This weekend sees Amnesty International UK’s Secret Policeman’s Ball 2008, showing in London’s Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 4th October. Here’s a great clip featuring Russell Brand from last years show -
The show will be broadcast on Channel 4 on following night at 5th 9pm, and will feature some of the most cutting edge comedic and musical talents. The show will also highlight some of Amnesty International’s campaigning activities for human rights all over the world.
This specific edition of the Secret Policeman’s Ball will also mark the start of Amnesty International’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December.
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Amnesty International UK’s latest report claim that Chinese authorities have broken their promise to improve the country’s human rights, betraying the very core values the Olympics stand for. ‘The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises’ evaluates the performance of the Chinese authorities in four key areas related to the values of the Olympics –
persecution of human rights activists
detention without trial
censorship
the death penalty
Amnesty International Australia concludes that China still has a continuing deterioration in all the above human rights in the run-up to the Olympics, with authorities locking up and forcibly removing individuals they perceive may threaten their image of national harmony. Amnesty has also released their viral film ‘False Start’, which highlights the persecution of people who speak up for human rights in China.
Amnesty International believes journalists working on human rights issues in China are at risk of abuse during the Games, with activist Hu Jia currently serving a three-and-a-half year sentence for ‘inciting subversion’. Hu Jia is now suffering from Hepatitis B in prison as authorities have prevented his family from providing him with medicine.
The Chinese authorities have extended the use of punitive detention to ensure activists stay out of sight during the Games, with many being held in prisons across China. Others known activists are under house arrest and are being tightly monitored by police to ensure they will not disrupt the Olympics.
Amnesty International UK Campaigns Director, Tim Hancock, said -
‘The Chinese authorities have broken the promises they made when they were granted the Olympics seven years ago. They told the world that the Olympics would help bring human rights to China, but the government continues to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights ahead of the Games. The Olympic values have been betrayed by the Chinese government. They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow foreign and national journalists to report freely and make further progress towards the elimination of the death penalty - or risk permanently sullying the legacy of the Olympics.’
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Thousands of people attended Amnesty International UK’s demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in London to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Amnesty recreated the iconic ‘tank man’ image from Tiananmen Square, with survivor Shao Jiang standing in front of a real, full-sized tank outside Amnesty’s headquarters. Over 10,000 people across the UK signed a petition which was sent to the Chinese authorities on behalf of those whose children were killed by Chinese troops who opened fire on the peaceful protesters in Beijing on 4 June 1989.
The Tiananmen Square incident killed hundreds of people, with dozens of protesters still languishing in prisons after unfair trials. Many more activists have been arrested for questioning since the Chinese government’s actions in 1989.
Demonstrators laid thousands of red roses outside the Chinese embassy in a sign of solidarity for the mothers of those killed who are not allowed to mourn their child’s death publicly for fear of reprisals from the Chinese authorities. Along with the roses, a minute’s silence was held as demonstrators held aloft red roses in mourning for not just the fallen victims of Tiananmen Square, but also for those killed in the recent Sichuan earthquake.
Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:
“We appealed to the Chinese government to support the Tiananmen victims’ families’ simple demand - the freedom to publicly mourn the deaths of their children without harassment and a full investigation into the events of June 1989. The Chinese authorities still deny their people the right to peacefully protest 19 years on from the Tiananmen Square crackdown. It’s never been more important for people here in the UK to stand up for human rights in China.”
Tiananmen Square survivor Shao Jiang said:
“Back in 1989 in Beijing I helped organise the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. I was arrested and held in prison for 18 months, followed by years of harassment and further detention. But I was still one of the lucky ones. Many of the participants were killed. I am here to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown and to support the demands of the Tiananmen families”’
Amnesty International Australia are also getting involved with a campaign to make China’s broken promise to improve human rights become a reality for its people.
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