Freedom Week
Written By:
- Date published:
6:28 pm, July 30th, 2008 - 9 comments
Categories: activism, human rights, youtube -
Tags: amnesty international, freedom week, human rights
Amnesty International does some great campaigning and human rights work around the globe and this week is Freedom Week, their annual fundraising and awareness drive.
Most people will be familiar with Amnesty’s work, especially with the spotlight they’ve helped to shine on China’s appalling human rights record in the leadup to the Olympics. What’s often forgotten is the work Amnesty does in highlighting abuses in countries that never make it to the 6 o’clock news.
But they can’t do any of this without money, and that means people like you and me donating. There are a few ways you can do this. You can donate $20 immediately by calling 0900 AMNESTY, donate online by clicking here, or you can join by clicking here.
We spend a lot of time arguing across partisan lines here at The Standard, but I think this is a cause that everyone can support.
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The National Government is oblivious to the impact cuts to services will have on New Zealanders who are doing the hard yards caring for mentally ill family members. ...2 weeks ago
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Nicola Willis has set up the public service to fail to pay for reckless tax cuts for landlords and the tobacco industry. ...2 weeks ago
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National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...2 weeks ago
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There are 104 fewer police officers now than there were when National came into Government. ...2 weeks ago
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The National Government’s decisions have hindered, not helped the economy. ...2 weeks ago
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The Government is failing the manufacturing sector with no plan for its future. ...2 weeks ago
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Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay today welcomed a move by the European Commission to delay the implementation of the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by 12 months, describing the proposal as a pragmatic step that will provide much-needed certainty for New Zealand exporters and ensure over $200 million in ...18 hours ago
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Introduction Good morning! What a pleasure to be back in the stunning West Coast at one of my favourite events in the calendar. Every time I come back here, I’m reminded of the Coast’s natural beauty, valuable resources, and great people. Yet, every time I come back here, I’m also ...2 days ago
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David Clarke has been announced as the Chief Commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC). David Clarke is a barrister specialising in corporate and commercial law and he has over 20 years experience in governance roles in commercial, public and charitable sectors. He also is a current TAIC Commissioner. ...4 days ago
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Partnership and looking to the future are key themes as Defence Ministers from across the South Pacific discuss regional security challenges in Auckland today, Defence Minister Judith Collins says. The South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) brings together Defence Ministers, Chiefs of Defence and Secretaries of Defence from New Zealand, ...4 days ago
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- Final 2024 Action Plan focused on infrastructure
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- Four new laws to tackle crime passed in Q3
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- Human rights recommendations accepted
The Government is accepting the majority of human rights recommendations received at the fourth Universal Period Review in Geneva, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We have considered all 259 recommendations from the United Nations. We are supporting 168 and partially supporting 12 of these recommendations. “Recommendations related to women’s rights, ...1 week ago
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- Free mental health resources for business owners
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MONDAYA cold wind came down from the mountain range of the Sierra Thorndons and swept through the empty main street of Labour City.It had been the exact same weather for over a year.A few old-timers remembered a time of golden weather. Sometimes they thought they might only have dreamt it ...2 hours ago
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- The Weekend: Is Wellington really ‘gayer’ than Auckland?
Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on the week that was. As a teenager in the mid to late 90s, I vividly remember a statistical “urban legend” doing the rounds. “15% of the population is gay, so… [insert number based on how many people were in the classroom] must be gay.” I have ...3 hours ago
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The Human Rights brigade are today’s missionaries. China can deal with its own problems of social development. It doesnt need hypocritical preaching from Westerners who hold the record for genocide and ecocide which included the opium wars.
China has fought a war of independence, tried to develop in isolation of the world economy, and is only now industrialising at a pace and on a scale never seen before.
Each year Chinese workers and farmers make thousands of demonstrations and strikes for better conditions and basic rights without the patronising advice of Western moralists.
I would say compared with the post-9-11 West dominated by the US, in 20 years time China has the potential to be a model of socialist democracy.
Even now the US and its ‘allies’ are committing genocide in Iraq and taking away elementary civil rights in the so-called ‘war on terror’. Unless we take responsibility for defending these basic rights, well short of twenty years time we will be living in fascist states.
Rave. No one is against Chinese workers and farmers having strikes and demonstrations. The objection of Amnesty and its supporters is to the Chinese dictatorship’s treatment of these people.
As you yourself point out, objection to the Chinese regime comes from within China as well. So does support for Amnesty. Amnesty is also very critical of the human rights practices of the US and other Western countries – as an organisation it pulls no punches and grants no favours to any country.
You’re supposed to be a socialist, right? Tell me, what ever happened to international solidarity? You can’t seriously believe that criticising a foreign regime is the same as criticising the people it oppresses.
I lost faith in Amnesty International when it claimed John Howard’s Government had a human rights record similar to that of the regimes of Robert Mugabe and Omar al-Bashir.
Blar- I doubt you ever had much faith in them to start with, but in any case, do you have a link?
Go find the report yourself you tard – I’m not a private research unit.
International solidarity with Chinese workers and farmers struggles against the regime is the way to advance to socialism, not Western moralists preaching hypocritically at the regime when their own Western governments are the biggest causes and beneficiaries of historic oppression in China.
So-called human rights are the democratic rights of capitalist society, not some universal set of principles. Now that China is finally overcoming its colonial history and is catching up economically with the West, I expect its workers and farmers will be in the position to win their democratic rights by kicking out the capitalists.
When I see Amnesty lining up on picket lines and fighting for socialist democracy instead of appealing to the ‘international community’ to pressure the Chinese regime to adopt Western democracy, then I’ll support it.
I think the fact Amnesty pisses off the fringe left and the fringe right is an indication they’re doing the right thing.
Daveo steps up to the plate, knocks that clean out of the park!
Two thumbs-up to you.
What AI did was divorce human rights from political context. They treat it as an aberration independent of political realities. Show me a political analysis from AI.
People were disappeared in Argentina for example because there were bad people disappearing people, not because of a political system that needed their disappearance to survive.
As for worker’s rights in China, as mentioned on an old thread , a big obstacle to their rights are the western corporations who threaten to move elsewhere if workers get rights.
What’s AI got to say about that? Nothing. Why? Because they treat human rights abuses in a vacuum.
The result is that AI will be highlighting abuses on a case by case basis ‘for ever’…they combat the effect, not the cause.