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