#FreedomOfSpeech #PoliceState
#PoliticalOppression
#Free #JimmyLai" – Campaign for world attention on Hong Kong #HumanRights and Press Freedom

On Chinese New Year’s eve (Jan 31), a series of transatlantic illuminations aiming to draw international attention on China's #authoritarian rule over Hong Kong were seen on the walls of Tower Bridge in London and Chinese Embassy in Washington DC.

Bright white lights reading "Free Jimmy Lai and the Apple 7" of three storey tall were projected onto the walls.

In addition, the illuminations also showed the "Olympics rings in thorns", a portrait of Jimmy Lai and a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the 2014 Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.

The US-based designer, Robin Bell said his intention was to grab people's attention on Human Rights around the world.

Mark L. Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong, shared photographs of the illuminations on his Twitter page, calling the upcoming #WinterOlympics in #Beijing " the most shameful Olympics since the 1936 Nazi Olympics in Berlin”.

#ProtestArt #RobinBell #MarkClifford #AppleDaily #FreedomOfSpeech #FreedomOfPublication

Source: RFA; #Jan31
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/uk-jimmy-02012022155410.html

Report Says #China Invites #UN Official to #Xinjiang but Bans Investigating #HumanRights Issues

Source: RFA #Jan28

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Report Says #China Invites #UN Official to #Xinjiang but Bans Investigating #HumanRights Issues

According to South China Morning Post (#SCMP) on #Jan27 2022, China allows the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to visit Xinjiang after the Winter Olympics; however, China does not allow Bachelet to investigate on human rights violation issues, causing United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (#UNHCR) to postpone their Xinjiang report publication date to after the Olympic Games.

China's Foreign Affairs Minister, #ZhaoLijian, claimed that China's stand is "consistent and clear": "The invitation aims to enhance the interactions and collaborations between the 2 parties. We oppose anyone to take advantage of political manipulation."

Human Rights Watch told #Reuter on #Jan28 that the Chinese government tries to distract the world with the winter Olympics from their inhumane crimes on #Uyghurs and other #Turkistan. They also reminded everyone, especially foreign affairs ministers, not to be fooled.

#HumanRightwWatch #MichelleBachelet

Source: RFA #Jan28
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/un-visit-01282022053808.html

#WinterOlympics #HumanRights #Shame
Natalie Geisenberger: I’d never returned to China

#NatalieGeisenberger #Luge #IOC #LGBT

Source: Deutsche Welle; #Feb17

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#WinterOlympics #HumanRights #Shame
Natalie Geisenberger: I’d never returned to China

#NatalieGeisenberger, Germany’s #luge champion who took home a sixth gold medal at #WinterOlympic Games this year. She went to Beijing having previously criticised China and even considered boycotting.

“When there’s #HumanRights and the country’s stance on #LGBT, those issues should be taken into consideration by the #IOC (in selecting host nations).”

Geisenberger refused to speak about the human rights issue during the Games.

“You have to be careful when you say what, and where you say it, and I think many are feeling this way. Here on location, I think it’s better not to say too much,” she said on February 8.

Having now returned to Germany, she told newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that she will never return to China.

“It’s just not a holiday destination for me, and I wouldn’t go to China for a World Cup either,” Geisenberger continued saying, “it has nothing to do with the pandemic. I wasn’t there because I really wanted to go to China, but because the IOC decided that the Olympic Games would take place in Beijing.

Source: Deutsche Welle; #Feb17
https://p.dw.com/p/47AoV

Winter Olympic Athletes Were Surprisingly Reluctant to Speak

German luger Natalie Geisenberger, who was critical of China, when asked about her view on China's human rights issues a day after earning a gold medal, said peaking out was a matter of timing. "You have to be careful when you say what and where you say it", she said.

To her self-censorship, some netizens said it is unbearable

What China is trying to show the world through this Olympics? Alain Frachon, a French columnist for Le Monde, believes that "President Xi Jinping's China has proven that it is imposing its standards of civil liberties - on Chinese nationals and foreigners. In the ideological battle, the West is not on the podium."

Advertisers and multinational enterprises have been warned that no representatives of theirs can publicly speak out on Xinjiang or Hong Kong's human rights issues, not even in a few words tweets, or they will face heavy retaliation.

#NatalieGeisenberger #LeMonde #AlainFrachon #WinterOlympic #SelfCensorship #HumanRights #HongKong #Xinjiang

Source: RFI #Feb11

https://www.rfi.fr/tw/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B/20220211-%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%86%AC%E5%A5%A7%E6%9C%83%E5%B0%81%E5%98%B4%E7%AD%96%E7%95%A5%E5%A5%8F%E6%95%88?ref=fb_i

Yale to begin investigating potential Chinese investments in light of human rights concerns

The committee that recommends areas for divestment to Yale’s board of trustees will begin investigating companies in China to determine whether some may be deemed ineligible for Yale investment in light of the Chinese government’s widespread human rights violations.

Source: Yale Daily News #Jan26

https://t.co/4RyX8gYkg3

#Yale #Investigate #Chinese #HumanRights

#StandwithUkraine #HumanRights
UN boots Russia from UN Human Rights Council over Ukraine invasion

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on April 7, 2022 calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council. 

The resolution received a two-thirds majority of those voting in the 193-member Assembly, with 93 nations voting in favour. 58 abstained from the process. 

Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Vietnam, were among the 24 countries voted against. 

The meeting marked the resumption of a special emergency session on the war in Ukraine and followed reports of violations committed by Russian forces. 

This past weekend, disturbing photos emerged from the city of Bucha, a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, where hundreds of civilian bodies were found in the streets and in mass graves following Russia’s withdrawal from the area. 

Source: United Nations; #Apr7
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1115782

#HumanRights #WhiteTerror
Hong Kong’s Human Rights Press Awards cancelled, citing legal risks

Source: Hong Kong Free Press

#PressFreedom

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