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The Long Human-Rights March

Jul 17, 2018 Aryeh Neier

Amid many disheartening developments for democracy and the rule of law worldwide, a glimmer of joy recently shone through the gloom. The Chinese poet Liu Xia – the 57-year old widow of the renowned human-rights activist and political dissident Liu Xiaobo – has made it to Europe.

NEW YORK – There has been a lot of bad news lately on the human-rights front. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has resumed air strikes on his people, killing opposition fighters and civilians alike. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party continues to make headway in its quest to destroy judicial independence. The United States Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which prevents immigrants, refugees, and visa holders from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen from entering the country.

But a glimmer of joy recently showed through the gloom of these and other disheartening developments: the Chinese poet Liu Xia – the 57-year old widow of the renowned human-rights activist and political dissident Liu Xiaobo – has made it to Europe.

Liu’s husband, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died of liver cancer last year, nearly eight years into an 11-year prison sentence in China for drafting a petition demanding democracy and respect for human rights. When he was awarded the Nobel in 2010, the Chinese authorities barred his family from travelling to Oslo to accept the prize, placed his wife under house arrest, and allowed her little contact with her husband. The Chinese government continued to monitor and restrict her movements closely, even after his death.

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A Life Lived in Truth PS OnPoint
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A Life Lived in Truth

Ma Jian examines the work and legacy of his friend and fellow dissident, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo.

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Dalia Marin Jul 21, 2018

Thank you for pointing this out.
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j. von Hettlingen Jul 19, 2018

Aryeh Neier does not give up hope on humanity, despite demoralising reports on the human rights front across the globe. Thanks to Angela Merkel, Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was able to leave China for Germany following years under house arrest. A Poet, Liu Xia suffered from depression after eight years under heavy surveillance since her late husband won the prize in 2010. The Nobel Committee called him the "foremost symbol" of the struggle for human rights in China. He was represented by an empty at the ceremony. China froze diplomatic ties with Norway and resumed relations only in December 2016.
Liu Xiaobo, a former university professor and human rights activist, was jailed in 2009 for drafting a manifesto - Charter 08 - calling for reforms, democracy and respect for huma rights, which was seen as “inciting subversion of state power” by the authorities. Liu took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989 and was offered asylum in Australia. But he turned it down, choosing instead to stay, getting arrested and detained on and off. As a consequence, he could no longer teach, publish essays or speak in public. In 2010 he dedicated the prize to all those who died in the Tiananmen crackdown.
In June 2017, amid his 11-year sentence, Chinese authorities said Liu had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. He died weeks later, at the age of 61. Pleas for him to leave China for medical care were rejected, on the grounds that he was too ill to travel. His widow, Liu Xia – according to the authorities – was as a free citizen. But her movements were closely monitored by guards outside her home, who stopped her from leaving and sought to prevent journalists, diplomats and supporters from visiting. This detention took a toll on her physical and mental wellbeing.
It was obvious that the authorities tried to silence Liu Xia, and Amnesty International called for an end to the harassment of her family who stayed in China. It remains to be seen whether they would use her relatives to put pressure on her and prevent her from speaking out in future. She thought she had nothing to live for, since her husband died. Perhaps she might find strength and zest for life again.
The author helped set up the Helsinki Watch in 1978, which aimed to ensure Eastern Bloc countries undergoing severe civil conflict comply with its provisions. It is the predecessor of today’s Human Rights Watch. That Liu Xia could board a Finnair flight from Beijing to Berlin via Helsinki was a result of sustained diplomatic effort led by Germany. Angela Merkel asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Liu, who was granted permission to travel to Germany.
Last year the US embassy in Beijing called on the Chinese authorities to not only release Liu but also to allow his wife out of house arrest. China hit back and dismissed those "irresponsible remarks." Under different circumstaces “the US might have intervened, with the president or perhaps another official, such as the secretary of state, meeting with Chinese authorities to demand Liu’s freedom.” But Trump is not a defender of human rights and liberal values. He sees no point falling out with autocratic leaders and has no sympathy for dissidents and activists.
According to the author Angela Merkel has shown “how important values-driven political leaders can be in advancing human rights in the world – and how tragic it is that there are so few of them.” She has been widely criticised for opening Germany’s borders in 2016 that triggered an influx of refugees into the country. Yet she set an “example of personal decency that has gone a long way toward restoring the good name of a country that, three-quarters of a century ago, was responsible for some of the largest-scale human-rights violations ever recorded.” The problem is that younger Germans are less critical of their country’s troubled past.
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Bernhard Kopp Jul 17, 2018

The international praise for Mrs. Merkel remains puzzling. She was the most hard-nosed opposite of a humanitarian for 3-plus years prior to 2015. Only when she feared the 'bad pictures' on national TV in the summer of 2015 did she make a 180-degree turn.
- Peter Schaeffer Jul 17, 2018
  
  Merkel absolutely believes in "human rights"... If you are a military-age, illegal migrant entering Germany. If you are citizen of Greece living with an economic that makes the U.S. in the Great Depression look good... Not so much.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jul 18, 2018
    
    Very correct. I would even go further. Mrs. Merkel is, on the surface, obviously a very different (and agreeable) personality than Mr. Trump. Underneath her modest appearance and unquestioned smarts, she has all along been ruthlessly focused on her base, on her opinion poll rankings and the rest of it, without any consideration of what is good for Germany, good for the EU - she was at all times only interested in her maintaining power irrespective of the cost, material and immaterial, for years to come.
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