report by Carkoglu and Binnaz Toprak, “Religion, Society and Politics in Changing Turkey”
— Hurriyet Editorial: “Professor Carkoglu’s conclusion was a rather sad one. While they agree in principle with the notion of respect to other religions, these people in practice cannot have any tolerance for the ‘members of the other religions’ to express themselves or to publish books.”
— International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Web Site— ISSP Instanbul Policy Center (IPC) – Ali Carkoglu — background
— The Rising Tide of Conservatism in Turkey – by Ali Carkoglu and Ersin Kalaycioglu
— Amazon review
Burmese court to hear Aung San Suu Kyi appeal
Burmese court to hear Aung San Suu Kyi appeal
— Daily Telegraph: “Burma’s supreme court has agreed to hear the appeal of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi against the 18-month extension of her house arrest”
UK: Probe continues into Muslim grave vandalism
Twitter Campaign to Free Chinese Human Rights Advocate Liu Xiaobo
For Immediate Release: Laogai Research Foundation Launches Twitter Campaign to Free Liu Xiaobo
Washington, DC, December 4, 2009- The Laogai Research Foundation has launched a Twitter campaign to free noted scholar and human rights advocate to Liu Xiaobo. Liu was one of the primary authors of Charter 08,, a peaceful online manifesto calling for practical democratic reform in China with over 10,000 signatories. To mark the one-year anniversary of Liu’s detention and the release of Charter ’08, LRF has launched a ten day Twitter campaign calling on advocates around the world to follow @freeliuxiaobo and re-tweet quotes from Charter ’08, in both English and Mandarin. At the conclusion of the campaign, the number of followers and re-tweets will be sent in a letter to President Obama, President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Embassy, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo.
Building on momentum from October 1, 2009, when the U.S. House of Representatives (with the Senate concurring) passed House Congressional Resolution 151 stating, “That it is the sense of Congress that China’s Government immediately release Liu Xiaobo and begin making strides toward true representative democracy,” LRF hopes to spur global activism on behalf of Liu and Charter ’08. LRF Executive Director Harry Wu said the following of Liu, “Liu’s writings and criticisms of the CCP were pursued in a peaceful manner, and we cannot tolerate his detention.”
For more information on the campaign to free Liu Xiaobo, go to http://www.laogai.org/blog/free-liu-xiaobo and www.twitter.com/freeliuxiaobo.
For further inquiry please contact Laogai@laogai.org or (202) 408-8300. You can also follow the Laogai Research Foundation on Twitter @laogai.
The Laogai Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992. Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai–China’s extensive system of forced labor prison camps. For more information, please visit www.laogai.org, e-mail Laogai@laogai.org, or call +1-202-408-8300.
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The Laogai Research Foundation is launching a ten day Twitter campaign to advocate the release of Liu Xiaobo. A Chinese dissident who has long advocated for human rights and democracy inside China, Liu was one of the primary authors of Charter 08, an online manifesto promoting peaceful political reform in China that has accumulated 10,000 signatures since its initial launch on December 10, 2008. Liu was detained on December 8, 200, two days before the release of Charter 08, and held without charge until June of 2009, when he was charged with “Incitement to subversion of the state.” To this day Liu has not been granted a trial.
To mark the one year anniversary of Liu’s detention, we have initiated a ten day Twitter campaign. To join the campaign, click here and click retweet. We also encourage you to share this with your friends via Facebook, email, your personal blogs, even in person! At midnight on December 10, in honor of the one year anniversary of the release of Charter 08, we will count the number of retweets and followers we’ve had, and include that number in a letter advocating Liu Xiaobo’s release. The letter will be sent on December 11 to President Obama, President Hu Jintao of China, the Chinese Embassy, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China.
Please help Liu Xiaobo by joining our campaign and spreading the word!
劳改基金会发起”释放刘晓波”Twitter运动
2009年12月4日华盛顿— 劳改基金会发起了一项Twitter运动，旨在敦促中国政府释放著名学者、人权活动家刘晓波。刘是著名网络民主宣言《08宪章》的主要起草人之一，该宣言 的签署人数现已超过一万。为纪念刘晓波被中国政府拘捕和《08宪章》发表一周年，劳改基金会发起了一个为期10天的Twitter运动，以中、英双语呼吁 国际社会积极响应@freeliuxiaobo 并转载《08宪章》的部分引文。在运动结束后，支持者人数将记录在一封公开呼吁信中，递交美国总统奥巴马、中国国家主席胡锦涛、中国驻美大使馆和中国最高 人民检察院，敦促中方释放刘晓波。
2009年10月1日，美国国会众议院通过（参议院附议）的151号决议指出，”国会认为中国政府应立即释放刘晓波，并开始真正的代议制民主”。劳改基金 会希望藉此发起一场声援刘晓波和《08宪章》的全球运动。劳改基金会执行主任吴弘达说：”刘晓波的著作和对中共的批评都采取和平的方式，我们不能容忍中国 政府对他进行拘押。”
欲了解更多有关”释放刘晓波”的Twitter运动信息，请访问 http://www.laogai.org/blog/free-liu-xiaobo和www.twitter.com / freeliuxiaobo连接。
如有任何问题，请联系Laogai@laogai.org或（202）408-8300。您也可以在
Twitter @laogai上支持劳改基金会。
劳改基金会是一个非营利性组织，由中国前政治犯吴弘达于1992年创立。它的任务是收集劳改资料和提高公众对此问题的关注。欲了解更多信息，请访问www.laogai.org，电子邮件laogai@laogai.org，或致电+1-202-408-8300。
R.E.A.L. Postings on Liu Xiaobo
Chinese intellectuals speak up for dissident Liu Xiaobo
Communist China accuses pro-democracy activist Liu Xiabo of inciting a rebellion
Communist China: Dissident writer Liu Xiaobo held after sentence ends
Communist China: Arrested Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to receive prestigious award
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