There are still no results from Zimbabwe’s March 29th presidential elections. In my first blog I talked about the growing apprehension of the populace during the initial post-election week. My second blog discussed the legal fights and growing danger faced by Zimbabwe opposition party members. This time we’ll be checking out the amazing diplomatic stalling techniques of South African President Mbeki during this crisis.

In her ever-so diplomatic approach, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this past week that, “It’s time for Africa to step up” and deal with this crisis. (nice job of passing the buck Condi)

South Africa has the largest economy within Africa—giving it major bargaining power with states such as Zimbabwe.

Enter South African President Thabo Mbeki.

He traveled Zimbabwe on Saturday April 12th to meet with Mugabe. Following these talks, he declared that there was “no crisis” in Zimbabwe.

Hmmm… Read More »

Free Tibet!

The slogan is everywhere, from T-shirts to bumper stickers, splashed across skater mags and on backpack patches. As protests this past weekend in Tibet once again highlight this cause, it seems clearer than ever that the only way a Free Tibet will ever occur is if China itself is freed from its’ totalitarian, anti-human rights, repressive regime.

Last week, on the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule, Tibetan monks held a series of peaceful protests to draw attention to their concerns.

On March 14 (Friday morning), the police decided to crack down, prompting Tibetans to riot.

According to the Economist’s correspondent in Tibet,

“The violence was fuelled by rumours of killings, beatings and detention of Buddhist monks by security forces in Lhasa this week. Access to the city’s big three monasteries has been blocked by police since the beginning of the week when hundreds of monks staged protests coinciding with the March 10th anniversary of the 1959 revolt. Dozens of them, residents believe, have been arrested. On Friday morning, rumours spread that monks had been shot dead outside the Jokhang temple, the holiest shrine of Tibetan Buddhism in the heart of the Tibetan quarter. A couple of monks outside another temple were said to have been beaten by police.” Read More »

Is it just me or have we all entered some kind of Twilight Zone in which torture and terror are okay as long as the defenders of freedom and democracy are using them?

This past Saturday, March 9th, President Bush exercised his veto on a piece of legislation that would have banned interrogation techniques used by the CIA, such as waterboarding. In his weekly radio address he stated,

“The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror […] so today I vetoed it”

What is Waterboarding?

This incredibly controversial interrogation technique/ form of torture, depending on who is talking, originated in the 16th century during the Italian inquisition.

A bound and gagged prisoner is immobilized on his back, head tilted downward. Water is then poured over him, causing an immediate gag reflex and simulating drowning. Often, cellophane is also placed over the prisoner’s face—further preventing him from taking any air. (remember how your parents told you not to place saran wrap over your face when you were little….) Read More »

In my last article I discussed China’s legacy of human rights abuses up to on July 14, 2001, when the Olympic Committee agreed to have Beijing be the sight for the 2008 Summer Olympics

Following that decision, German Interior Minister Otto Schily stated, “I am convinced that the Olympic games will have a positive effect on China’s democratic development.”

My dearest Otto, sorry to disappoint you, if anything, preparations for the Olympics are only increasing human rights violations in China.

In my last article, I introduced Freedom House’s measures of democratic freedom as a tool of comparative politics. (based on a 7 point scale with 7 being totalitarian and 1 signifying fully democratic) This measure is also a helpful tool when looking at a single state’s record over the course of several years.

China’s Freedom House ranking in 2001, was 7 for Political Rights and 6 for Civil Liberties, in 2008 it remains the same.

In 2007, moreover, in an effort to stabilize Chinese society, the country’s restrictions against media were tightened and human rights activists, civil rights lawyers, and other dissidents were detained. Read More »

The much-touted Beijing Olympics more and more seem like an awful nightmare amidst the continuing Human rights fallout. This is the first of three articles examining China’s Human Rights Record.

Visit Beijing—What do you see?
Skyscrapers
Fashion (America’s Next Top Model filmed their last season there)
Entrepreneurs
Money, Money, MONEY!!!

Stand in the middle of the city and you could be in New York, Tokyo, Berlin, or Sydney.

This is not your parent’s China…or is it?

Your parent’s China was ruled by the infamous Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist People’s Party. As you probably remember from your Cold War history, Mao’s China, like Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, flagrantly violated human rights.

Chairman Mao’s death in 1976 ushered in a slow yet steady drive towards economic reform that many hoped would correspond to political reform as well.

Events on June 4, 1989 shattered such hopes. Read More »