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