>>The Game, and it is not over, has no rights, no wrongs, only just is.<<
The violence that continues against the Tibetan people is wrong, and it's not a game.
>>Tibet Autonomous Region
Gross human rights violations, particularly against Tibetan Buddhists and
nationalists, continued. Hundreds of prisoners of conscience, most of them
monks and nuns, remained imprisoned. Reports persisted of torture and
ill-treatment, harsh prison conditions, and deaths in custody. The "patriotic
education" campaign intensified with further closures of monasteries, and
ill-treatment and expulsions of monks and nuns deemed "unpatriotic".
Many Tibetan prisoners suffered health problems as a result of inadequate
food coupled with poor sanitation and long hours working in unacceptable
conditions. Many detainees were tortured and ill-treated. Kidney and liver
ailments were common as a result of kicking and beatings by prison
guards. Other forms of torture reported included the use of electric shock
batons, particularly on sensitive areas such as the mouth or genitals; being
forced into painful positions; and the use of ankle, hand and thumb cuffs.
* In July, 16-year-old Phuntsog Legmon, a Tibetan novice monk, was
sentenced to three years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of
political rights. The accusation — "plotting or acting to split the country or
undermine national unity" — related to an incident in March when he and
another young monk, who was also arrested, had shouted slogans such as
"Free Tibet" for several minutes in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on the
anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet.<<
Similarly Xinjiang:
>>Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
Gross violations of human rights continued in the XUAR amid growing
ethnic unrest fuelled by unemployment, discrimination and curbs on
fundamental freedoms. The targets of this pattern of arbitrary and summary
executions, torture, arbitrary detention and unfair political trials were mainly
Uighurs, the majority ethnic group among the predominantly Muslim local
population.
Over the years attempts by Uighurs to air their views and grievances and
peacefully exercise their most fundamental rights have met with repression.
AI has called on the government to establish a special commission to
investigate human rights violations and assess economic, social and
cultural needs in the region; to suggest remedial measures; and to provide
a forum for individuals and groups to voice their grievances.
Many Uighurs were arbitrarily detained for their suspected views,
associations or peaceful activities. Others were accused of involvement in
clandestine opposition activities, including armed opposition. Most were
held without charge for several months, in violation of Chinese law, during
which time their families received no news of them.
Political trials were a mere formality as the verdict was usually
pre-determined. Few defendants had access to lawyers. Some were taken
to "public sentencing rallies" — show trials attended by hundreds or
thousands of people.
Torture of political prisoners to extract information or coerce them to sign
confessions was frequent and systematic. Some particularly cruel methods
of torture not used elsewhere in China were reported in the XUAR, for
example, the insertion into the penis of horse hair or of a special wire with
small spikes which fold flat when it is inserted but extend when it is pulled
out.
Scores of Uighurs, many of them political prisoners, were sentenced to
death and executed. The XUAR continued to have the highest ratio of death
sentences relative to its population and was the only region where political
prisoners were known to have been executed in recent years. Others,
including women, were reported to have been extrajudicially executed.
.<<
web.amnesty.org
Maybe I'm naive, but I think the only reason we're acknowledging the situations in Tibet and Xinjiang is that this administration, like the previous administrations, has been under tremendous political pressure to use whatever influence possible to get China to cease human rights violations. A sizable minority of Americans believe that we should do no business whatsoever with China until these situations cease.
I happen to be one of them. I always look at the label before I buy anything - if it says "Made in China," I don't buy it. Period. Same with my husband, my children, my sister, her husband, and her children, and a lot of other people I know. I objected to China being given "Most Favored Nation" status. Wrote to my senator - Warner - and asked him to vote against it. He replied that he thought that doing business with China would cause them to become more liberal over time. I have a new senator now, George Allen, and he's not like that.
Just yesterday I was buying some paint brushes for my younger son and forgot to look at the label - he said, "wait - where are they from?" We looked. China. We put them back and picked out some that said "Dominican Republic." A little more expensive, a little better quality, and we felt much better.
The situation with the spy plane was red meat to the hardliners here. But many of the people who oppose MFN status with China aren't hardliners, they're liberals who are serious about human rights. The Dalai Lama is cool and popular with the young. Buddhism is cool. Vegetarianism is cool. So being nice to the Dalai Lama is a cool move for Bush, and at this point who cares if we piss off the Red Army? It's not like anything we do is going to please them - anything we're likely to do, I mean.
National Missile Defense? I really don't understand why that upsets anyone. Anyone who has the ability to build the technology is going to build it. We're just doing it first. I am sure the Chinese and Russians are working on it. True, it's expensive, but we can afford it. One of the many benefits of capitalism. ;^)
(P.S. I'm going the Diego Garcia comment slide. If that's the worst human rights abuse you can acuse the US of, that makes me feel pretty good.) |
