Free Republic

Carter Accuses S.Korea, U.S. of Withholding Food from N.Korea Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Thursday urged the West not to interfere over human rights in North Korea and immediately resume food aid to the renegade nation. Carter was in Seoul as part of a group of ex- leaders calling themselves the "Elders" that included former Irish President Mary Robinson and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari who were winding up a three-day visit to North Korea. The group failed to meet either leader Kim Jong-il or his son and heir Jong-un. "Although we did not meet with the leader of...

The New Black Panther Party, the racist and radical black power group, has a big day ahead of it this coming Saturday. According to its website, it’s planning a massive 60-city “showdown.” And the day of rage will include a protest of “non-black” businesses. The group says it’s establishing a home base at an office building in Harlem, an area it’s modeling after revolutionary ground zero in Egypt. The site goes on to explain why its rallying: As in other revolutions, protests and uprisings going on around the earth, a showdown is looming for Saturday April 23rd as marchers with...

China Angered By Selection of Dissident Liu Xiaobo for Nobel Peace Prize China Calls Choice of Jailed Dissident a 'Blasphemy' on the Prize By CHITO ROMANA BEIJING Oct. 8, 2010— Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today, angering China which condemned the selection as a "blasphemy" and described Liu as a "criminal." In choosing Liu, the Nobel committee cited his efforts to use non-violence to demand fundamental human rights in his homeland. Liu, 54, was sentenced to 11 years in prison last December for his role in creating a manifesto entitled Charter 08, calling for...

Senate bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money. “If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the...

04/27/2010 15:26 CHINA With a growing economy, China becomes increasingly repressive In 2009, more and more people have been arrested, sent to “re-education” camps or “black jails” or subjected to internet censorship. As Chinese leaders feel more secure about the country’s growing economy and its international status, popular dissatisfaction grows, leading to clashes with police. Instead, human rights should be respected in order to build Hu Jintao’s “harmonious society”. Beijing (AsiaNews/CHRD) – China has become more repressive towards human rights activists, non-governmental organisations, online journalists and lawyers. Its economic success and rising superpower status are the main reasons. Yet growing...

Just when New Zealand seemed like the place to move, with the centre-right government, "considering cutting income tax rates," and all, and the European Union comes out with a proposal that makes it hard to chose where expatriates should go when fleeing the US. Americans used to think that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness encompassed the basis for human rights and now the European Union confuses the issue by declaring, "traveling a human right."  That's right, we can now add traveling to the list directly behind the right to universal health care. The EU is so dedicated...

The European Union has declared travelling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers' dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips. Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, proposed a strategy that could cost European taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros a year.

Missing lawyer says he is living in northern China By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer BEIJING – A dissident Chinese lawyer who was missing for more than a year said Sunday he is now living in northern China and wants only to spend time with his family away from media attention. Gao Zhisheng went missing from his hometown in Shaanxi province on Feb. 4, 2009, drawing international attention for the unusual length of his disappearance and for earlier reports of torture he said he faced from security forces. Contacted on his cell phone, Gao said he is living in Wutai...

2010/01/11 12:04 KST U.S. envoy calls N. Korean human rights conditions 'appalling' SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- U.S. embassies abroad have been instructed to provide easy access to all North Korean defectors seeking asylum in the United States or elsewhere, the special U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights said Monday. Robert King, who succeeded the United States' first-ever representative on North Korean human rights six weeks ago, said the situation in North Korea was "appalling," calling the communist North one of the worst violators of human rights. "It is one of the worst places in terms of lack of...

The Desperate Move Is Necessary? By Chris Green [2010-01-01 18:56 ] Before Robert Park entered North Korea this Christmas Day he was in Seoul, working as an energetic activist in the North Korean human rights field. Just a few days before he left for China en route for the North, Robert gave an interview to Reuters on the proviso that it not be released until after he crossed the Tumen River. Now Robert is inside North Korea, and Reuters released the full text of the interview on December 30th. In the interview Robert speaks in damning terms of those he...

Calif parents of US missionary believed detained in North Korea join vigil for safe return ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press Writer 1:51 AM PST, December 28, 2009 SAN MARCOS, Calif. (AP) — An American missionary believed to be detained when he stepped into North Korea on Christmas didn't inform his parents of his plans but they had a hunch he would visit the communist nation. "We had a sense," Pyong Park, the missionary's father, told The Associated Press late Sunday. "We told him to continue what you're doing in South Korea." About 100 people held candles Sunday night at Palomar Korean...

Hell on Earth Oct 22nd 2009 The West still turns a blind eye to the world's most brutal and systematic abuse of human rights A SPRAWLING encampment of think-tankers, academics, hacks and policymakers earns a living outside North Korea’s walls. They pick over its nuclear intentions and the prospects for the diplomatic dance known as the six-party process, which is meant to persuade North Korea to give up its nukes for cash and security guarantees. The encampment needs something to live on. Since North Korea declared the six-party talks dead in the spring, scraps have been meagre. So the North’s...

North Korea Faces Scrutiny Over Human Rights By EVAN RAMSTAD SEOUL -- North Korea's abusive treatment of its citizens, which has long been a secondary concern in diplomatic circles to the pursuit of nuclear weapons, will undergo increasing scrutiny in coming weeks as a high-profile review at the United Nations approaches. Diplomats in several countries and prominent human-rights organizations are revising data on atrocities in North Korea and preparing questions for its officials, who will go before the U.N. Human Rights Council on Dec. 7. Once every four years the council subjects each U.N. member to scrutiny. North Korea's review...

February 2, 2009 Protester throws shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Ben Macintyre, Cambridge and Nico Hines A protester threw a shoe at Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, today as he delivered a speech on the global economy at Cambridge University. Mr Wen was coming to the last part of his address when a young Western-looking man with dark hair stood up, blew a whistle and shouted: “How can the university prostitute itself with this dictator? How can you listen to these lies?” The man, who appeared to be in his early twenties, then took off his heavy shoe and...

Activists send more leaflets to NKorea despite pleas, threats by Jun Kwanwoo Thu Nov 20, 2:24 am ET GIMPO CITY, South Korea (AFP) – South Korean activists Thursday launched tens of thousands of leaflets attacking North Korea's regime towards the border, ignoring threats from Pyongyang and pleas from Seoul. "Return the abductees!" shouted Choi Sung-Young as he released a towering gas-filled balloon carrying leaflets towards the heavily fortified frontier. Ten activists who gathered on a wintry hillside launched 100,000 plastic pamphlets castigating the hardline communist regime and its leader Kim Jong-Il. Apart from the leaflets, one of the balloons bore...

Chinese dissident tipped to win Nobel peace prize Hu Jia could be awarded the Nobel peace prize to continue human rights pressure on China after the Beijing Olympics * Gwladys Fouché in Oslo * guardian.co.uk, * Wednesday September 24 2008 13:06 BST This year's Nobel peace prize could be awarded to a Chinese dissident to highlight China's human rights record in the wake of the Olympic Games, according to experts who closely follow the workings of the award. A likely candidate to receive the prize, the winner of which will be announced on October 10 in Oslo, is Hu Jia,...

US disrupts Olympic party with human rights attack on China America has openly attacked China for failing to live up to its Olympic promise to improve human rights after eight US citizens were arrested and imprisoned without trial for their part in a pro-Tibet demonstration. By Peter Foster in Beijing Last Updated: 12:20PM BST 24 Aug 2008 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office called on China to 'respect its commitment to freedom of expression' Photo: AFP In an unusually candid statement issued on the eve of the Olympic closing ceremony the US Embassy in Beijing expressed mounting frustration with China's refusal...

IOC breaks ranks with hosts over protests By Roger Blitz Published: August 19 2008 20:42 | Last updated: August 19 2008 20:42 Olympic officials have for the first time openly criticised their Beijing hosts for China’s intolerance of public protests, questioning their desire to allow citizens the right to raise grievances during the games. The International Olympic Committee is also understood to believe that lower-than-expected attendances at games venues is the result of Beijing’s poor distribution of tickets for the general public, including a failure to reallocate unwanted tickets.

Bush to rebuke China on human rights, dissidents Wed Aug 6, 2008 9:42am EDT BANGKOK (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush plans to voice deep concerns about human rights in China in a speech on Thursday, hours before he arrives in Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games. "The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings," Bush will say in a speech in Bangkok, copies of which were released in advance. "So America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights...

'Old friend' McCain chides China in Dalai Lama visit By Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News Saturday, July 26, 2008 China must release all Tibetan political prisoners and account for the disappearance of protesters after last spring's uprising, Sen. John McCain said after meeting with the Dalai Lama on Friday. Next month's Beijing Olympics must be a time for China to demonstrate to the world its commitment to "basic human rights," said McCain, who called on China and Tibet to engage in a "meaningful dialogue on genuine autonomy for Tibet." McCain also referenced the disappearance of people after the conflict in...