Monthly Archives: July 2017

BEIJING (Reuters) - Friends of China's Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo, who died of liver cancer in custody, said on Friday they are still unable to contact his widow, Liu Xia, and that ensuring her freedom is now a top priority.

Liu Xiaobo, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08" calling for sweeping political reforms.

Liu Xia has been under effective house arrest since her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and was allowed to visit him in prison about once a month. She suffers from depression.

Liu Xiaobo died on Thursday after suffering multiple organ failure. He was recently moved from jail to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang to be treated for late-stage liver cancer.

Rights groups and Western governments have mourned Liu Xiaobo's death and also called for Chinese authorities to allow his wife and the rest of his family to move around freely.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also urged China to guarantee Liu Xia freedom of movement, and allow her to travel abroad should she want to.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop urged China to lift curbs on the movement of Liu Xia, in a statement sent to Reuters on Friday.

China responded by lodging "stern representations" with countries that made remarks about Liu Xiaobo, including the United States, expressing its firm opposition, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular briefing.

Geng said he had no information about Liu Xia, but added that the entry and exit of Chinese citizens would be handled in accordance with Chinese law.

"Let's not make any prejudgments here," he responded, when pressed on whether Liu Xia was allowed to leave the country. He did not elaborate.

In an interview, Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, said she shared the compassion of people over Liu's death.

Hu Jia, a fellow dissident and family friend, said Liu Xia's freedom was now a top priority for Liu Xiaobo's supporters.

"Now, we are most concerned about Liu Xia, but there has been no information about her. She is at this moment the person who is suffering most," Hu said.

"All the willpower and force we put behind freeing Liu Xiaobo, we have turned to Liu Xia," he said, urging the United States and Germany to continue pressuring China to free Liu Xia.

Efforts should also focus on Liu Hui, the younger brother of Liu Xia, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2013 for fraud and to whom Liu Xia is very close, Hu said.

Several other family friends confirmed they were still unable to contact Liu Xia or confirm her whereabouts.

Taiwan-based Wu'er Kaixi, a leading figure in China's 1989 pro-democracy movement who knew Liu, made a plea to world leaders to suspend official interactions with China until Liu Xia was released.

"I want to urge the world, urge the world leaders, that you failed to save Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo," he said.

"You failed to help him to receive his last wish, which is freedom and medical treatment he deserved. Please, do not fail again to save Liu Xia."

A video clip of Liu Xiaobo's treatment was released by the Shenyang justice department on Friday, the latest in a series issued by authorities who say he was well cared for in hospital.

It emphasized that Liu Xiaobo's family had a history of liver cancer and that Liu Xia and his family were involved in the treatment process and kept abreast of developments.

Friends have also begun calling to be allowed to participate in Liu Xiaobo's funeral arrangements and support his wife and family.

More than 150 friends and supporters, including some of China's most prominent dissidents, rights lawyers and intellectuals, have also signed an open letter announcing plans for an "online memorial" to Liu.

Signatories have urged authorities to release Liu's body and allow an open funeral by his family and friends.

"We will pay close attention to how Liu Xiaobo's funeral will be arranged," said Shanghai-based writer Wen Kejian, another friend of the family.

"We, at the very least, hope to have the opportunity to go to Shenyang or Beijing to send him off."

Rights lawyer Chen Jinxue added, "Normally if someone has passed, the right to deal with the body lies with the family."

Liu's remains were taken to Shenyang's Xiheyuan funeral parlor, a source close to the family said, but surrounding roads had been blocked off when a Reuters reporter tried to visit on Friday.

Local authorities forced half-a-dozen supporters of Liu who went to Shenyang to pay their respects to leave, or detained them, said Beijing-based rights activist Li Yu, who is tracking the cases.

News of Liu's death prompted an outpouring of grief online, with many liberals, lawyers, dissidents and journalists sharing articles and posting on popular instant messaging app WeChat.

But censors were swift to act. Even an article titled, "Speaking of heroes, who is a hero?" from respected business publication Caixin was taken down after being shared by many of Liu Xiaobo's supporters, despite making no mention of him.

Searches and postings of images and emojis of candles, as well as the word itself, were also blocked on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

"Tonight we will let you have the floor," the state-backed Global Times tabloid said in a social media post that appeared to mock the mourners.

"The deceased has gone, the feigned sorrow is really preposterous. We will just eat watermelon and watch for the night."

Ye Du, a writer and friend of Liu's, said he hoped people would be able to commemorate Liu Xiaobo, despite harsh government restrictions.

"Liu Xia will surely be monitored and controlled," he added. "Grieving in reality will certainly also be strictly controlled, but there will definitely be lots of people who will use all sorts of ways to mourn."

Reporting by Christian Shepherd and Philip Wen in BEIJING, Joesph Campbell in SHENYANG and Fabian Hamacher and Damon Lin in TAIPEI; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez

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Attention turns to freedom of Liu Xiaobo's widow after Chinese dissident's death - Reuters

The conservative firebrand credited with pressuring then-Speaker John BoehnerJohn BoehnerFreedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad Trump's budget is good for America, so why is Congress ignoring it? Tea Party favorite to lead conservative think tank MORE (R-Ohio) to resign in 2015 issued a warning Thursday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellMitch McConnellFreedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad Religious protestors arrested outside Mitch McConnell's office Five takeaways from the GOP's healthcare reboot MORE (R-Ky.) and his establishment allies.

Anytime leadership goes after Freedom Caucus members, its not the prudent thing to do, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the far-right Freedom Caucus, told reporters in the Speakers lobby.

Meadows was referring to a television ad funded by the McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), that attacked Freedom Caucus member Rep. Mo BrooksMo BrooksFreedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad GOP super PAC targets Mo Brooks for past anti-Trump remarks GOP senator: Its a biblical miracle that Trump is president MORE (R-Ala.) as a career politician who has teamed up with liberals Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenFreedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad Warren raises .5M in second quarter Tax credits bring much needed relief MORE in attacking President Trump.

The ad from the McConnell-aligned super PAC uses video clips of Brooks criticizing Trump during the 2016 presidential primary.

I dont think you can trust Donald TrumpDonald TrumpBlumenthal: Jared Kushner ought to resign Merkley: Trump Jr. meeting absolutely smoking gun Lewandowski on Russia probes: 'I have nothing to hide' MORE with anything he says, the congressman says in the ad, adding that those who vote for Trump will regret their decision.

Brooks, regarded as one of the most conservative House members, ischallenging new GOPSen. Luther Strange, the former Alabama attorney general who was appointedin Februaryto replaceJeff Sessionsafter he was confirmedas Trumps attorney general.

McConnell and his allies, including the SLF, are backing Strange in the Aug. 15 special Senate primary. And they believe Brookss past criticisms of Trump, whos enormously popular in Alabama, will severely harm his Senate ambitions.

But Meadows suggested the SLF is attacking Brooks so aggressively in ads and press releases because the congressman is rising in the polls.

Of course hes a viable candidate. I think he wins, Meadows predicted.

Two years ago this month, the North Carolina conservative stunned Washington by filing a motion to vacate resolution to try to oust BoehnerJohn BoehnerFreedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad Trump's budget is good for America, so why is Congress ignoring it? Tea Party favorite to lead conservative think tank MORE from the Speakership. That move, on Meadowss birthday, came after Boehner had retaliated against several Freedom Caucus members, and its triggered a series of actions that led to Boehners resignation just two months later, in the middle of his third term as Speaker.

When reporters jokingly suggested he could present a "motion to vacate" in the Senate, Meadows replied that there is no procedural maneuver to remove a sitting Senate majority leader.

Its not fun to joke about those things in July, but I do know there is no vehicle over there, Meadows said.

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Freedom Caucus leader warns McConnell over Senate ad - The Hill

Salma, a 22-year-old French national living in Belgium who chooses to wear the niqab after converting to Islam, gives an interview to Reuters television outside the Belgian Parliament in Brussels in this April 26, 2010 file photo.

The European Court of Human Rights has struck another blow to womens autonomy, ruling in favor of bans on full-face veils enacted in 2011 in Belgium.

Echoing a 2014 ruling in S.A.S v. France, the court cited the vague idea of living together as justification for the bans. Nowhere does the European Convention on Human Rights state that living together can be adequate grounds for restricting rights. The court accepted the Belgian governments argument that wearing clothing that obstructs the face is incompatible, in Belgian society, with social communication and, more generally the establishment of human relations.

Perversely, this weeks ruling could hinder exactly this kind of social interaction, isolating women who elect to wear full-face veils. Two of the women who brought the case said the ban had severely curtailed their lives, forcing them to abandon the niqab or remain housebound.

There is no denying that the bans impact falls most heavily on women who wear the full-face veil even the court acknowledges that Muslim women are disproportionately affected. After all, what other face-covering garment is regularly worn in public? Despite the blatantly unequal burden on women, the court declined to rule the law discriminatory, finding it is not unreasonable or beyond justification, while dismissing concerns about the undue burden placed on women.

Just as women should not be forced to wear the niqab or other religious dress, they should not be denied the choice or punished for doing so. Nor should they or other citizens be subject to unreasonable or discriminatory limitations on their freedom of religion or right to express it. These rulings embolden other governments to dictate how women can dress, and send a dangerous message that it is acceptable to curtail womens freedom of expression and belief.

Fostering human relations is a laudable goal. But forcing women to choose between wearing what they want and being able to appear in public isnt the way to do it.

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Restricting Women's Clothing and Freedom in Belgium - Human Rights Watch

Prime Minister Theresa May's insistence that no Brexit deal is better than a bad one does not have public support, new research claims.

Rsearch by King's College London, Rand Europe and Cambridge University found that people place more value on trade deals with the EU and foreign countries than on curbing free movement of labour.

Organisers said the research method they used during interviews with 917 people is more rigorous than traditional polling.

The study found that people are more concerned with managing demand for public services than restricting freedom of movement, particularly those who voted Leave.

And voters value being able to retain access to the Single Market and cut foreign trade deals above the UK making its own laws, the research found.

A Brexit agreement that resembles Norway's relationship with the EU, allowing for free trade with other countries while remaining within the Single Market and accepting freedom of movement and some loss of sovereignty, is favoured, according to the research.

Professor Jonathan Grant, of King's College London, said: "It clearly shows that the British people do not wish to head over a cliff edge and leave the EU on World Trade Organisation rules - they want a proper deal.

"The British public are sophisticated enough to understand that they can't 'have their cake and eat it', and will need to make and accept compromises to reach a deal."

Tory ministers 'think Theresa May's red lines need loosening'

Charlene Rohr, of Rand Europe, said: "The referendum result was seen by many as providing a mandate to significantly reduce immigration.

"But while our findings do show a desire to control movement of people to some extent, we found that this seems to stem from a concern about managing demand for public services, particularly for those who voted to Leave the EU, rather than from wanting to limit freedom of movement per se."

Professor David Howarth, of Cambridge University, said: "The public's ranking of a Norway-style deal above remaining in the EU is not surprising in the light of the referendum result, but the public's ranking of remaining in the EU above crashing out with no deal into World Trade Organisation terms should worry those who claim that the referendum and the general election give a mandate for Brexit at any price."

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Brexit: Public support continued EU freedom of movement in exchange for access to Single Market, research finds - The Independent

Just days after the United States celebrated its independence on July 4, Forestville, Md.-based Bishop McNamara High Schools Sankofa production of Harriet and the Underground took audiences back in time, in order to understand the true meaning of freedom for Black Americans.

Through primarily dance, as well as music and acting, 92 students, in three hours on July 8, not only outlined the life and legacy of Harriet Tubman, but also the Black American journey, starting from Africa as kings and queens, to slaves, and ultimately to their search for freedom.

I believe very much in telling history through movement, Victor Bah, artistic director of Sankofa and the African Music and Dance program at Macnamara told the AFRO.

As a native of Ghana, Bah named the McNamara performance group Sankofa, which translates to, go back and fetch it. The word and symbol associated with it, a bird flying forward with its head turned backwards, teaches people to reclaim the past in order to understand their current state to move forward.

Forward movement has happened in regards to Tubman, as last year it was announced her face would replace the slave-holding, Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill in several years, and because of that, Bah felt it was important for audiences to truly look back and connect with this American heroine.

After all of this we thought that for the larger communityand African American communitywouldnt it be nice to learn a lot through movement and music about this womanwhich will make them more entertained and make them more connected to this woman? Bah said.

The show begins with slaves escaping to freedom, and when they are fearful of getting caught, Harriet, who is played simultaneously by both a dancer and a narrator, stops with her gun drawn, rallying her followers to continue the journey.

All your life youve been a slaveand you dont even know youre slaves, said Harriet, who was played by Jordyn Young.

Before audiences get to see if the slaves make it to freedom with Harriet, they must go back to Africa, prior to the middle passage. With live Djembe drummers, many fast-paced African dances, and moving projections, audiences were transported to places like Egypt, current day Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Africa, Senegal and Ghana.

Through movement, audiences received a glimpse of the horrors of the middle passage, staging the performers to lie tightly in small nooks side-by-side, with no space to move.

We are swallowed by a strange ship, and with it, our sense of dignity, said one of the narrators.

The production included slaves working, getting lashed and beaten, and even raped.

You grow up coming through the American school system and of course you hear about Harriet Tubman and its all sort of generalized in terms of her escapes through the Underground Railroad and all of the work that she did to make this possible. But Ill be honest with you, I had no idea frankly, how much of a badass Harriet Tubman was, John Baltimore, the producer of Harriet and the Underground, and a father to one of the performers, told the AFRO.

In 2017, we take freedom for granted so I never thought about how much of a struggle it was to get people to embrace their freedom and get people to want to take that leap of faith to follow her lead to freedom, Baltimore said.

With the fear of slave patrols, often called patterrollers, an organized group of White men responsible for disciplining slaves and, particularly, escapees, the stakes were very high for these people who had no idea what freedom looked like, felt or even meant.

In many instances, she had to overcome the psyche of a people who had been slaves their entire lives and knew of no other way of life. As a result, their fear, torment, concern for family members left behind, and sheer exhaustion from the journey, often led to them wanting to run and go back to their plantations; to which Ms. Tubmans response was always exact and unambiguous, as she pulled out her pistol and said, Youll be free or die, Baltimore said.

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Play Re-enacts Past to Understand Freedom - Afro American