Nobel Peace Prize 2011

Yesterday in Oslo, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her compatriot and "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni "Arab Spring" activist Tawakul Karman. They were awarded the prize for 'their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work'



These are three truly remarkable women and there have been too few women Nobel Peace Prize winners (18 in total) when women have to bear the brunt of the consequences of war and violence which is very rarely created by them. Of these three special women I would single out Tawakul Karman a 32 year old journalist and mother of three who by her personal integrity and courage has defied stereotypes and united a revolution which is taking place despite the indifference and double standards of the world. As she herself has written;

“What is truly regrettable, though, is that the world has not shown the least interest in what the Saleh regime does with Yemen and its revolutionaries. Despite this huge number of martyrs, despite the transformation of the country into a huge prison where citizens struggle to get even a drink of water for their children, and despite the use of heavy weapons against civilians, Saleh's regime did not even receive a token verbal condemnation from the United Nations or other world governments – despite our calls to impose sanctions. Yet harsh sanctions were imposed on other regimes that committed lesser crimes.”


Tawakul Karman

Tawakul Karman became the international public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprising that is part of the Arab Spring uprisings. She has been called by Yemenis the "Iron Woman" and "Mother of the Revolution."She is a co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate to date.



She stopped wearing the traditional niqab in favour of more colourful hijabs that showed her face. She first appeared without the niqab at a conference in 2004. Karman replaced the niqab for the scarf in public on national television to make her point that the full covering is cultural and not dictated by Islam. She told the Yemen Times in 2010 that:

“Women should stop being or feeling that they are part of the problem and become part of the solution. We have been marginalized for a long time, and now is the time for women to stand up and become active without needing to ask for permission or acceptance. This is the only way we will give back to our society and allow for Yemen to reach the great potentials it has.”

She has alleged that many Yemeni girls suffer from malnutrition so that boys could be fed and also called attention to high illiteracy rates, which includes two-thirds of Yemeni women. She has advocated for laws that would prevent females younger than 17 from being married. In an Arab world which in many places squanders the talents of half its people she is a rare and very clear voice.



Contrast the hope around these 3 women with the craven intimidation by the self appointed Chinese dictatorship who still imprison last year’s laureate Liu Xiaobo, his wife (without charge) and harass his family and supporters. Ahead of this year’s ceremony for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, past laureates and human rights groups announced a committee in support of Liu, a writer who is serving an 11-year sentence after writing a manifesto for democratic change. The committee - which includes South African anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu - voiced fears that Beijing is silencing Liu's family and friends after first carrying out an "international wave of intimidation."


Liu Xiaobo

"The international community seems to have forgotten that a year after the award ceremony, Liu Xiaobo remains in prison in China and in harsh conditions," the committee said in its first statement issued Thursday. The committee calls on all those committed to freedom of thought and opinion to join the committee in its efforts to obtain the release of Liu Xiaobo," it said.


Liu Xiaobo's empty chair at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Liu, a former professor, co-authored Charter 08, a bold petition calling for political reform in one-party Communist-ruled China. He was convicted of subversion and sentenced to 11 years in prison on Christmas Day 2009. China responded furiously to the Nobel Peace Prize and cut off political dialogue with Norway, which administers the award. Relations remain tense a year later. In the past year, rights groups say that Chinese authorities only allowed Liu to leave prison briefly when his father died and have put his wife, Liu Xia, under house arrest without charges.

Liu Xiaobo is the only detained Nobel Peace Prize winner. Myanmar last year freed peace laureate and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she spent nearly two decades under house arrest. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued separate appeals Thursday for China to free Liu, with both advocacy groups fearing that Beijing is becoming more intransigent over human rights.


A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Cangan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square on 5th July 1989.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiananmen-square-nothing-happened-here.html

Congratulations and respect to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman. Congratulations and respect to Liu Xiaobo still fighting against the “Great Dictatorship” which continues to imprison him for peacefully expressing an opinion. What is right will win out.

“I do not feel guilty for following my constitutional right to freedom of expression, for fulfilling my social responsibility as a Chinese citizen. Even if accused of it, I would have no complaints.”

—Liu Xiaobo at his “trial” by the Great Dictatorship, 23 December 2009

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/10/demand-that-china-free-liu-xiaobo.html

Free Liu Xiaobo now

Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia

The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one of the Five Nobel Prizes awarded by Norway and the committee has a history of making controversial decisions which have been vindicated by history. The prizes have been awarded to (amongst others) the Burmese Leader Aung San Suu Kyi (as far back as 1991), the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), and the Irishman Sean McBride who has the distinction of being the only recipient of both the Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizes.


If the Chinese government had it their way, Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo would never receive his rightful recognition

Earlier this month, three women were named recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting women's rights and women's participation in peace-building. Yet, the winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, Chinese human rights defender Liu Xiaobo, still languishes behind prison bars for seeking to promote peaceful political and social reforms in China.

In the days surrounding International Human Rights Day (December 10), you can shine a light for Liu Xiaobo and for others whose rights have been denied.



Amnesty International is asking you to take one simple action: Write a letter.

This can be a letter of passion and outrage to a government guilty of repressing free expression and denying other human rights. Or it can be a letter of solidarity and hope sent directly to someone who needs reassurance that they are not alone.

Liu Xiaobo is just one case featured in this year's annual Write for Rights - Global Write-a-thon - Amnesty's largest global human rights event. Sign up now and let your letters be counted! Since Amnesty's founding 50 years ago, people throughout the world have joined together in classrooms, coffee houses and community centres to take action. They were united by a simple, yet powerful, tool for change - the letter.



Need proof that written words are powerful? Look no further than Liu Xiaobo - whose words of hope and freedom is seen as such a threat by authorities in China that they have imprisoned him because of them.

Now he and others need you to carry their torch by picking up a pen. You don't need to be a Nobel Prize winner to Write for Rights! Stand with human rights supporters around the world by joining the Global Write-a-thon.

Connect to Amnesty and the Global Write-a-thon here;

http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/?c=W0010EAIAR5&msource=W0010EAIAR5&tr=y&auid=9715468

Controversial human rights issues in China include policies such as capital punishment, the one-child policy, the social status of Tibetans, and lack of protections regarding freedom of press and religion. One of the foremost areas of concern is a lack of legal rights, for want of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. Another prominent area of concern is lack of labour rights, which is related to the hukou system, the absence of independent unions, and discrimination against rural workers and ethnic minorities. Yet another area of concern is the lack of religious freedom, highlighted by state clashes with Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, and Falun Gong groups.

Amnesty International has long called for Liu’s release. We need now more than ever to send a loud and clear plea for Liu’s release. The incarceration of the Nobel Peace Prize winner by the self appointed clique of the Chinese Communist Party is an affront and an outrage.

Free Liu Xiaobo now

Demand that China free Liu Xiaobo

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/10/demand-that-china-free-liu-xiaobo.html

Tianemen Square; Nothing happened here?

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiananmen-square-nothing-happened-here.html

Norway the brave

‎"He took some of the most beautiful roses we had, but he cannot stop the spring from coming." - Eskil Pederson, leader of the Norwegian Labour Youth Wing.

Our sympathies are with our Norse ancestors today, my home town of Dublin being an older Norse city than Oslo. Norway was hit by twin attacks - a massive bomb blast in the capital and a shooting attack on young people at a governing Labour Party youth camp. At least seven people were killed in the bombing, which inflicted huge damage on government buildings in Oslo. At least 10 more died at the camp, on Utoeya Island outside Oslo, police say. One witness said he had seen 20 bodies.

The suspected gunman was arrested at the camp and the government have confirmed that he is Norwegian. Police have said that he is also linked with the bomb attack. Reports described him as tall and blond. The prime minister and justice minister have declined to speculate on a motive behind the attack but police are saying that they believe the car bomb and the shooting are linked and that they have a suspect in custody from Utoeya.



During the day, after an initial focus on an al-Qaeda link, the possibility of domestic extremism increasingly came into focus. The choice of targets - government buildings and a political youth rally - suggested a possible political agenda rather than the mass casualty approach typically employed by al-Qaeda. Constructing a large car bomb requires a degree of sophistication and the crucial factor for the police will be establishing how many people are behind this attack, whether any are still at large and to whom they might be connected.



Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, whose Oslo offices were among those damaged by the bomb, described the attacks as "bloody and cowardly" in a news conference. He said that Norway had been "shaken by evil" but that Norwegian democracy and ideals would not be destroyed.

"We are a small nation and a proud nation. No-one will bomb us to silence no-one will shoot us to silence," he said.

Norway and its people have always punched above their weight on humanitarian issues, an impulse which stems from the profoundly co-operative nature of Norwegian society and the sense of mutual solidarity. It is particularly sad that this outrage happened in the home of the Nobel Peace Prize.



The Nobel Committee last Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo last December focused on an empty chair. Laureate Liu Xiaobo was still locked up in a Chinese jail, while his wife remained under house arrest.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/10/demand-that-china-free-liu-xiaobo.html

According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who;

“ ...shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. ”

Alfred Nobel's will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament.


Blücher, Drøbak 9 April 1940

We are especially thinking of our special friends in the lovely town of Drøbak along Oslo Fjord, which played a significant part in Norway’s fight against tyranny in WW11, as many of them work in Oslo. A notable event in Drøbak's history is the World War II sinking of the German cruiser Blücher in the Drøbak narrows, on the early morning of 9 April 1940. The cruiser was transporting German soldiers and bureaucrats for the planned swift occupation of Oslo, but the sinking by the Oscarsborg fortress delayed this, and thus allowed for the evacuation of the Norwegian Royal Family, parliament, and cabinet, and for the nation's gold reserves to be denied the occupiers. The Battle of Drøbak Sound was the start of the war in Western Europe - and an end of the "Phoney War".

Our thoughts are with the good people of Norway whose open, democratic and profoundly humane society will survive this outrage and come back stronger.

Aldri så galt er godt for nook.

Demand that China free Liu Xiaobo

The Nobel Peace Prize is the only one of the Five Nobel Prizes awarded by Norway and the committee has a history of making controversial decisions which have been vindicated by history. The prizes have been awarded to (amongst others) the Burmese Leader Aung San Suu Kyi (as far back as 1991), the 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), and the Irishman Sean McBride who has the distinction of being the only recipient of both the Nobel and Lenin Peace Prizes. Judging by the howling from the Chinese Dictatorship the committee have got it right again with the award of the 2010 prize to Chinese dissident and author of Declaration 08, Liu Xiaobo.

Naoto Kan, the Japanese prime minister, joined the US, Germany and several other European nations in criticising the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo and calling for greater freedom in China. China accuses pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo of inciting a rebellion. Mr Kan called on China to respect universal human rights, adding that it would be “desirable” to release the 54-year-old former literature professor who was jailed for 11 years last December on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”.

China expressed outrage last week over the Nobel committee’s decision to award its prestigious Peace Prize to incarcerated Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. But the real outrage is China’s treatment of those who dare to speak truth to power. We should be thrilled for Liu and the spotlight the award places on his unrelenting fight for fundamental freedoms and human rights in China. But Liu won’t be able to celebrate his win with the rest of the world from the confines of his prison cell.



Adding insult to injury, Chinese authorities have placed Liu’s wife Liu Xia under house arrest, likely preventing her from receiving the award in Norway on Liu’s behalf. They’ve also cracked down on activists celebrating Liu’s achievement. Liu Xiaobo needs your help.

Liu, a 54-year old author and scholar, is a prominent government critic who has repeatedly called for human rights protections, political accountability and democratisation in China. In 2009 Liu was charged with "inciting subversion of state power" and given an 11-year prison sentence after an unfair trial for co-authoring a proposal for political and legal reform in China.

Amnesty International has long called for Liu’s release. We need now more than ever to send a loud and clear plea for Liu’s release.


The tanks of Tiananmen Square

Urge Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo immediately.

This award can only make a real difference if it prompts more international pressure on China to release Liu, along with the numerous other prisoners of conscience languishing in Chinese jails for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Now is the time to act.

Numerous human rights organizations maintain a litany of grievances against the Chinese government. Controversial human rights issues in China include policies such as capital punishment, the one-child policy, the social status of Tibetans, and lack of protections regarding freedom of press and religion. One of the foremost areas of concern is a lack of legal rights, for want of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. Another prominent area of concern is lack of labour rights, which is related to the hukou system, the absence of independent unions, and discrimination against rural workers and ethnic minorities. Yet another area of concern is the lack of religious freedom, highlighted by state clashes with Christian, Tibetan Buddhist, and Falun Gong groups.

See also;

Tiananmen Square – Nothing Happened Here

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/tiananmen-square-nothing-happened-here.html