The Beacon of Freedom and Democracy

U.S. Lawmakers Nominate Hong Kong Protesters For Nobel Peace Prize

By Russell Flannery

Protesters march on the streets against an extradition bill in Hong Kong on June 16, 2019. 

It isn’t easy to get politicians from the two main U.S. political parties to agree on much. 

One common area, however, is often U.S. policy toward China, and today a bipartisan group of American lawmakers released a letter nominating Hong Kong’s pro-democracy moment for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
The move comes at time when U.S.-China relations have been strained by trade and geopolitical tension, and as Beijing’s leaders are straining to control a coronavirus outbreak that has led to more than 400 deaths and 20,000 illnesses and threatens first-quarter economic growth (see related story here).

Representative James P. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, Representatives Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, Thomas Suozzi, a New York Democrat, and Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat, as well as Senators Jeffrey Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, and Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, supported the nomination. 

They are all members of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
The full letter is below:

January 31, 2020

Berit Reiss-Andersen
Chair
Nobel Peace Prize Committee
NO-0255 Oslo
Norway

Dear Chair Reiss-Andersen and Members of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee:

We, the undersigned members of the United States Congress, respectfully nominate the pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong to receive the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to protect Hong Kong’s autonomy, human rights, and the rule of law as guaranteed in the Sino-British Declaration and Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
The pro-democracy movement of Hong Kong has inspired the world as countless and often anonymous individuals risked their lives, their health, their jobs, and their education to support a better future for Hong Kong. 

They have demonstrated civic courage, extraordinary leadership, and an unwavering commitment to a free and democratic Hong Kong that upholds the rule of law and fundamental human rights and freedom.
In March 2019, a series of large-scale, pro-democracy protests began in Hong Kong in opposition to a proposed extradition bill that would have put anyone in Hong Kong at risk of extradition to mainland China, where arbitrary detention, lack of due process, torture, and other serious human rights abuses are well documented. 

The protest on June 16, 2019, included over two million participants out of a total population of approximately 7.5 million people living in Hong Kong, making it one of the largest mass protests in history.
The protesters represent a broad spectrum of Hong Kong society – students, children, retirees, women, teachers, flight attendants, bankers, lawyers, social workers, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, airport staff, migrant domestic workers, and civil servants. 

The entire city is engaged in a movement both unique and inspiring in its size, scope, and creativity. 

The protesters are savvy and have used peaceful and innovative methods of expression including art, music, lasers, projections on buildings, and joining hands across Hong Kong.
The pro-democracy movement made five reasonable demands of the Hong Kong government: 

1) withdraw the extradition bill; 

2) conduct an independent inquiry into the police violence; 

3) drop charges against all arrested protesters; 

4) retract the characterization of the June protests as “riots”; and 

5) the use of universal suffrage to elect the chief executive and legislative council members.
Instead of a pursuing political dialogue and negotiation, the Hong Kong government implemented a crackdown on peaceful protests and used excessive and unnecessary force in contravention of the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms for Law Enforcement Officers. 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation of these incidents. 

The U.S. and the U.K. have both suspended the sale of police and crowd control equipment to Hong Kong.
Numerous individuals and organizations have for decades pressed for greater freedoms in Hong Kong, and the current movement is no exception. 

The pro-democracy movement of the past year has been impressively organized and coherent, yet notably leaderless and flexible. 

For this reason, rather than highlighting an individual or single organization, we wish to nominate the peaceful Hong Kong pro-democracy movement. 

This prize would honor the millions of people in Hong Kong whose bravery and determination have inspired the world.
We deeply appreciated the Nobel Committee’s past willingness to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo in 2010. 

Liu Xiaobo’s unjust imprisonment and ultimately his death is a stark reminder of the sacrifices made by so many people in China who have dared to speak out for their human rights.
We hope that the Nobel Committee will continue to shine a light on those struggling for peace and human rights in China and we believe the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong is more than deserving of recognition this year.

China's crimes against humanity

Uyghurs urge action against China in Washington

By Jennifer Hansler

Zeynep Ablajan said she hasn't been able to speak to her husband, Yalkun Rozi, in over two years. He is a Uyghur scholar and textbook author who was detained in East Turkestan, China in October 2016.
That was the last time she heard his voice.
"It is torturing looking back," she told CNN through a translator.
"I didn't expect that would be my last contact with my husband."
Ablajan said that he was accused of "disseminating separatist ideology" and sentenced in 2018 to 15 years in prison -- a sentence Ablajan said was predetermined and came after a "sham trial."
Ablajan said she doesn't know where her husband is.
"I'm very concerned about his health," she told CNN, adding that she wants to "hear his voice" and "know if he's okay."

'Everything that makes the Uyghurs unique has been targeted'Ablajan was one of dozens of members of the Uyghur community, advocates and lawmakers who gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington Monday to recognize the plight of the Uyghurs and other persecuted minorities being detained in China.
The evening reception capped a day of activism on the Hill organized by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
The US State Department, according to its most recent Human Rights Report, estimates that China has "arbitrarily detained 800,000 to more than two million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in internment camps designed to erase religious and ethnic identities."
"International media, human rights organizations, and former detainees reported security officials in the camps abused, tortured, and killed some detainees," the report noted.
Rushan Abbas, a Uyghur-American activist and founder of Campaign for Uyghurs, said that even living in the US has not protected her from being a target.
Days after she spoke out about the Uyghur crisis in September 2018, she said, her sister and her aunt were abducted.
"I have been a proud citizen of the United States for 25 years, yet the long arm of the Chinese Communist regime has extended its reach across the borders to ravage my heart by jailing the only close family I have," she said.
She accused the Chinese government of targeting the Uyghurs' "right to live."
"Everything that makes the Uyghurs unique has been targeted and treated as abnormality: language, culture, religion, history and ethnic identity. All normal activities in Islam are being banned and labeled as 'religious extremism' as part of a 'war on terror,'" she said.

'Where is the outrage?'
Members of the Trump administration and many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been outspoken about the crimes being committed against the Uyghurs.
"We need to push aggressively on the plight of the Uyghurs," said US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, who also addressed the issue in a briefing last week.
However, many at Monday's event called for more to be done.
"I am saddened by the timid response of the world community, world leaders, who should be defenders of the freedom and democracy," Abbas said.
"Where is the outrage against such horrendous, repugnant catastrophe that's happening on our watch?" she said.
"Isn't anyone seeing that Uyghurs are facing cultural and physical genocide today because of their identity and religion?"
She told CNN she believed that the US should consider sanctions.
Legislation introduced by Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) in the Senate and by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Thomas Suozzi (D-NY) in the House, calls for the application of Global Magnitsky and related sanctions, among other measures.
The House version had 43 co-sponsors, according to Congress.gov; the Senate version, 28 co-sponsors.
Participants on Monday urged more lawmakers to sign on.
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rubio, Menendez, Smith and Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urging them to impose Global Magnitsky Sanctions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials.
The letter, signed by 22 other senators and 17 other representatives, also called on the Commerce Department "to strengthen export controls to ensure that US companies are not assisting the Chinese Government in creating the vast civilian surveillance or big-data predictive policing systems used in East Turkestan."
"Despite the Chinese government's obfuscations and its slanderous attacks on critics of its abusive policies, there is mounting global concern regarding China's treatment of its minority populations—human rights abuses that may constitute crimes against humanity," the letter said.
"We are disappointed with the Administration's failure so far to impose any sanctions related to the ongoing systemic and egregious human rights abuses in East Turkestan."
At Monday's event, there were also calls for Donald Trump to speak out against the abuses in conversations with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping and other Chinese officials.
Trump will meet with the Vice Premier of China on Thursday.
"I would urge Trump to bring this up in his bilateral discussions as a higher priority than it is right now. There's nothing more important than, at the end of the day, celebrating what makes America exceptional and that is our commitment to human rights and to dignity and to freedom," Rep. Raja Krishnamoorth said.
"And if we can't uphold those values abroad, then where are we as a country? The day that we do not mention this in our bilateral discussion with any other countries is the day that we've lost our way," the Illinois Democrat said.