Activism and Events – Page 10 – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Philippines: Elderly Irish Priest Kidnapped ‘By Muslim Gunmen’ — Father Michael Sinnott — Missionary Group Calls for Your Action

Missionary Society of St. Columban report: “Fr. Michael Sinnott Kidnapped in the Philippines”

Missionary Society – Microsoft Word Report on Fr. Sinnott Kidnapping

Photo of Fr. Michael Sinnott from Missionary Society of St. Columban

Missionary Society of St. Columban Action Alert: Fr. Sinnott Kidnapping
— Missionary Society of St. Columban states:

“Dear Friends,
“As some of you may already know, Columban Fr. Mick Sinnott was kidnapped in the Philippines on Sunday. We ask for your prayers and your action. We have attached two letters, one to send to the Philippine Ambassador and one for Secretary of State Hilary Clinton requesting that peaceful measures be taken to negotiate for his release. We ask that you respond in all due haste, as Fr. Sinnott has a heart condition and is, as far as we know, without his medication.”
“We have received word that actions are being taken in the Philippines. Bishop Manny Cabajar has attended a crisis meeting of various provincial/ government/police personnel and was informed that an intensive search is underway. ”

sinnot_action_alert_letter_clinton

sinnot_action_alert_letter_gaa
“Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach”
“Missionary Society of St. Columban”
“1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 405”
“Silver Spring, MD 20910”
“301-565-4547”

Recommended Action Alert Faxes to Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Gaa

October 12, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Fax: 202-647-8947

Dear Secretary Clinton:

It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines. According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time. Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned. It is believed that the abductors took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.

I am writing as a person deeply concerned for Fr. Sinnott’s safety. Columban missionaries are deeply committed to the well-being of the people of the Philippines. Fr. Sinnott has lived for 40 years in the Philippines, and one of his most recent ministries has been in a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.

We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.

Yours sincerely,

October 12, 2009
Ambassador Willy C. Gaa
Fax: 202-467-9417

Dear Mr. Ambassador Gaa,

It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines. According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time. Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned. It is believed that the abductors then took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.

We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.

Yours sincerely,

October 13 News Media Reports:

Navy tries to seal off Irish priest’s kidnappers
— AFP: “Philippine navy gunboats were deployed and road blocks set up Tuesday to block the escape route of suspected Islamic militants who abducted an elderly Irish priest, authorities said.”
— Inquirer.net: “Military reports indicating the priest, who is two months short of his 80th birthday, was alive came amid concerns from his colleagues that Sinnott, who had a quadruple heart bypass several years ago, may not survive the ordeal.”
— London Times: “An Irish priest who was kidnapped in the southern Philippines earlier this week has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official said. ‘The victim and his kidnappers were sighted in Lanao del Sur,’ General Dolorfino told reporters, but he declined to give specific details so as not to jeopardise a rescue attempt.”
— London Telegraph: “Father Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish priest kidnapped in the southern Philippines, has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official has said”
— Chronology of Abu Sayyaf kidnappings
— Manila Bulletin: “MILF denies involvement in Irish priest’s abduction”

October 12 News Media Reports:

Daily Mail: Irish priest, 78, taken hostage ‘by Muslim gunmen’ in Philippines — Father Michael Sinnott
— Daily Mail reports: “Six gunmen dragged the Rev. Michael Sinnott into a van in front of his horrified aides at his compound in Pagadian City on Mindano island in the south of the country”

— Daily Telegraph report

— Search operations for abducted Irish priest underway in Mindanao

— London Times: “Irish missionary Michael Sinnott kidnapped from convent in Philippines”

DC: “Interethnic/Interfaith Leadership Conference” to Promote Understanding on Chinese Issues

The Fifth Interethnic / Interfaith Leadership Conference Set for Washington, D.C. October 8-10 — Initiatives for China is coordinating a three day conference where “leaders of ethnic and religious groups of China to convene for three-day conference to promote understanding, respect, and cooperation.”

Conference Sponsors

China Aid
International Campaign for Tibet
Initiatives for China
National Endowment for Democracy
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
World Uyghur Congress

DC: September 30 DC Human Rights Rally Protesting OIC

On the morning of September 30, the Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) human rights group held a pro-human rights rally protesting the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)’s attempts to continue to justify their rejection of Universal Human Rights to all people of every religion, race, and national origin deserve around the world.

This protest was held in Washington DC at 1200 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C. in front of the building where the United States Institute of Peace currently resides. The U.S.-government funded NGO “United States Institute for Peace” (USIP) hosted a public event featuring the Secretary-General, OIC, H.E. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The USIP’s event was describing as seeking to “promote peaceful coexistence between the U.S. and Islamic states” and to “advance mutual interests.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s Jeffrey Imm spoke, while another R.E.A.L. volunteer passed out a flier to the public on the OIC’s Cairo Declaration of Human Rights; this OIC Cairo Declaration demands that human rights be based on Islamic Sharia law.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)'s Jeffrey Imm Protests OIC Outside of U.S. Institute of Peace Meeting with OIC in Washington DC

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s Jeffrey Imm protested that humanity’s “mutual interests” begin with recognizing and supporting our universal human rights, not a qualified version of human rights based only on Sharia. Imm stated that the “path to peace” starts with such universal human rights for all people. In his protest, Imm objected to the USIP’s invitation to the OIC, based on the OIC’s creation of the “Cairo Declaration of Human Rights”, which he described as “a rejection of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognizes freedom of conscience, freedom to change religion, freedom of speech, and other freedoms for all women and men that we view as universal human rights — the OIC-created Cairo Declaration of Human Rights rejects such human rights and only permits those ‘rights’ as interpreted by Sharia law.”

Imm stated “The universal human rights of women, men, people of all religious, all races, and all ethnicity must never require a caveat or a qualification. The women oppressed in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Malaysia, and around the world must end. The Sharia rationalization for their oppression must end. The stonings, the abuse of women, the legalized rape, the so-called ‘honor killings’ all must end. But in every case, these oppressors of women rationalize such attacks on women based on Sharia, just as the OIC uses Sharia as a basis for denying universal human rights in its Cairo Declaration.”

Imm further stated: ” The extremist oppression of religious minorities rationalized by Sharia must end. We have seen such oppression of both non-Muslims and Muslims through religious extremism. We have seen a mob of 20,000 attack Christians, burn their homes, burn their church, and burn them alive, based of such extremist beliefs. We see Buddhists killed in Thailand, and Hindus killed and oppressed in Pakistan and throughout Asia. We have seen an endless series of mosques attacked by other Muslim sects in their intolerance against other Muslims – and daily we hear of other Muslims killed by such attacks. Such religious extremism is not just a regional or a political issue, it is a global crisis that must be addressed in considering the path to human peace.”

Imm lifted up a sign showing excerpts from the OIC’s Cairo Declaration and stated: “As you can see in the fliers we are handing out, and as you can see by this sign, the OIC’s Cairo Declaration rejects fundamental aspects of our universal human rights.”

Imm read out excerpts from the OIC’s Cairo Declaration:
— “[Article 19d] There shall be no crime or punishment except as provided for in the Shari’a.”
— “[Article 22a] Everyone shall have the right to express his opinion freely in such manner as would not be contrary to the principles of the Shari’a.”
— “[Article 22b] Everyone shall have the right to advocate what is right, and propagate what is good, and warn against what is wrong and evil according to the norms of Islamic Shari’a.”
— “[Article 22c] Information is a vital necessity to society. It may not be exploited or misused in such a way as may violate sanctities and the dignity of Prophets, undermine moral and ethical values or disintegrate, corrupt or harm society or weaken its faith.”
— “[Article 24] All the rights and freedoms stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’a.”
— “[Article 25] The Islamic Shari’a is the only source of reference for the explanation or clarification to any of the articles of this Declaration.”.”

Protest Sign Showing Excerpts from OIC's Cairo Declaration -- Stating Sharia as the Basis for Any Human Right

Imm stated: “Our universal human rights are not dependent on any religion, any nation, or any organization. This is why they are inalienable human rights – they can’t be taken away. And our inalienable human rights have no caveat, no qualifier, and no national boundaries as to their existence. This is why they are ‘universal’ human rights – they apply everywhere – to the women oppressed in Saudi Arabia, to the Afghanistan man threatened with apostasy by an Afghan court for changing his religion, to the Pakistan Christians being burned to death, to the women imprisoned in Iran for their religious beliefs, and to the Iraqis whose mosques and lives are regularly threatened by supremacists that oppose other sects of Islam. These are the truths that we hold self-evident – that all men and women are created equal – that all human beings have their universal human rights of equality and liberty – not with any caveats, not with any qualifications, and not dependent on any religion or religious view.”

Imm continued: “To Americans, such universal human rights are so fundamental to our identities and our lives that when they are denied, it is a national crisis, and we must demand such freedoms. This is why when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated on August 28, 1963, not far from here at the Lincoln Memorial that black civil rights were a part of the ‘promissory note’ that America’s founding fathers signed with future generations – there is no question that this too was a truth that was self-evident. And today, such unqualified, universal human rights should be a truth that should be self-evident to the United States Institute of Peace, funded by American taxpayer dollars.”

Imm held up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and stated “Such universal human rights were codified in a Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations and the nations of the world on December 10, 1948. This Universal Declaration of Human Rights has no qualifiers, it has no caveats, and it has no asterisks. There are no qualifiers for equality, there are no caveats for religious freedom and freedom of conscience, and there are asterisks that state such fundamental human freedoms are only dependent on what Sharia or any other religious law decides that we have a right to enjoy. No, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is for ‘all human beings’ and for ‘everyone’ everywhere.”

“Article 1 reads: ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.'”

“Article 2 reads: ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.'”

“But today on the second floor of this building, the United States Institute of Peace is meeting with the OIC to determine what our ‘mutual interests’ might be. Our ‘mutual interests’ begin with acknowledging the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all people around the world. The United States Institute of Peace is also meeting with the OIC to find the ‘path to peace.’ But the ‘path to peace’ must begin with our universal human rights! We will never begin to tread on the ‘path to peace’ as long as we do not challenge the OIC to end its denial of the universal human rights of our fellow human beings through its Sharia-based Cairo Declaration.”

Sign at September 30 Protest at USIP Meeting with OIC

Imm continued “In America, we have historical lessons with those who have sought to reject such universal human rights. When we faced the problem of institutionalized white supremacism in America, we did not decide that some states, some governments, and some individuals had the right to have a different code of human rights than the rest of us. We did not ‘keep the peace’ in America, we did not find ‘mutual interests’ in America, by sitting down with white supremacists and accepting a white supremacist code of human rights for certain parts of our nation. We challenged those who would deny such universal human rights then, and we must challenge those who would deny such universal human rights today.”

“Just as we could not accept ‘free states’ and ‘slave states’, so we must also not accept a ‘free world’ and a ‘slave world’ today. We have only one world, one Earth. We must reject the idea that any nation, any organization, has the right to deny the universal human rights of our fellow human beings. These too are truths that we must find self-evident.”

“We challenge the United States Institute of Peace to recognize these truths and to challenge the OIC to reject its Sharia-based Cairo Declaration that denies the most fundamental universal human rights for all people. Until the OIC acknowledges and accepts such basic human rights fundamental to any ‘path to peace,’ we must protest the OIC and defy its influence in the United States Government and around the world. We support universal human rights, the OIC does not!”

R.E.A.L. Protest Sign: "We Support Universal Human Rights, the OIC Does Not"

DC Government Security Reviews R.E.A.L.'s Public Assembly Notification the Washington DC Police — DC Government Security Reviews R.E.A.L.'s Public Assembly Notification to the Washington DC Police

September 30: Human Rights Protest at Washington DC PRC Embassy

On the afternoon of September 30 in Washington DC (October 1 in Beijing), the Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) human rights group, Falun Dafa (Falun Gong), World Rights’ Timothy Cooper, and other human rights activists met to protest the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the Washington DC PRC embassy. (See Web link to DC Embassy protest photographs.)

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)'s Jeffrey Imm Leads Protest at PRC Embassy in Washington DC

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm began the protest by offering the PRC embassy a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Chinese. As it did during R.E.A.L.’s address to the PRC embassy on June 4, the PRC embassy refused to accept the copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, telling him to “take it away.”

R.E.A.L.’s Imm first spoke at the protest challenging the PRC to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), reading it aloud and holding up signs with the UDHR in Chinese. He noted the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including its drafting by P. C. Chang of the Republic of China, and the adoption by the Republic of China on December 10, 1948. Imm stated “the words in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are not just the words of the West, these are the words of Chinese government leaders.”

Imm recognized the subsequent October 1, 1949 proclamation of the Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) as “a black day for Chinese freedom.” He read from Mao Zedong’s October 1, 1949 proclamation that “the people in the country have been liberated,” and Imm stated that “in fact, October 1, 1949 was the beginning of the Communist imprisonment of the Chinese people’s human rights, and we stand here at the PRC embassy today in solidarity with those who continue to seek freedom in China today.”

R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm recognizes October 1 as "A Black Day for Chinese Freedom"

Imm paused after reading key aspects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, pointing out how the PRC has refused to recognize democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, among other human rights violated by the PRC. Imm also challenged the PRC on the Laogai “forced labor camps” as equivalent to slavery also prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (an estimated 1,100 Laogai camps imprison 6.8 million Chinese).

Imm focused on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” stating that our conscience is a fundamental part of our human identity. Imm challenged the PRC to recognize that just as the PRC cannot keep the birds from flying in the sky, so also the PRC cannot shackle, chain, enslave, imprison, or kill the conscience of the Chinese people, or the conscience of humanity. Our conscience, Imm stated, was what differentiates us from other beings – and nothing any government or organization can do can silence the human conscience. Imm challenged Western governments and Western people to recognize that our “mutual interests begin with universal human rights,” and that no matter how much “easier it would be to ignore our conscience on Communist China, it is not a choice that humanity can afford.” Imm stated that “we must heed the call of our conscience regarding our 1 billion brothers and sisters in humanity whose human rights are denied under Communist China’s oppression. Our conscience must never be for sale, barter, or exchange. Our conscience is what allows us to have a human society of dignity, freedom, and human rights.”

Imm further noted Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reading that “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.” He stated that in the PRC, those seeking democratic reforms have continued to be oppressed, jailed, and killed for the past 20 years in the PRC. But Imm stated, this Article 21 was part of the same human rights declaration that Chinese government leaders agreed to and helped draft in December 1948. Such democratic freedoms, Imm argued, are “not a Western idea, but a fundamental part of the universal human rights shared by all people.” Moreover, Imm pointed to even the PRC’s former premier Zhao Ziyang’s support for democracy as shown by the recently published “secret journal” of Zhao Ziyang entitled “Prisoner of the State.”

Imm stated that many nations have made mistakes in their history on such human rights, including the United States. But for all of its mistakes, Imm continued, the United States has sought to recognize such universal human rights as truths that its people find inalienable, not disregard universal human rights as inconvenient international standards as the PRC government continues to do today.

Imm stated “Our protest today is to send a message to our brothers and sisters in humanity in China. You are not alone. We stand with you in your struggles for freedom. Have courage! We will continue to pressure our government and urge our people to make your human rights our first priority in dealing with China, not our last priority. We will continue to demand that the PRC recognize and support universal human rights for all Chinese people. We send our support and our prayers for you today, standing here in solidarity with your struggle for freedom. Free China Now!”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty also urged their fellow Americans to contact their government representatives to demand that such basic human rights are key aspects of our negotiations and relations with PRC in the future.

The protest was also be co-sponsored by the China Support Network, who advised World Rights’ Timothy Cooper of the event.

World Rights' Timothy Cooper at PRC Embassy Protest

Timothy Cooper stated “If there is one fundamental right we should enjoy, it is the right to self-determination, that is the will of people must be freely expressed in the government of the country. For the Chinese people, they have never known the right to self-determination. They have never known the right to free expression of their own political interests. As such, the growth of China as a democracy, as a palace of human rights, has been thwarted and the people suffer. ”

World Rights' Timothy Cooper Speaks at PRC Embassy Protest in Washington DC

Timothy Cooper continued: “Who are these people? The Falun Gong, the Christians, the Catholics, the Tibetans, the Uighurs, the Chinese Democrats, all of these people suffer because they are denied a fundamental human right. So we are here today to call on China, even in the midst of its rising economic power, to ascend to another level – to ascend to a place where the will of the people is fundamentally respected and regarded as the principal source of power and governance of the nation. These people must be free, free to express their own political will, create their own political destiny and fortune. So we stand in solidarity with them, we call for the end of human rights abuses in China, we call for the respect of rule of law in China, and we call on the Chinese government in particular, to step away from its past, and embrace a new future, a future that has about it the wholesale reflection of the wants and needs of the people of China – as embodied in their voices and by their consent. It is no easy thing to stand against a government as powerful and as all-pervasive as the Chinese government is. With our voices added to countless thousands of voices both inside China and outside China, we hope to see the day when democracy rules, self-determination rules inside China.”

Lisa Tao of the Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) also was a part of the protest at the Washington DC embassy. Lisa and other Falun Gong supporters held banners in the park gates across the street from the PRC embassy where the protesters were allowed to gather.

Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Protests at PRC Embassy in Washington DC

Falun Dafa Activists Arrange Protest Signs Across from PRC Embassy

Lisa spoke of the PRC abuses against the Chinese people, the oppression of the Falun Gong and others, and pointed to PRC’s despicable practice of organ trafficking of prisoners. Lisa stated that she and other protesters have been coming to the PRC embassy every day. She will not call the PRC as “China,” saying “China is my home… the PRC is not China.” Lisa and her fellow activists vigilantly post banners challenging the Communist PRC government and its denial of human freedoms and freedom of religion.

Falun Dafa's Lisa Tao and R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm Discuss the Oppression of the Chinese People by the PRC Government

During the protest, a long-pending rainstorm finally came. The Falun Dafa activists and R.E.A.L. protesters continued their protest in the rain, patiently and vigilantly. They sought to mark their solidarity on this day, September 30 in Washington DC, October 1 in Beijing, by standing together with the Chinese people fighting for freedom – no matter what challenges will come.

As R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm concluded in his message to the Chinese people, “Have Courage! Know that you are not alone! We stand with you in solidarity!”

Falun Dafa Protesters Continue in the Rain at the DC PRC Embassy

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Protest at DC PRC Embassy — Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Protests at DC PRC Embassy

Sign with Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in Chinese - Preamble and Articles 1-3

(NOTE: News reporter Vladimir Kara-Murza, Washington Bureau Chief for Overseas Media Production (Russian Television), interviewed R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm regarding today’s protest at the Washington DC PRC embassy. If a weblink to that interview becomes available, we will update this posting with that interview.)

For more information, contact:
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
Website: https://www.realcourage.org
Email: realpublic@earthlink.net

NYC: Many Attend Freedom Protest for Iran

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) also joined this protest

Press Release: Stand for Freedom in Iran

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Marcy Fishman 212-983-4800, ext. 142 Cell: 646-662-0335

GOVERNER DAVID PATERSON, NOBEL LAUREATE ELIE WIESEL, AND FORMER MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI RALLY TOGETHER WITH MORE THAN TEN THOUSAND NEW YORKERS TO STAND FOR FREEDOM IN IRAN

Photos by Michael Priest

Thursday, September 24, 2009, New York, NY — More than ten thousand participants gathered together outside the United Nations Plaza to demand freedom for all Iranians. Such prominent New Yorkers as Governor David Paterson, Elie Wiesel, and Rudy Giuliani showed their solidarity with a range of other elected officials, religious leaders, and representatives of many ethnic communities to send a united message of hope.

More than 40 organizations have come together to create the Stand for Freedom in Iran Coalition, which demands freedom of assembly, expression, and the press; the immediate cessation of human-rights abuses and the release of demonstrators from prisons and protection for minority communities; prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and many other victims; full compliance and cooperation by Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Security Council resolutions, including an end to Iran’s uranium enrichment; and an end to the incitement of genocide and the support of terrorism.

Speakers included New York State Governor David Paterson; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli; New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr.; New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel; Canadian Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler; Stuart Appelbaum, president, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union; J. David Cox, national secretary-treasurer, American Federation of Government Employees; The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, dean, Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine; Iranian student activist and former prisoner Hassan Zarezadeh Ardeshir and Iranian political activists Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, Shohreh Nazar, and Roya Teimouri; and former Sudanese refugee and human-rights activist Simon Deng.

“Ahmadinejad is the Number One Holocaust denier in the world,” said Nobel Laureate Elie and called on world leaders to shun him. “He’s unworthy of your attention; he’s unworthy of being your colleague. He’s in fact an enemy of humanity.”

“Thank you all for coming here, for this great cause today,” said New York State Governor David Paterson. “We will not stand for any more of President Ahmadinejad.

“I hope he lives to see the day when he and his kind are held in judgment by a free Iran,” said New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, about Ahmadinejad.

“The regime stands against everything we value,” said Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani about the toll of the repressive government under Ahmadinejad.

“We cannot remain silent when, in our city, there is a leader of a regime who arrests innocent civilians, imprisons students, brutalizes protesters, tortures dissidents, abuses women, executes children, sponsors terror groups, threatens to annihilate sovereign nations, and violates international resolutions while developing nuclear weaponry,” said Janice W. Shorenstein, president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. “The Stand for Freedom in Iran Coalition reflects the broad sentiment among Americans of many faiths, ethnicities, and walks of life that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not welcome in New York.”

“We support the right for all people from all nations to have the freedoms we have as Americans,” said John M. Shapiro, president of UJA-Federation of New York. “We publicly condemn the actions of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran as he appears before the United Nations. We cannot tolerate his abuse of his fellow Iranians nor the threat he poses.”

Additionally, there are national rallies being held in Washington, D.C.; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; St. Louis, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois; and throughout the world in Vienna, Paris, Germany, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Holland, and Norway.

Participating organizations include the Progressive American-Iranian Committee; Jewish Community Relations Council of New York; New York City Central Labor Council: AFL-CIO; UJA-Federation of New York; Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union; American Federation of Teachers; United Federation of Teachers; American Federation of Government Employees; NAACP-New York Conference; The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine; National Puerto Rican Coalition; Alliance of Iranian Women; Iran Human Rights Documentation Center; Foundation for Democracy in Iran; Korean American Public Affairs Committee; Turkish American Community in New York; Chinese Community Relations Council; National Inter-agency Task Force on Iran; and more than 40 other non-Jewish and Jewish organizations. For more information, visit www.standforfreedominiran.org.

September 24 – NYC – UN Protest for Iran Freedom

September 24 – NYC – UN Protest for Iran Freedom
— on Thursday, September 24, the group entitled “Stand for Freedom in Iran” will be holding a protest at 12 Noon U.S. Eastern Time in NYC at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street and 2nd Avenue
— See more details on flier (PDF) file

— Additional Reports on Iran and Democracy

NYC – Protests Challenging Communist China President Hu Jintao

In NYC, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), Falun Gong, and others have been protesting the arrival of China’s President Hu Jintao in New York City this week. We were able to meet with one of the Falun Gong protesters at one of the NYC protests on Tuesday September 22, who shared their story of oppression and denial of human rights at the hands of the Communist Chinese regime. We share and support the cause of the Falun Gong in seeking the universal human rights that the Falun Gong and all human beings deserve.

The SFT has protests scheduled at the NYC’s UN from 10 AM to 2 PM on Wednesday, September 23 (see below) and from 8 to 10 AM at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Some photos from the Tuesday NYC protest:

Tuesday September 22 Protest NYC - Calling for China's President Hu Jintao to Stop Persecution of Falun Gong

Tuesday September 22 Protest NYC - Calling for China's President Hu Jintao to Free Tibet

Web link to other Tuesday NYC protest photographs

CLICK HERE to read SFT’s press release on Hu Jintao and the UN Climate Summit.

CLICK HERE to view additional photos from the SFT.

As the China Support Network has reported and R.E.A.L. has previously posted:

This week, Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) is all about protesting the arrival of China’s President Hu Jintao in New York City. Their schedule of protests is as follows:

Monday, September 21st
PROTEST: Hu Jintao’s arrival in NYC
When: 5-8pm
Where: Waldorf Astoria Hotel where Hu Jintao will be staying (50th St & Park Ave)

Tuesday, September 22nd
FREE TIBET RALLY & POLITICAL THEATRE
When: 9am-4pm
Where: Dag Hammerskjold Plaza, United Nations (47th Street and 1st Ave)
Why: Hu Jintao to attend UN Climate Summit with President Obama and other world leaders
Note: At 5pm the protest will continue at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (50th St & Park Ave)

Wednesday, September 23rd
OPENING OF UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
When: 10am-2pm
Where: Protest at United Nations – Dag Hammerskold Plaza (47th Street and 1st Ave)
Why: Hu Jintao will be addressing the UN General Assembly
At 2pm we have been invited to join the Iranians/Burmese and other groups for a Human Rights Protest (same location)

On September 23rd from 8-10am there will also be a protest at the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel.

At it’s website, SFT also credits the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, Regional Tibetan Women’s Association, US Tibet Committee, and Tibetan Community of NY/NJ.

DC: Falun Gong and the Freedom of China — Challenging Communist China

Communist China: The Persecution of Falun Gong and How it Began

July 19: DC Rally for Freedom in China and Freedom for Falun Gong

— Related Events

September 30: DC China Embassy Protest

North Korea Freedom Coalition: Sept 24 Events Focus on Plight of Escapees from North Korea

North Korea Freedom Coalition Press Release: Sept 24 Events Focus on Plight of Escapees from North Korea

Activists Around the World Call on China to Stop Brutality Against Refugees
Sep. 24 Events Focus on Plight of Escapees from North Korea

Washington Human rights activists in at least fourteen cities around the world will mark September 24 as a day to fight for the lives of North Korean refugees. While Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now free after their North Korean imprisonment for covering this story, the human rights tragedy continues to unfold as untold thousands of North Korean refugees remain stranded or imprisoned across Asia.

The events will focus on China’s cruel policy of hunting down refugees and forcing them back to North Korea to face torture, imprisonment, and even public execution for fleeing their homeland. City and country coordinators for the International Protest to Save North Korean Refugees will deliver petitions to Chinese embassies that day calling on the Chinese government to honor their international treaty obligations and work with the international community to resolve the North Korean refugee crisis.

The North Korea Freedom Coalition (NKFC), which is spearheading the effort, selected September 24 for the events because that is the date in 1982 that China became a signatory to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, the very agreement it is violating with its repatriation of North Korean refugees.

“China’s escalating crackdown on the refugees, coupled with the uncertainty in North Korea because of Kim Jong-il’s declining health means this crisis will only worsen,” explained NKFC Chairman, Suzanne Scholte. “We are not only calling upon China to work with the international community, but are also calling on our government to do more to help resolve this crisis.”

The NKFC will also present three North Korean families who have resettled in the United States at a Sep. 24 press conference across the street from the Department of State in Washington, DC. While the refugees are deeply grateful to the United States for allowing them to resettle here, they want the U.S. government to know the difficulties they faced, as so many North Koreans are still in grave danger.

A letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be delivered to the State Department including a list of recommendations that the U.S. could do to help the refugees. Of primary importance is persuading China to change its policy of forcibly repatriating refugees to North Korea. But organizers point out the U.S.-North Korean Human Rights Act, which passed the Congress unanimously in 2004 and 2008, has yet to be effectively implemented. The Act calls for the facilitation of North Korean asylum seekers requesting U.S. resettlement, yet only 92 refugees have been resettled in the United States while South Korea has resettled 16,500. North Korean refugees report that once they escape to other countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, asking for resettlement in the U.S. rather than South Korea can lead to years of delay and even the loss of medical care and other privileges.

A list of cities and countries participating is listed below. For background information, visit www.nkfreedom.org.

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BELGIUM: contact Willy Fautre at Human Rights Without Frontiers at w.fautre@hrwf.net

CANADA: contact Kyung B. Lee and The Council for Human Rights in North Korea (Canada) at kbl928@yahoo.com

NETHERLANDS: contact Annet Meester of Open Doors-Nederlands at AnnetM@opendoors.nl
Motivating prayers for North Koreans with information posted on their website.

POLAND: contact Radek at radekmarketing@yahoo.co.uk

SOUTH KOREA:
Seoul: contact Suh Suk Koo saveuskorea@naver.com
Also note in Seoul: regular prayer campaign and vigils every Friday– details at www.unifykorea2009.com

Busan: contact Pastor Changho Lim limchangho@gmail.com Events in Busan include a protest at the Chinese consulate.

UNITED KINGDOM: contact Alice Jones at alicej@opendoorsuk.org

JAPAN: contact Kan Andoo kanandoj@yahoo.co.jp; In Japan, events will include the delivery of a petition to the PRC Embassy it Tokyo, as well as media interviews and visits to political leaders. He will be working to focus attention on the North Korean refugees and will also work with the Japanese groups focusing attention on the abductees being held in North Korea.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

Chicago: contact Linda Dye of the North Korea Freedom Coalition at linda.dye@earthlink.net; peaceful protest scheduled from 12 – 2 pm and delivery of a petition; 100 West Erie Street, Chicago, 60610

Houston: contact Captain & Pastor Stephen Na of the Salvation Army Church stephen_na@uss.salvationarmy.org

Los Angeles: Sam Kim and the Korean Church Coalition for North Korea Freedom at samkimesq@hotmail.com; Sam Kim and KCC are organizing a vigil from 11 AM until noon at the Chinese Consulate, 443 Shatto Pl, Los Angeles, California. In addition, they are hosting a special event on September 25th especially for educating young people about the North Korea human rights crisis.

New York City: Michelle Kim and PSALT will be delivering a petition to the PRC consulate as well as hosting a special prayer vigil that evening. michelle@psaltnk.org

San Francisco: Liz Oh at elizabeth.h.oh@gmail.com

Washington, DC: The North Korea Freedom Coalition and member groups: HANKR (Helping Angels for North Korean Refugees) and 318 Partners will host a press conference with North Korean refugees who have resettled in the USA at 10:00 am across the street from the State Department and deliver a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with action items for the USA to help the North Korean refugees; deliver a petition at noon to the PRC embassy; and host a screening of Crossing at a local restaurant. Contact: Henry Song henry@defenseforum.org at or Hyoju Kim at kimhyoju@gmail.com

China Support Network: “News conference scolds China and Hong Kong”

China Support Network: “News conference scolds China and Hong Kong”
— “Has the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ been forgotten, or abandoned?”

September 20, 2009 (CSN) – A coalition co-founded by the China Support Network held a New York City news conference on Friday (September 18, 2009) to highlight the case of political prisoner Zhou Yongjun, who is a prominent figure from China’s Tiananmen Square pro-democracy uprising of 20 years ago. Zhou was the first elected president of the Autonomous Students Federation of Beijing Universities, the force which occupied Tiananmen Square during the run up to the infamous massacre of June 4, 1989. In that occasion of mass murder on global television, the Chinese Communist Party used its army and live ammunition to clear Tiananmen Square, killing about 3,000 unarmed protestors on the way in.

Zhou was captured and jailed from 1989-1991. International pressure led to his release, after which he emigrated to the United States. In the U.S., he obtained legal permanent residency, and became the father of two children who are U.S. citizens. In 1998 he attempted a return to China, and was captured and sentenced to three years in a labor camp. He was released somewhat early in 2001 because the Chinese government was bidding for Beijing to win host city status for the 2008 Olympics. His early release was a token gesture to display human rights improvement for the benefit of the International Olympic Committee.

In 2002 he returned to the United States and settled in California. Almost one year ago, in September 2008, he again attempted to return to China, out of concern for the declining health of his aging parents and the effects in his hometown of the Sichuan earthquake, which ravaged that area early in 2008.

Using a false Malaysian passport that Zhou purchased from an immigration company, Zhou went to Macao and tried to enter Hong Kong. At that point, Hong Kong police questioned him about an allegedly fraudulent letter that was written to Hang Seng bank by a person named Wang Xingxiang, which happens to be the name on the false passport that Zhou presented.

Zhou has made it clear that he did not author the letter in question. The bank had declined to transfer money in reply to the letter, because it had discerned that the signature did not match its records. After questioning, Hong Kong police concluded that Zhou was not the man in whom they were interested.

Zhou was then notified that immigration still needed to verify his identity, and that he was not allowed to enter Hong Kong, nor return to Macao nor the US. HK immigration authorities held him at the border for 48 hours, from September 28-30, 2008. In the words of Zhou, “Later they said ‘sorry’ to me that they misidentified me and turned me back over to immigration.”

Hong Kong immigration authorities experienced some mercurial lark and turned Zhou over to authorities of Mainland China. This was arbitrary arrest, not supported by any provocation, nor legal basis, nor any shred of due process of law. With no proceedings, no official decision, no chance for review, hearing, representation, or appeal, Zhou found himself moved to “a small hotel in Shenzhen.” What Zhou experienced may accurately be called an extrajudicial kidnapping.

The story inside China proceeds as we have seen in the world news. On May 13, 2009, Western news wires reported the formal arrest of Zhou, based on an arrest warrant dated May 8, 2009 citing suspected fraud. His detention was kept secret by the Chinese government for more than seven months prior to mid-May, 2009. The China Support Network scooped the news wires by writing about this case a month earlier, in mid-April, 2009. On Sept. 4, 2009, Radio Free Asia reported that Zhou will soon go on trial for the trumped up charge of attempted financial fraud stemming from the Wang Xingxiang letter.

At this point, it is observable that absurd and ridiculous (arbitrary) actions have and continue to occur in Mainland China. However, we must not lose sight of the point that absurd and ridiculous (arbitrary) actions occurred on the part of Hong Kong immigration authorities in September, 2008. If the present story were a movie, it would be a double feature, with two examples of script writing that should be denounced for barely plausible story lines.

The coalition formed by CSN, called RAZY (Rescue Alliance for Zhou Yongjun), held a news conference in New York City on September 18, 2009. Two Chinese dissident attorneys spoke about the two sides of this “double feature” human rights abuse case.

Attorney Li Jinjin spoke about the fact that Mainland Chinese authorities have no jurisdiction over this case – even if we suppose (for the sake of argument) the allegations were true. (Any attempted fraud on a Hong Kong bank is in the jurisdiction of Hong Kong authorities to prosecute. Because Zhou had not yet set foot on Chinese soil, he cannot have committed any crime in Mainland China.)

Attorney Ye Ning spoke about the ominous and precedent-setting violations by Hong Kong authorities. Such treatment is a new experience for Chinese dissidents. The case report notes, “Normally a non-HK resident refused entry to Hong Kong would be sent back to his place of origin, i.e. the place from which he travelled to Hong Kong.”

In recent memory this has happened to other Chinese dissidents — Wuer Kaixi and Yang Jianli have attempted to enter Hong Kong, and they have been put onto planes that returned them to Taiwan.

Also at the press conference, John Kusumi for the China Support Network and Yuewei Zhang for the families of Zhou Yongjun denounced and decried the whole double feature atrocity.

Back up materials released at the newser included a case report and copies of China’s arrest warrant for Zhou, its indictment of Zhou, an interview with Zhou, an opinion from the attorneys at Beijing’s Mo Shaoping law firm, and an open letter to Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Also within the materials was a family impact statement from Yuewei Zhang, the fiance of Zhou Yongjun and mother of his daughter Fiona.

The actual news in the news conference may be the formation of the Alliance and the fact that it is submitting all of the above materials to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The Alliance happens to feel that it is a slam-dunk case and hence that we can anticipate a U.N. determination of arbitrary detention.

The other actual news from the news conference is the open letter to Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is supposed to exist with administrative and judicial independence from China’s central government, under the principle of ‘one country, two systems.’ Hong Kong has no legal basis to perform a secret rendition of a Chinese dissident to Mainland China.

Of course, the geopolitical climate in today’s world may have been tipped to favor secret renditions, due to the bad example and precedent set by the administration of a leading global superpower, which will remain nameless. (Perhaps the nation with the bad example should be called the Republic of Balagua. Thereby, the name is changed to protect the guilty superpower.) Bad example notwithstanding, the practice remains gangsterism without a legal leg to stand on – and, it is a challenge to the fundamental freedoms of the people of Hong Kong.

An ominous bad precedent has been set in Hong Kong’s handling of this case, and the open letter to Donald Tsang notes that it assists human rights abuse in China; forfeits Hong Kong’s administrative and judicial independence through “indecent and disgraceful” police cooperation with Mainland China; is a violation of all well recognized international protocols; and is a disgraceful betrayal. The signers call upon Hong Kong for self-restraint and remedy; calls for the international community to launch an investigation of this “serious development”; and calls upon Hong Kong people to stand up and speak out for the administrative and judicial independence of Hong Kong.

All presenters at this news conference became signatories to the open letter for Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang.

Related posts:
Prepared remarks for 9/18 news conference
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/prepared-remarks-for-918-news.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Case Report, by attorney Li Jinjin
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-case-report-by-attorney.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Arrest Warrant (English translation)
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-arrest-warrant-english.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Indictment (English translation)
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-indictment-english.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Jailhouse Interview (English translation)
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-jailhouse-interview.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Defense Attorney’s Memo (English translation)
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-defense-attorneys-memo.html

Zhou Yongjun’s Family Impact Statement
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/zhou-yongjuns-family-impact-statement.html

Hong Kong Chief Executive Scolded in Open Letter
http://chinasupport.blogspot.com/2009/09/hong-kong-chief-executive-scolded-in.html

September 18 – NYC – China Support Network to Host Press Conference Calling for Rescue of Tiananmen Square Student Leader Zhou Yongjun

China Support Network (CSN) Announces:

“CSN to host RAZY press conference”
— CSN web site
— CSN blog

China Support Network reports:

“In responding to the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the China Support Network and the Chinese dissident community are rightly outraged by the capture, mistreatment, arrest, and upcoming trial for Zhou Yongjun, who in 1989 was the first Tiananmen Square student leader elected to chair the Autonomous Students Federation of Beijing Universities. The Federation was the occupying force in Tiananmen Square.”

“The Chinese government plans to hold a trial for Zhou, who lives in the United States where he has two U.S. citizen children, and who attempted a return to China in September, 2008. As he attempted to cross from Macao into Hong Kong with someone else’s passport, Hong Kong immigration authorities decided that he should go to Mainland China in the custody of authorities. They transferred him to Mainland authorities who held him in Shenzhen before moving him to his home province of Sichuan and arresting him with trumped up charges.”

“There is absolutely no merit to the trumped up case against Zhou, and CSN has already described this case as Tiananmen Square persecution carried forward into the present day. On Friday, September 18, 2009, CSN will host a Manhattan press conference with Chinese legal experts to detail the case and to announce next steps which are being undertaken by RAZY. RAZY is an acronym for the ad-hoc Rescue Alliance for Zhou Yongjun.”

“The press conference will run from 12:00 to 2:00pm on Friday the 18th, at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, NY 10003. Presenters will include attorney Li Jinjin, who is also well known from the Tiananmen Square student leadership; attorney Ning Ye; John Kusumi for the China Support Network; and Yuewei Zhang for the family members of Zhou Yongjun.”

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September 2, 2009 – CSN: Zhou Yongjun’s case reviewed by John Kusumi

May 17, 2009 – Daily Telegraph: Tiananmen dissident arrested in China — Zhou Yongjun

May 13, 2009 – Asia News: Zhou Yongjun, who was in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989, is arrested

Additional Responsible for Equality And Liberty Reports on Totalitarianism

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Directions

WHERE IS THE NATIONAL ARTS CLUB?

The National Arts Club is located at 15 Gramercy Park South (20th Street) between Park and Irving Place, on the southwest corner of Gramercy Park.

Click here for a map.

Subway: Take the 6 train to 23rd Street and walk south on Park Ave. Make a left on 20th Street, and walk half a block. You will find us across from Gramercy Park