4 December 2007

Human Rights Torch Relay comes to Canberra!

| mprob
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The Human Rights Torch Relay will arrive in Canberra on December 11. The welcoming ceremony will begin at 12:30 pm in Garema place, with the Relay making its way toward the Chinese Embassy in Yarralumla, on the other side of Lake Burley Griffin. The ceremony will feature speeches from respected community members, human rights groups, and prominent individuals concerned with human rights and human dignity. There will also be local Canberra musicians performing songs meant to inform, entertain, and inspire.

The Torch Relay has received strong support from the Darfur, Tibetan, Burmese and Vietnamese communities in Canberra, as well as other highly esteemed groups and individuals. The Torch Relay is widely recognised as a peaceful way of bringing attention to the Chinese communist regime’s gross human rights abuses before the Olympic Games in 2008.

The Human Rights Torch Relay will also feature many prominent persons from the ACT Region, including Dr Deb Foskey, Member of the Legislative Assembly and leader of the ACT Greens; Bishop Pat Power, Catholic Bishop for Canberra-Goulburn; Bishop George Browning, Anglican Bishop for Canberra-Goulburn; and Matilda House, Aboriginal Elder for Ngunnawal Country and 2006 ACT Citizen of the Year, who will be conducting a Welcome to Country. These persons will be speakers and/or Human Rights Torch Bearers.

Bishop Pat Power has hailed the Relay as “a wonderful opportunity to be in solidarity with persecuted and minority groups in China,” and expressed hope that the Relay “will bring to the attention of Australians the denial of justice and basic freedoms in China. The 2008 Olympics should not be allowed to appear as an endorsement of such abuses of power.”

The abuses perpetrated by the Chinese communist regime are extensive and terrible. They include indirect assistance with both genocide in Darfur and suppression of protesters in Burma, and widespread persecution of many groups within China. Persecuted groups include Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Christians, and defenders of basic human rights. Methods used to attack these peaceful groups include torture, illegal imprisonment, psychiatric abuses and forced labour. Falun Gong practitioners are even singled out for live organ harvesting on demand, to supply organs for the billion dollar transplant trade (http://organharvestinvestigation.net). On a systematic scale, they are injected with potassium to stop the heart, their organs removed from the neck down, and their bodies incinerated.

Because of these truly horrendous, shocking, and tragic crimes, the Human Rights Torch Relay was initiated to bring a message of hope and justice around the world, highlighting the principles of the Olympic charter, and reinvigorating the Olympic Spirit. The Relay is an opportunity for every group and all kind hearted individuals concerned with the cause of justice, Olympism, and fundamental ethical principles, to raise their voice. Take part in this inspirational, life-saving event!

The community in Canberra plays a pivotal role in supporting the Relay by attending the welcoming ceremony, and inviting family and friends to come along. For more information, please phone 0431 761 894.

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I read the headline of this and thought it was a Human Torch Relay. So I guess they run as far and fast as they can while on fire, and when they stop, the next person gets set on fire and off they go.

Shame it isn’t coinciding with the real torch relay through Canberra.

el ......VNBerlinaV86:01 pm 04 Dec 07

There are worse news sources than Epoch Times.

Absolutely – you could be reading something as miserable as a Jessica Wright article in the Canberra Times!

Whoa, I thought Vietnamese gov is Communist too! Looks like that they are not doing a good job as Chinese communist gov! They need to catch up!

ifan:
The Chinese consulate keeps overseas, non-dissident, Chinese communities well under control with a whole range of coercive measures. Basically a culture of fear and self-censorship has been created. They vary from place to place, and go from soft to hard. If you want to look into it check out these articles. This is just a glimpse, since the issues are far huger:

This is from the Chinese consular official who defected in 2005, it’s very telling (yes it’s in the bloody epoch times–where else? It’s good for something): http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-8-31/31793.html

And this is a ripper of an article all about Chinese consulate interference in Aussie politics, and gives a bit of an insight into maybe why certain politicians would be reluctant to attend an event like this: http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/hard-power-soft-targets/2007/11/10/1194329562764.html

Maybe they should swing past the SIEV-X memorial and light it up too?

(Disclaimer to Canberra Times ‘journalists’: I in no way condone buring public memorials – even ones that are erected by bleeding heart Lefties and have nothing to do with Canberra.)

There are worse news sources than Epoch Times.

I never say no to a copy!

Gees! I wonder if it is a front for Falun Gong?
Maybe I should check how heavily it is being reported in the Epoch Times.

“strong support from the Darfur, Tibetan, Burmese and Vietnamese communities in Canberra”

Question:
why doesn’t the torch relay about human right issue in China have any support from Chinese community in Canberra? I mean Chinese excluding Chinese Tibetan.

Why won’t the ACT Chief Minister be there given all his intense interest in everything to do with Human Rights?

Snahons_scv6_berlina2:09 pm 04 Dec 07

“…and expressed hope that the Relay “will bring to the attention of Australians the denial of justice and basic freedoms in China.”

I think most Australians already know this.

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