Zapatismos

We propose an outline in honor of the Ten Commandments and the Ten Point Program of our forbearers.

1. We want to empower the malnourished communities of America with the tools to cultivate intellectualism.

We believe that the human experience is only inhibited by its environment, we must develop a mind set of assisting those outside our family or church.  A community the strives for education for all, is a community moving towards enlightenment.

2. We want to challenge the economic status quo, ensuring total economic opportunity for all.

We believe that the social contract which is our federal government, has a duty to ensure that all its citizenry receive a fair share in our nation's economy.  Because this institution is written to be for the people and by the people, we shall take this as a writ of coram nobis to amend the socio-economic inequality with dominate our streets and neighborhoods.  Our primary focus will be the promotion of co-ops and work owned collectives.

3. We want to promote diversity within our communities and take joy in the rainbow of our existence.

We believe oppression is prevalent within every middle and lower class community within the United States.  We shall create a movement of solidarity amongst all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, to unite for an equal socio-economic existence for all citizens.

4. We want decent housing, fit for shelter of human beings.

We believe that the community should turn poorly run housing and land into cooperatives so that the community, with government aid, can build and make decent housing for its people.

5. We want education which does not attempt to rewrite history and promotes the Arts as much as STEM programs.

We believe the traditional cultural domination of English and Protestant American cultures is contrary to the historical origins of the United States.  We believe the teachings of W.E.B. DuBois who recovered the historical truth of a free black men, women and children in the New World prior to English colonialism; of black indentured servants working towards freedom during the early days of American colonial life; of black passages of freedom through the Frontier state of Florida before post-reconstruction Jim Crow began its stranglehold on the South.  Moreover, we advocate a strong liberal arts education rooted in philosophy, civics and the arts to accompany courses in science and economics.

6. We want the government to end aggressive military recruitment practices in low income neighborhoods.

We understand that senators and representatives rarely risk losing a son or daughter fighting in a foreign land.  We demand a writ of supersedeas, that the United States military cease and desist all marketing of violent professions towards our nation's youth.  This includes the active promotion of military style shooting games with recruitment advertisements. 

7. We want to end predatory search procedures and brutality from the police.

We believe the system of violence that plagues our culture, is promoted by a near criminal nature of municipal police forces throughout the nation.  We demand the federal government take the necessary steps to ensure that all civil rights are respected by our state and local police forces, in every instance.

8. We want freedom for all citizens in prison under marijuana and cocaine related charges.

We believe a complete amnesty must be placed on all minor drug convictions.  The government must take an active approach in regulating American vices through taxation.  Marijuana, cocaine, prostitution should be decriminalized at a federal level and regulated by state departments of Health.  The income from these billion dollar industries would fund universal education and healthcare in less than a year from the date of the Amendment to the constitution.

9. We want all black (Spanish and native American included) peoples when brought to trial to be tried in court by a jury of their peer group or people from their black communities, as defined by the Constitution of the United States.

    We believe that the courts should follow the United States Constitution so that black people will receive fair trials. The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background. To do this the court will be forced to select a jury from the black community from which the black defendant came. We have been, and are being tried by all-white juries that have no understanding of the "average reasoning man" of the black community.

10. We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace. And as our major political objective, a United Nations-supervised plebiscite to be held throughout the black colony in which only black colonial subjects will be allowed to participate for the purpose of determining the will of black people as to their national destiny.

    When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpation, pursuing invariable the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

sed ipse spiritus postulat pro nobis, gemitibus inenarrabilibus
But the same Spirit intercedes incessantly for us, with inexpressible groans
Romans 8:26

Your High Excellencies
President Obama, Président Sarkozy, Bundeskanzlerin Merkel, Prime Minister Cameron,

by Kevin Galalae

It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of responsibility that I deem it necessary to write to you on my 28th day of hunger strike at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, where I have so far failed to compel Commissioner Hammarberg and the Council of Europe to exercise their authority to condemn and shut down a covert program of surveillance and censorship (SAC) of students in universities that operates in the UK since 2007 and in the EU since 2010 under the cover of Resolution 1624 (2005), with the blessings of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) and under the supervision of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED).

The very existence of this unlawful, unethical, divisive and discriminatory program demonstrates that the safeguards put in place to prevent violations of international law and the European Convention are ineffective and that neither the people in charge of the greater counter-radicalization agenda nor the supervisory bodies charged with enforcing respect for the law and democratic values are willing to admit that human rights, civil liberties and protection under the law are being trampled on with impunity and without accountability for questionable objectives that fall far outside the scope of the counter-radicalization strategy.

The powers accorded to the CTC and the CTED are being grossly abused with dire consequences for free speech, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of association, the right to privacy and family life, and academic freedom, to name but a few. Their brazen actions show that nothing is sacred for the self-serving cabal of international corruption and global autocracy that has taken root at the UN and that has begot a global industry of absolute control and oppression.
The damage they have done is incalculable. The freedom of the press, the integrity of civil society and the independence and impartiality of the courts have been annihilated to protect the operations, violations and secrecy of illegal and immoral programs like SAC that have been let loose on our societies, on our values, on our freedoms and on our children. Unless stopped, there will be nothing left of our democracies except empty shells and hypocrisy.

The forces of autocracy – empowered and emboldened by the self-serving indifference and incompetence of UN and EU high officials, who refuse to fulfill their duties; by the silence of the press and civil society, who are afraid to tell the truth; and by the perversion of the judiciary, who have been coerced to stand idle while violations are endemic – have most recently launched a vicious attack on the people’s court of last resort, the European Court of Human Rights, in an attempt to make justice unreachable to the ever-growing number of victims of abuse by State Parties that routinely violate their people in order to stifle legitimate dissent and democratic aspirations, defend the interests of the elites, silence criticism of misguided policies and political corruption, and reduce the poor the weak and the foreign to second class status under the cover of countering terrorism and radicalization.

I ask you as a father, as a Canadian and as a global citizen to halt the onslaught on our democracies and democratic aspirations, the debasement of our fundamental rights and liberties, the annihilation of good will among peoples and nations, and the destruction of our children’s futures committed by State actors in the name of countering radicalization. The powers granted by Resolution 1624 are too great to be controlled, too broad to be contained and too intrusive not to be abused. If the UK could not help but fall victim to its own creation, Resolution 1624, and Britain’s legal system and civil society could not confront its violations and defend the innocent, who are but children, then what hope is there for nations that lack democratic institutions and a legal culture or that are torn by ethnic divides, poverty and ignorance?

Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, the time has come to turn a new page and return to the values and norms we have abandoned and on which our freedom and dignity rest; values and norms that we have no right to proclaim and promote in the world when we no longer abide by them.

Not resurrecting democracy and freedom, truth and decency, the rule of law and due process would be pure folly since the damage done to our rights and freedoms and to our democracies by the bodies meant to protect us is far greater than the damage done by terrorists or the threat they pose. The only way to stop terrorism and radicalization is by tempering the excesses of capitalism and by creating societies of inclusion that are respectful of our inalienable rights, tolerant of differences, mindful of clashing worldviews and that welcome each and all in the fold of economic security and political self-determination.

Do not let institutional repression intimidate and deceive you as they have intimidated and deceived us and sully your reputations and legacies the way they have sullied our values and rights. You have the power to act and are the only people left who can restore our democracies and the rule of law.

Disband the CTC and CTED, scrap the counter-radicalization deception, and condemn and punish those responsible for debasing free speech and freedom of conscience on their most sacred ground, the universities, where they must be protected like humanity’s greatest treasures. As heads of state and close allies you have the authority to coordinate such a change of direction. You have tied the Gordian knot, you must now untie it. History will look harshly upon you if you don’t.

I shall stand guard at the gates of power, ragged and hungry, until you do.

(More from Kevin at Cryptome.org)

Engineer immolates self for Sri Lankan Tamils' cause
--thehindu--
April 19, 2011 23:25 IST | Updated: April 19, 2011 23:31 IST TIRUNELVELI, April 19, 2011

A young engineer from a poor family of a sleepy hamlet in Tirunelveli district immolated himself on Monday, apparently as an expression of sympathy to Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Though 23-year-old R. Krishnamurthy, an electrical and electronics engineer from Sundaresapuram under Kuruvikulam police station limits, had not discussed anything about the Sri Lankan issue with his friends, according to his cousin Suresh, also an engineer, he was very disturbed after coming to his birthplace from Rajasthan, where he works.

Suicide note

The suicide note stated that the Tamils, who were tortured by the Sinhalese, should be compensated adequately.

“The new government in Tamil Nadu should not assume office until a separate State for Sri Lankan Tamils is ensured.”

The letter admired the “valour” of Muthukumar, who killed himself in Chennai in protest against the killing of Sri Lankan Tamils.

According to Krishnamurthy's mother R. Subbulakshmi, her son asked her to prepare tea around 5 a.m. Even as she was preparing it, Krishnamurthy poured petrol and immolated himself. She tried to save her son and suffered burns.

“Even after sustaining serious burns all over the body, my son was saying that the Tamils in Tamil Nadu should do something to save the Sri Lankan Tamils,” she said.

Arrangement for mother's treatment

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko, who met the bereaved family at Seegampatti on Tuesday morning, made immediate arrangements for taking Ms. Subbulakshmi to a Madurai-based multi-specialty hospital.

Tax the Rich
Poll: Taxing the rich favored over Medicare cuts
JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 4/20/11 6:10 AM EDT

The potential solution to the debt crisis that gets the strongest support is raising taxes on Americans who make $250,000 or more annually, an idea that Obama campaigned on in 2008, backed away from last year to make a legislative deal with Republicans, but has returned to as he’s begun discussing his vision for long-term fiscal responsibility. Of those surveyed, 72 percent said they support tax increases on people with incomes of more than $250,000, including 54 percent who strongly support them. Twenty-seven percent are opposed, including 17 percent strongly.

1 out of 5 Barcelona citizens vote in favour of secession of Catalonia
AP - 04/11/2011 | Barcelona, Spain |
now The referendum had a 21.37 percent turnout with 257,745 participants, including registered foreign immigrants and anyone over 16.

The citizens of the Spanish city of Barcelona voted on Sunday by more than 90 per cent in favour of independence for the province of Catalonia from the central government in Madrid.

The unofficial referendum was organised by Decideix, which describes itself as "a citizen's initiative to organise a referendum in the city of Barcelona on Catalonia's independence from Spain."

The referendum had a 21.37 percent turnout with 257,745 participants, including registered foreign immigrants and anyone over 16.

By 23.30 local time (21.30GMT) some 44 percent of the votes had been counted, with just over 91 percent in favour of the secession of Catalonia from the rest of Spain.

Critics say this had more to do with warm spring-like weather than political commitment and democracy.

Barcelona is the last city, and the second biggest in Spain, to symbolically decide about independence following a series of plebiscites across Catalonia over the past 18 months.

The Spanish government has tried to stop all unofficial referendums but so far 515 Catalan towns and villages have held them, around half of Catalonia's municipalities.

Next Wednesday, April 13, the Catalan parliament will debate a bill to unilaterally declare independence from Spain.

Catalonia accounts for around one-fifth of Spain's economy, about one seventh of the population, and has long complained it contributes more than a fair share.

Along with the Basque region, Catalonia was heavily oppressed under the 1939-1975 dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, which made it a crime to speak the Catalan and Basque languages in the interest of promoting Spain as a Madrid-run Castilian-speaking unified country.

China's Great Firewall Father Speaks Out
Global Times
February 18 2011
By Fang Yunyu The father of the Great Firewall of China (GFW) has signed up to six virtual private networks (VPNs) that he uses to access some of the websites he had originally helped block.

"I have six VPNs on my home computer," says Fang Binxing, 50, president of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "But I only try them to test which side wins: the GFW or the VPN.

"I'm not interested in reading messy information like some of that anti-government stuff."

There's a popular joke circulating the Chinese mainland about Mark Zuckerberg's surprise visit to Beijing around Christmas last year: The frustrated Facebook president is said to have pleaded with local Chinese entrepreneurs to show him how to beat the Great Firewall.

"Ever since I landed here in China I can't log onto my Facebook account!" he tells them.

The joke might not be real, but the Great Firewall of China is very much alive, blocking the world's most popular websites including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and WikiLeaks.

Fang's handiwork brought down on him an intense barrage of online criticism in December when he opened a microblog on Sina.com.

Within three hours, nearly 10,000 Web users left messages for the father of the Great Firewall. Few were complimentary.

Sacrifice for the country

As a self-described "scholar," Fang says he was only doing the right thing, and anyway, sticks and stones.

He confirms he was head designer for key parts of the Great Firewall reportedly launched in 1998 that came online about 2003.

Fang shut down his microblog account after a few days and has kept mum about the incident until now.

"I regard the dirty abuse as a sacrifice for my country," Fang says. "They can't get what they want so they need to blame someone emotionally: like if you fail to get a US visa and you slag off the US visa official afterwards."

This massive accumulation of sarcastic and ugly abuse of Fang all stemmed from his role in creating a technology that filters controversial keywords and blocks access to websites deemed sensitive.

Fang refuses to reveal how the Great Firewall works. Crossing hands over chest, he says, "It's confidential."

As to the future of his creation, that's not up to him, Fang says.

"My design was chosen in the end because my project was the most excellent," he says with a big, tight smile, then pauses. "The country urgently needed such a system at that time."

The year 1998 was a turning point for the development of the Internet in China, says Zhang Zhi'an, associate professor of the journalism school at Fudan University in Shanghai.

It was when portals Sina.com and Sohu.com first appeared and the number of Chinese mainland Web users hit 1 million. It was also when the government began paying serious attention to the Internet, he says.

"Building the Great Firewall was a natural reaction to something newborn and unknown," Zhang says.

Patient and rational

The father of the Great Firewall doesn't avoid defending the momentous Chinese mainland decision to monitor the flow of information on the Internet.

Such a firewall is a "common phenomenon around the world," he argues, and nor is China alone in monitoring and controlling the Internet.

"As far as I know, about 180 countries including South Korea and the US monitor the Internet as well."

He avoids all discussion of the relative quantity and qualities of overseas censorship when compared to his own unique creation.

Some foreign countries - even developed countries - ban access to websites when content violates their laws, such as neo-Nazi information blocked by Germany.

What irks many Chinese online users is simply being unable to access such apparently harmless fare as Facebook or YouTube.

Social networking tools are reportedly not just designed to entertain. Asked what would happen next after political upheavals rocked Tunisia and Egypt, Wael Ghonim, one of the individuals responsible for toppling the Mubarak regime replied, "Ask Facebook."

Fully aware of the political influence of the Internet, the US has stepped up its efforts to research online penetration tools and exert pressure on foreign governments such as China.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a speech on Tuesday that the US administration would spend $25 million this year helping online users get around such curbs as the Great Firewall of China to achieve "absolute freedom" of Internet information flow.

Asked to comment on Clinton's speech earlier this week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu Thursday repeated previous statements that online users in China enjoy freedom of speech "in accordance with the law."

"China objects to any country's interference with China's internal affairs under the banner of Internet freedom."

Everlasting war

Fudan University professor Zhang Zhian notes that during the last decade, China's Internet freedom has developed a lot in terms of Web user awareness and freedom of speech.

"The change has been huge," he says. "China's Internet is still in the process of development.

"We'll listen to foreign countries' opinions on the development of China's Internet, but we should have our own timetable.

"The process takes time and we should be patient and rational."

Fang concedes his Great Firewall doesn't do a great job of distinguishing between good and evil information. If a website contains sensitive words, the firewall often simply blocks everything "due to the limitations of the technology," he says, expecting it would become more sophisticated in the future.

"The firewall monitors them and blocks them all," he says. "It's like when passengers aren't allowed to take water aboard an airplane because our security gates aren't good enough to differentiate between water and nitroglycerin."

Before he speaks, the GFW's father always pauses a few seconds and then when he talks, adopts a measured tone and a considered pace.

Calls for a more open information flow represent a soft power threat to China from foreign forces, Fang asserts.

"Some countries hope North Korea will open up its Internet," he says. "But if it really did so, other countries would get the upper hand."

When US President Barack Obama visited Shanghai, he talked about the importance of a more open Internet with Chinese students.

Some analysts perceive freedom of speech as expanding on the Chinese mainland in recent years via the Internet, while others argue that the Great Firewall is as belligerent as ever.

With more than 450 million Internet users, China now has the largest national online population in the world.

It's an everlasting war between the GFW and VPNs, Fang says.

"So far, the GFW is lagging behind and still needs improvement," he says.

The situation is better described as traffic control, Fang says.

"Drivers just obey the rules and so citizens should just play with what they have."

(cont...)

‘Hacktivists’ retaliate against security expert
By Joseph Menn in San Francisco
February 7 2011 22:53
--ft.com--The cyber-activist group Anonymous reacted quickly over the weekend to infiltration by a US security analyst, hacking into his personal online accounts and computers and distributing thousands of e-mails and other documents.

The attack embarrassed researcher Aaron Barr, head of HBGary Federal, a contractor for US intelligence and other government agencies, while demonstrating that Anonymous has considerable technical abilities.

Members of Anonymous – that last year marshalled attacks which crashed the websites of MasterCard, PayPal and other businesses that had broken ties with whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks – said they hacked into the company to read the documentation behind Mr Barr’s claim, first reported in the Financial Times, that he could identify most of the group’s top leaders.

In statements posted to the web, the activists ridiculed his methods and conclusions, maintained that they are part of a broad movement without established leaders, and claimed that, in spite of his comments to the contrary, Mr Barr had hoped to sell his findings to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Mr Barr denied the allegation on Monday, saying that Anonymous misinterpreted a pitch to sell the agency software tools. He said he had received death threats but that his customers were being supportive.

Other security experts said they were alarmed by the hacking attack on HBGary Federal and a part-owner, HB Gary Inc., which employed a combination of tactics, including tricking an administrator into sending a new password.

The incident “makes me want to change all my PWs [passwords] and re-evaluate my processes”, Jeremiah Grossman, founder of WhiteHat Security, wrote on Twitter. “Do not poke the bear.”

Penny Leavy, HB Gary Inc. president, said the data disclosure would cost the two companies millions of dollars and that it would work with the authorities to catch those responsible.

“They have committed a crime against our company and, unfortunately, we are legally bound,” she said. “I wish it had been handled differently.”

Mr Barr again said on Monday that he did not intend to publish the names of Anonymous leaders, adding that his research, to be presented later this month at a security conference in San Francisco, was part of a study on how social networking sites make it easier for hackers to penetrate secretive organisations.

In the Anonymous case, he matched Facebook log-in times with the times when group members signed in to Anonymous’s internet relay chat groups. At a nuclear plant and a US military outfit, he used LinkedIn, Classmates and Facebook to assume identities and build trust before inducing targets to click on internet links that could have infected their machines with spy software.

Anonymous has been under pressure from a co-ordinated international law enforcement effort that has included five arrests in the UK and 40 court-authorised searches in the US. But it continues to organise what it sees as legitimate protests, including attacks on Egyptian government websites, and has now signalled that it is more than willing to take the fight elsewhere.

It began with Saddam, say Iraqis Sunday,
30 January 2011 02:37
-thepeninsulaqatar--

BAGHDAD: Iraqis yesterday welcomed the revolt in Egypt that threatens to topple President Hosni Mubarak, with some claiming the tremors shaking Arab rulers had begun with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

“Saddam was their teacher, and all of these dictators are his little pupils,” declared Hussein Mohammed, taking a break from loading boxes of imported toys into a truck.

“The dictator (Mubarak) must leave — all dictators must go,” the 55-year-old added, noting that he stayed up until 4.00am listening to the radio for news from Cairo.

“From Morocco to Saudi Arabia, we Arabs want all dictators out.”

Other Iraqis remained glued to their television sets throughout the day, with electronics store owner Maher Minjal tuning four televisions to different Arabic news channels reporting events in Egypt.

“The fuse was lit by Iraq, because we became the first Arab country to achieve democracy and get an elected government,” said Minjal, 28, from his store in Baghdad’s commercial Karrada district.

“If the regime in Egypt falls, all other Arab regimes will fall, because Egypt is the biggest and most powerful country in the Arab world.” Anti-regime riots that raged yesterday for a fifth straight day in Egypt, inspired by the overthrow of Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali earlier this month, have sent shockwaves across the region.

At least one Iraqi political analyst agreed with the assessment that Iraq had begun a process that seemed to be spreading across the Middle East.

“It is absolutely true that (former US president George W) Bush was right when he said that democracy in Iraq would sweep through the Arab world,” Baghdad-based analyst Ihsan
Al Shammari said.

“In fact, Iraq was the first democratic regime in the region, but we are different from Egypt and Tunisia in that we were changed by foreign forces (the US-led coalition) and they are being changed by popular uprisings.

Iraq’s Al Mashriq newspaper pejoratively referred to Mubarak as a “Pharaoh,” and said the day of reckoning had come for a leader who had been a friend to the enemies of Arabs, which it said were Israel and the United States. “The American ally and the friend of Israel has been ruling Egypt since 1981, but the ground is shaking beneath the feet of the Pharaoh,” the Arabic-language newspaper said in an editoria. AFP

Liu Xiaobo

Charter 08, Human Rights in China

Charter 08

Translated from the Chinese by Perry Link

The document below, signed by over three hundred prominent Chinese citizens,
was conceived and written in conscious admiration of the founding of Charter
77 in Czechoslovakia, where, in January 1977, more than two hundred Czech
and Slovak intellectuals formed a loose, informal, and open association of
people... united by the will to strive individually and collectively for
respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world.

The Chinese document calls not for ameliorative reform of the current
political system but for an end to some of its essential features, including
one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights
and democracy.

The prominent citizens who have signed the document are from both outside
and inside the government, and include not only well-known dissidents and
intellectuals, but also middle-level officials and rural leaders. They have
chosen December 10, the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, as the day on which to express their political ideas and to outline
their vision of a constitutional, democratic China. They intend "Charter 08"
to serve as a blueprint for fundamental political change in China in the
years to come. The signers of the document will form an informal group,
open-ended in size but united by a determination to promote democratization
and protection of human rights in China and beyond.

On December 8 two prominent signers of the Charter, Zhang Zuhua and Liu
Xiaobo, were detained by the police. Zhang Zuhua has since been released; as
of December 9, Liu Xiabo remains in custody.

I. Foreword

A hundred years have passed since the writing of China's first constitution.
2008 also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the thirtieth anniversary of the
appearance of Democracy Wall in Beijing, and the tenth of China's signing of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We are approaching
the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy
student protesters. The Chinese people, who have endured human rights
disasters and uncountable struggles across these same years, now include
many who see clearly that freedom, equality, and human rights are universal
values of humankind and that democracy and constitutional government are the
fundamental framework for protecting these values.

By departing from these values, the Chinese government's approach to
"modernization" has proven disastrous. It has stripped people of their
rights, destroyed their dignity, and corrupted normal human intercourse. So
we ask: Where is China headed in the twenty-first century? Will it continue
with "modernization" under authoritarian rule, or will it embrace universal
human values, join the mainstream of civilized nations, and build a
democratic system? There can be no avoiding these questions.

The shock of the Western impact upon China in the nineteenth century laid
bare a decadent authoritarian system and marked the beginning of what is
often called "the greatest changes in thousands of years" for China. A
"self-strengthening movement" followed, but this aimed simply at
appropriating the technology to build gunboats and other Western material
objects. China's humiliating naval defeat at the hands of Japan in 1895 only
confirmed the obsolescence of China's system of government. The first
attempts at modern political change came with the ill-fated summer of
reforms in 1898, but these were cruelly crushed by ultraconservatives at
China's imperial court. With the revolution of 1911, which inaugurated
Asia's first republic, the authoritarian imperial system that had lasted for
centuries was finally supposed to have been laid to rest. But social
conflict inside our country and external pressures were to prevent it; China
fell into a patchwork of warlord fiefdoms and the new republic became a
fleeting dream.

The failure of both "self-strengthening" and political renovation caused
many of our forebears to reflect deeply on whether a "cultural illness" was
afflicting our country. This mood gave rise, during the May Fourth Movement
of the late 1910s, to the championing of "science and democracy." Yet that
effort, too, foundered as warlord chaos persisted and the Japanese invasion
[beginning in Manchuria in 1931] brought national crisis.

Victory over Japan in 1945 offered one more chance for China to move toward
modern government, but the Communist defeat of the Nationalists in the civil
war thrust the nation into the abyss of totalitarianism. The "new China"
that emerged in 1949 proclaimed that "the people are sovereign" but in fact
set up a system in which "the Party is all-powerful." The Communist Party of
China seized control of all organs of the state and all political, economic,
and social resources, and, using these, has produced a long trail of human
rights disasters, including, among many others, the Anti-Rightist Campaign
(1957), the Great Leap Forward (1958ˆ1960), the Cultural Revolution
(1966ˆ1969), the June Fourth (Tiananmen Square) Massacre (1989), and the
current repression of all unauthorized religions and the suppression of the
weiquan rights movement [a movement that aims to defend citizens' rights
promulgated in the Chinese Constitution and to fight for human rights
recognized by international conventions that the Chinese government has
signed]. During all this, the Chinese people have paid a gargantuan price.
Tens of millions have lost their lives, and several generations have seen
their freedom, their happiness, and their human dignity cruelly trampled.

During the last two decades of the twentieth century the government policy
of "Reform and Opening" gave the Chinese people relief from the pervasive
poverty and totalitarianism of the Mao Zedong era and brought substantial
increases in the wealth and living standards of many Chinese as well as a
partial restoration of economic freedom and economic rights. Civil society
began to grow, and popular calls for more rights and more political freedom
have grown apace. As the ruling elite itself moved toward private ownership
and the market economy, it began to shift from an outright rejection of
"rights" to a partial acknowledgment of them.

In 1998 the Chinese government signed two important international human
rights conventions; in 2004 it amended its constitution to include the
phrase "respect and protect human rights"; and this year, 2008, it has
promised to promote a "national human rights action plan." Unfortunately
most of this political progress has extended no further than the paper on
which it is written. The political reality, which is plain for anyone to
see, is that China has many laws but no rule of law; it has a constitution
but no constitutional government. The ruling elite continues to cling to its
authoritarian power and fights off any move toward political change.

The stultifying results are endemic official corruption, an undermining of
the rule of law, weak human rights, decay in public ethics, crony
capitalism, growing inequality between the wealthy and the poor, pillage of
the natural environment as well as of the human and historical environments,
and the exacerbation of a long list of social conflicts, especially, in
recent times, a sharpening animosity between officials and ordinary people.

As these conflicts and crises grow ever more intense, and as the ruling
elite continues with impunity to crush and to strip away the rights of
citizens to freedom, to property, and to the pursuit of happiness, we see
the powerless in our society˜the vulnerable groups, the people who have been
suppressed and monitored, who have suffered cruelty and even torture, and
who have had no adequate avenues for their protests, no courts to hear their
pleas˜becoming more militant and raising the possibility of a violent
conflict of disastrous proportions. The decline of the current system has
reached the point where change is no longer optional.

II. Our Fundamental Principles

This is a historic moment for China, and our future hangs in the balance. In
reviewing the political modernization process of the past hundred years or
more, we reiterate and endorse basic universal values as follows:

Freedom. Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association,
freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to
protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom,
China will always remain far from civilized ideals.

Human rights. Human rights are not bestowed by a state. Every person is born
with inherent rights to dignity and freedom. The government exists for the
protection of the human rights of its citizens. The exercise of state power
must be authorized by the people. The succession of political disasters in
China's recent history is a direct consequence of the ruling regime's
disregard for human rights.

Equality. The integrity, dignity, and freedom of every person˜regardless of
social station, occupation, sex, economic condition, ethnicity, skin color,
religion, or political belief˜are the same as those of any other. Principles
of equality before the law and equality of social, economic, cultural,
civil, and political rights must be upheld.

Republicanism. Republicanism, which holds that power should be balanced
among different branches of government and competing interests should be
served, resembles the traditional Chinese political ideal of "fairness in
all under heaven." It allows different interest groups and social
assemblies, and people with a variety of cultures and beliefs, to exercise
democratic self-government and to deliberate in order to reach peaceful
resolution of public questions on a basis of equal access to government and
free and fair competition.

Democracy. The most fundamental principles of democracy are that the people
are sovereign and the people select their government. Democracy has these
characteristics: (1) Political power begins with the people and the
legitimacy of a regime derives from the people. (2) Political power is
exercised through choices that the people make. (3) The holders of major
official posts in government at all levels are determined through periodic
competitive elections. (4) While honoring the will of the majority, the
fundamental dignity, freedom, and human rights of minorities are protected.
In short, democracy is a modern means for achieving government truly "of the
people, by the people, and for the people."

Constitutional rule. Constitutional rule is rule through a legal system and
legal regulations to implement principles that are spelled out in a
constitution. It means protecting the freedom and the rights of citizens,
limiting and defining the scope of legitimate government power, and
providing the administrative apparatus necessary to serve these ends.

III. What We Advocate

Authoritarianism is in general decline throughout the world; in China, too,
the era of emperors and overlords is on the way out. The time is arriving
everywhere for citizens to be masters of states. For China the path that
leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the
authoritarian notion of reliance on an "enlightened overlord" or an "honest
official" and to turn instead toward a system of liberties, democracy, and
the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness of modern citizens
who see rights as fundamental and participation as a duty. Accordingly, and
in a spirit of this duty as responsible and constructive citizens, we offer
the following recommendations on national governance, citizens' rights, and
social development:

1. A New Constitution. We should recast our present constitution, rescinding
its provisions that contradict the principle that sovereignty resides with
the people and turning it into a document that genuinely guarantees human
rights, authorizes the exercise of public power, and serves as the legal
underpinning of China's democratization. The constitution must be the
highest law in the land, beyond violation by any individual, group, or
political party.

2. Separation of powers. We should construct a modern government in which
the separation of legislative, judicial, and executive power is guaranteed.
We need an Administrative Law that defines the scope of government
responsibility and prevents abuse of administrative power. Government should
be responsible to taxpayers. Division of power between provincial
governments and the central government should adhere to the principle that
central powers are only those specifically granted by the constitution and
all other powers belong to the local governments.

3. Legislative democracy. Members of legislative bodies at all levels should
be chosen by direct election, and legislative democracy should observe just
and impartial principles.

4. An Independent Judiciary. The rule of law must be above the interests of
any particular political party and judges must be independent. We need to
establish a constitutional supreme court and institute procedures for
constitutional review. As soon as possible, we should abolish all of the
Committees on Political and Legal Affairs that now allow Communist Party
officials at every level to decide politically-sensitive cases in advance
and out of court. We should strictly forbid the use of public offices for
private purposes.

5. Public Control of Public Servants. The military should be made answerable
to the national government, not to a political party, and should be made
more professional. Military personnel should swear allegiance to the
constitution and remain nonpartisan. Political party organizations shall be
prohibited in the military. All public officials including police should
serve as nonpartisans, and the current practice of favoring one political
party in the hiring of public servants must end.

6. Guarantee of Human Rights. There shall be strict guarantees of human
rights and respect for human dignity. There should be a Human Rights
Committee, responsible to the highest legislative body, that will prevent
the government from abusing public power in violation of human rights. A
democratic and constitutional China especially must guarantee the personal
freedom of citizens. No one shall suffer illegal arrest, detention,
arraignment, interrogation, or punishment. The system of "Reeducation
through Labor" must be abolished.

7. Election of Public Officials. There shall be a comprehensive system of
democratic elections based on "one person, one vote." The direct election of
administrative heads at the levels of county, city, province, and nation
should be systematically implemented. The rights to hold periodic free
elections and to participate in them as a citizen are inalienable.

8. RuralˆUrban Equality. The two-tier household registry system must be
abolished. This system favors urban residents and harms rural residents. We
should establish instead a system that gives every citizen the same
constitutional rights and the same freedom to choose where to live.

9. Freedom to Form Groups. The right of citizens to form groups must be
guaranteed. The current system for registering nongovernment groups, which
requires a group to be "approved," should be replaced by a system in which a
group simply registers itself. The formation of political parties should be
governed by the constitution and the laws, which means that we must abolish
the special privilege of one party to monopolize power and must guarantee
principles of free and fair competition among political parties.

10. Freedom to Assemble. The constitution provides that peaceful assembly,
demonstration, protest, and freedom of expression are fundamental rights of
a citizen. The ruling party and the government must not be permitted to
subject these to illegal interference or unconstitutional obstruction.

11. Freedom of Expression. We should make freedom of speech, freedom of the
press, and academic freedom universal, thereby guaranteeing that citizens
can be informed and can exercise their right of political supervision. These
freedoms should be upheld by a Press Law that abolishes political
restrictions on the press. The provision in the current Criminal Law that
refers to "the crime of incitement to subvert state power" must be
abolished. We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes.

12. Freedom of Religion. We must guarantee freedom of religion and belief
and institute a separation of religion and state. There must be no
governmental interference in peaceful religious activities. We should
abolish any laws, regulations, or local rules that limit or suppress the
religious freedom of citizens. We should abolish the current system that
requires religious groups (and their places of worship) to get official
approval in advance and substitute for it a system in which registry is
optional and, for those who choose to register, automatic.

13. Civic Education. In our schools we should abolish political curriculums
and examinations that are designed to indoctrinate students in state
ideology and to instill support for the rule of one party. We should replace
them with civic education that advances universal values and citizens'
rights, fosters civic consciousness, and promotes civic virtues that serve
society.

14. Protection of Private Property. We should establish and protect the
right to private property and promote an economic system of free and fair
markets. We should do away with government monopolies in commerce and
industry and guarantee the freedom to start new enterprises. We should
establish a Committee on State-Owned Property, reporting to the national
legislature, that will monitor the transfer of state-owned enterprises to
private ownership in a fair, competitive, and orderly manner. We should
institute a land reform that promotes private ownership of land, guarantees
the right to buy and sell land, and allows the true value of private
property to be adequately reflected in the market.

15. Financial and Tax Reform. We should establish a democratically regulated
and accountable system of public finance that ensures the protection of
taxpayer rights and that operates through legal procedures. We need a system
by which public revenues that belong to a certain level of
government˜central, provincial, county or local˜are controlled at that
level. We need major tax reform that will abolish any unfair taxes, simplify
the tax system, and spread the tax burden fairly. Government officials
should not be able to raise taxes, or institute new ones, without public
deliberation and the approval of a democratic assembly. We should reform the
ownership system in order to encourage competition among a wider variety of
market participants.

16. Social Security. We should establish a fair and adequate social security
system that covers all citizens and ensures basic access to education,
health care, retirement security, and employment.

17. Protection of the Environment. We need to protect the natural
environment and to promote development in a way that is sustainable and
responsible to our descendents and to the rest of humanity. This means
insisting that the state and its officials at all levels not only do what
they must do to achieve these goals, but also accept the supervision and
participation of non-governmental organizations.

18. A Federated Republic. A democratic China should seek to act as a
responsible major power contributing toward peace and development in the
Asian Pacific region by approaching others in a spirit of equality and
fairness. In Hong Kong and Macao, we should support the freedoms that
already exist. With respect to Taiwan, we should declare our commitment to
the principles of freedom and democracy and then, negotiating as equals, and
ready to compromise, seek a formula for peaceful unification. We should
approach disputes in the national-minority areas of China with an open mind,
seeking ways to find a workable framework within which all ethnic and
religious groups can flourish. We should aim ultimately at a federation of
democratic communities of China.

19. Truth in Reconciliation. We should restore the reputations of all
people, including their family members, who suffered political stigma in the
political campaigns of the past or who have been labeled as criminals
because of their thought, speech, or faith. The state should pay reparations
to these people. All political prisoners and prisoners of conscience must be
released. There should be a Truth Investigation Commission charged with
finding the facts about past injustices and atrocities, determining
responsibility for them, upholding justice, and, on these bases, seeking
social reconciliation.

China, as a major nation of the world, as one of five permanent members of
the United Nations Security Council, and as a member of the UN Council on
Human Rights, should be contributing to peace for humankind and progress
toward human rights. Unfortunately, we stand today as the only country among
the major nations that remains mired in authoritarian politics. Our
political system continues to produce human rights disasters and social
crises, thereby not only constricting China's own development but also
limiting the progress of all of human civilization. This must change, truly
it must. The democratization of Chinese politics can be put off no longer.

Accordingly, we dare to put civic spirit into practice by announcing Charter
08. We hope that our fellow citizens who feel a similar sense of crisis,
responsibility, and mission, whether they are inside the government or not,
and regardless of their social status, will set aside small differences to
embrace the broad goals of this citizens' movement. Together we can work for
major changes in Chinese society and for the rapid establishment of a free,
democratic, and constitutional country. We can bring to reality the goals
and ideals that our people have incessantly been seeking for more than a
hundred years, and can bring a brilliant new chapter to Chinese
civilization.


signed by:

Yu Haocheng(Beijing, Jurist)

Zhang Sizhi(Beijing, Lawyer)

Mao Yushi(Beijing, Economist)

(Du Guang(Beijing, Political Scientist)

Li Pu(Beijing, Ex Vice-director Xinhua News Agency)

Liu Shahe( Sichuan, Poet)

Sha Yexin(Shanghai, Dramatist)

Wu Maohua(Sichuan, Writer)

Zhang Xianyang(Beijing, Thinker)

Sun Wenguang( Shandong, Professor)

Bao Tong(Beijing, Citizen)

Ding Zilin(Beijing, Professor)

Zhang Xianling(Beijing, Engineer)

Xu Jue(Beijing, Researcher)

Jiang Peikun( Beijing, Professor)

Liu Xiaobo(Beijing, Writer)

Zhang Zuhua(Beijing, Scholar)

Gao Yu(Beijing, Journalist)

Dai Qing(Beijing, Writer)

Jiang Qisheng(Beijing, Scholar)

Ai Xiaoming(Guangzhou, Professor)

Liu Junning(Beijing, Political Scientist)

Zhang Xukun(Zhejiang, Professor)

Xu Youyu(Beijing, Philosopher)

He Weifang( Beijing, Jurist)

Mo Shaoping(Beijing, Lawyer)

Chen Ziming(Beijing, Scholar)

Zhang Boshu(Beijing, Political Scientist)

Cui Weiping(Beijing, Scholar)

He Guanghu(Beijing, Religion Scholar)

Hao Jian(Beijing, Scholar)

Shen Minhua( Zhejiang, Professor)

Li Datong(Beijing, Journalist)

Su Xianting(Beijing, Art Critic)

Zhang Ming(Beijing, Professor)

Yu Jie(Beijing, Writer)

Yu Shicun(Beijing, Writer)

Qin Geng(Hainan, Writer)

Zhou Duo(Beijing, Scholar)

Pu Zhiqiang(Beijing, Lawyer)

Zhao Dagong(Beijing, Writer)

Yao Lifa( Hubei, Election expert)

Feng Zhenghu(Shanghai, Scholar)

Zhou Qing(Beijing, Writer)

Yang Hengjun(Guangzhou, Writer)

Teng Biao( Beijing, Lecturer)

Jiang Danwen(Shanghai, Writer)

Wei SeTibet, Writer

Ma Bo( Beijing, Writer)

Cha Jianying(Beijing, Writer)

Hu Fayun(Hubei, Writer)

Jiao Guobiao(Beijing, Scholar)

Li Gongming(Guangdong, Professor)

Zhao Hui(Beijing, Critic)

Li Baiguang(Beijing, Lawyer)

Fu Guoyong(Zhejiang, Writer)

Ma Shaofang(Guangdong, Businessman)

Zhang Hong (Shanghai, Professor)

Xia Yeliang(Beijing, Economist)

Ran Yunfei(Sichuan, Scholar)

Liao Yiwu(Sichuan, Writer)

Wang Yi( Sichuan, Scholar)

Wang Xiaoyu(Shanghai, Scholar)

Su Yuanzhen(Zhejiang, Professor)

Qiang Jianzhong(Nanjing, Senior Journalist)

Ouyang Xiaorong(Yunnan, Poet)

Liu Di(Beijing, Self-empolyed)

Zan Aizong(Zhejiang, Journalist)

Zhou Hongling(Beijing, Social Activist)

( ) Feng Gang (Zhejiang, Professor)

Chen Lin( Guangzhou, Scholar)

Yin Xian(Gansu, Poet)

Zhou Ming(Zhejiang, Professor)

Ling Cangzhou(Beijing, Journalist)

Tie Liu(Beijing, Writer)

Chen Fengxiao (Shandong, Rightist )

Yao Bo( Beijing, Critic)

Zhang Jinjun(Guangdong, Professional manager)

Li Jianhong( Shanghai, Writer)

Zhang Shanguang(Hunan, Human rights Defender)

Li Deming(Hunan Media Worker)

Liu Jianan (Hunan, Teacher)

Wang Xiaoshan(Beijing, Media worker)

Fan Yafeng(Beijing, Scholar)

Zhou Mingchu( Zhejiang, Professor)

Liang Xiaoyan(Beijing, Enviromental Volunteer)

Xu Xiao(Beijing, Writer)

Chen Xi(Guizhou, Human rights Defender)

Zhao Cheng(Shanxi, Scholar)

Li Yuanlong(Guizhou, Freelance Writer)

Shen Youlian(Guizhou, Human rights Defender)

Jiang Suimin(Beijing, Engineer)

Lu Zhongming(Shanxi, Scholar)

Meng Huang(Beijing, Painter)

Lin Fuwu(Fujian, Human rights Defender)

Liao Shuangyuan(Guizhou, Human rights Defender)

Lu Xuesong(Jilin, Teacher)

Guo Yushan( Beijing, Scholar)

Chen Huanhui(Fujian, Human rights Defender)

Zhu Jiuhu(Beijing, Lawyer)

Jin GuangHong(Beijing, Lawyer)

Gao Chaoqun(Beijing, Editor)

Bai Feng(Jilin, Poet)

Zheng Xuguang(Beijing, Scholar)

Zeng Jinyan(Beijing, Rights Defender)

Wu Yuqin(Guizhou, Human rights Defender)

Du Yilong(Shanxi, Writer)

Li Hai(Beijing, Human Rights Defender)

Zhang Hui(Shanxi, Democratic Activist)

Jiangshan( Guangdong, Rights Defender)

Xu Guoqing(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Wu Yu(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Zhang Mingzhen(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Zeng Ning(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Quan Linzhi(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Ye Hang(Zhejiang, Professor)

Ma YunlongHenan, Scholar

Zhu Jianguo(Guangdong, Writer)

Li Tie( Guangdong, Democratic Activist)

Mo Jiangang(Guizhou, Freelance writer)

Zhang Yaojie(Beijing, Scholar)

Wu Baojian(Zhejiang, Lawyer)

Yang Guang(Guangxi, Scholar)

Yu Meisun( Beijing,Legal worker)

Xing Jian(Beijing, Legal Worker)

Wang Guangze(Beijing, Social Activist)

Chen Shaohua(Guangdong, Designer)

Liu Yiming(Hubei, Freelance Writer)

Wu Zuolai(Beijing, Researcher)

Gao Zhen(Shandong, Artist)

Gao Qiang(Shandong, Artist)

Tang Jingling(Guangzhou, Lawyer)

Li Xiaolong(Guangxi, Rights Defender)

Jing Chu(Guangxi, Freelance Writer)

Li Biao(Anhui, Businessman)

Guo Yan(Guangzhou, Lawyer)

Yang ShiyuanZhejiang, Rightist

Yang Kuanxing(Shandong, Writer)

Li Jinfang(Hebei, Democratic Activist)

Wang Yuwen(Guizhou, Poet)

Yang Zhongyi(Anhui, Worker)

Wu Xinyuan (Hebei, Farmer)

Du Heping(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Feng Ling(Hubei, Democratic Activist)

Zhang Xianzhong(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

( ) Cai Jingzhong(Guangdong, Farmer)

Wang DianbinHubei, Entrepreneur

( ) Cai Jincai(Guangdong, Farmer)

Gao Aiguo(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

( ) Chen Zhanyao(Guangdong,Farmer)

He Wenkai(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Wu Dangying(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

( ) Zeng Qingbin(Guangdong,Worker)

Mao Haixiu(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Zhuang DaoheHangzhou, Lawyer

Li Xiongbing (Beijing, Lawyer)

Li Renke(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Zuo Li (Hebei, Lawyer)

Dong Dez(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Tao Yuping(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

ITWang Junxiu(Beijing, IT Professional)

Huang Xiaomin(Sichuan, Rights Defender)

Zheng Enchong(Shanghai,Lawyer)

Zhang Junling(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Yang Hai( Shanxi, Scholar)

Ai Furong(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Yang Huaren(Hubei, Legal Worker)

Wei Qin(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Su Zuxiang(Hubei, Teacher)

Shen Yulian(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Guan Hongshan(Hubei, Human Rights Defender)

Song Xianke(Guangdong, Businessman)

Wang Guoqiang(Hubei, Human Rights Defender)

Wang Debang(Beijing, Writer)

Chen Enjuan(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Li Yong(Beijing, Media worker)

Chang Xiongfa(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Wang Jinglong(Beijing, Scholar)

Xu Zhengqing(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Gao Junsheng(Shanxi, Editor)

Zheng Beibei(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Wang Dinghua(Hubei, Lawyer)

Tan Lanying(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Fan Yanqiong(Fujian, Human Rights Defender)

Lin Hui(Zhejiang, Poet)

Wu Huaying(Fujian, Human Rights Defender)

Xue Zhenbiao(Zhejiang, Democratic Activist)

Dong Guoqing(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Chen Yufeng(Hubei, Legal Worker)

Duan Ruofei(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Wang Zhongling(Shanxi, Teacher)

Dong Chunhua(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Chen Xiuqin(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Gu Chuan(Beijing, Journalist)

Liu Zhengyou(Sichuan, Rights Defender)

Ma Xiao(Beijing, Writer)

Wan Yanhai(Beijing, Public Health Expert)

Shen Peilan Shanghai, Rights Defender

Ye Xiaogang(Zhejiang, retired Lecturer)

Zhang Jingsong(Anhui, Worker)

Zhang Jinfa(Zhejiang, Rightist)

Wang liqing(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Zhao Changqing( Shanxi, Writer)

Jin Yuehua(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Yu Zhangfa(Guangxi, Writer)

Chen Qiyong(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Liu Xianbin(Sichuan, Democratic Activist)

Ouyang Yi (Sichuan, Human Rights Defender)

Deng Huanwu(Chongqing, Businessman)

He Weihua(Hunan, Democratic Activist)

ITLi Dongzhuo(Hunan, IT professional)

Tian Yongde(Inner Mongolia, Human Rights Defender)

Zhi Xiaomin(Shanxi, Scholar)

Li Changyu(Shandong, Teacher)

Zhu Jianguo(Guangdong, Freelance Writer)

Guo Weidong(Zhejiang, Clerk)

Chen Wei(Sichuan, Democratic Activist)

Wang Jinan(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Cha Wenjun(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

Hou Shuming(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Liu Hannan(Hubei, Human Rights Defender)

Shi Ruoping(Shandong, Professor)

Zhang renxiang(Hubei, Human Rights Defender)

Ye Du(Guangdong, Editor)

Xia Gang(Hubei, Human Rights Defender)

Zhao Guoliang(Hunan,Democratic Activist)

Li Zhiying(Beijing, Social Activist)

Zhang Chongfa(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Chen Yongmiao(Beijing, Lawyer)

Jiang Ying(Tianjin, Poet)

Tian Zuxiang(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Huang Zhijia(Hubei,Public Servant)

Guan Yebo(Hubei, Public Servant)

Wang Wangming(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Gao Xinrui(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Song Shuiquan(Hubei, Legal Worker)

Zhao Jingzhou(Heilongjiang, Human Rights Defender)

Wen Kejian(Zhejiang, Scholar)

Wei Wenying(Yunan, Teacher)

Chen Huijuan(Heilongjiang, Human Rights Defender)

Chen Yanxiong(Hubei, Teacher)

Duan Chunfang(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Liu Zhengshan(Yunnan, Engineer)

Guan Min(Hubei, Lecturer)

Dai Yuanlong(Fujian, Entrepreneur)

Yu Yiwei(Guangdong, Freelance Writer)

) Han Zurong(Fujian, Entrepreneur)

Wang Dingliang( Hubei, Lawyer)

Chen Qinglin(Beijing, Human Rights Defender)

Qian Shishun(Guangdong, Entrepreneur)

Zeng Boyan(Sichuan, Writer)

Ma Yalian(Shanghai, Human Rights Defender)

Che Hongnian(Shandong, Freelance Writer)

Qin Zhigang(Shandong, Engineer)

Song Xiangfeng(Hubei, Teacher)

Deng Fuhua(Hubei, Writer)

Xu Kang(Hubei, Public servant)

Li Jianqiang( Shandong, Lawyer)

Li Renbing(Beijing, Lawyer)

Qiu Meili(Shanghai, Rights Defender)

) Lan Zhixue(Beijing, Lawyer)

Zhou Jinchang(Zhejiang, Rightist)

Huang YanmingGuizhou, Democratic Activist

Liu Wei(Beijing, Lawyer)

Yan Liehan(Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Chen Defu(Guizhou, Democratic Activist)

Guo Yongxin(Hubei, Doctor)

Guo Yongfeng(Guangdong,Rights Defender)

Yuan Xinting(Guangzhou, Editor)

Qi Huimin(Zhejiang, Democratic Activist)

Li Yu(Sichuan, Editor)

Xie Fulin(Hunan, Human Rights Defender)

Xu Guang(Zhejiang, Entrepreneur)

Ye Huo(Guangdong, Freelance Writer)

Zou Wei(Zhejiang, Rights Defender)

Xiao Linbin(Zhejiang, Engineer)

Gao Haibing(Zhejiang, Democratic Activist)

, Tian Qizhuang (Hebei, Writer)

Deng Taiqing(Shanxi, Democratic Activist)

, Pei Hongxin(Hebei, Teacher)

,Xu Min(Jilin, Legal worker)

,Li Xige(Henan, Rights Defender)

, Feng QiuSheng(Guangdong, Farmer)

,Hou Wenbao( Anhui, Rights Defender)

Tang Jitian(Beijing, Lawyer)

Liu Rongchao( Anhui, Farmer)

Li Tianxiang(Henan,worker)

Cui Yuzhen(Hebei, Lawyer)

Xu Maolian(Anhui, Farmer)

Zhai Linhua(Anhui, Teacher)

Tao Xiaoxia(Anhui, Farmer)

Zhang Wang(Fujian, Worker)

Huang Dachuan(Liaoning, Clerk)

Chen Xiaoyuan (Hainan, Clerk)

Zhang Jiankang (Shaanxi, Law worker)

Zhang Xingshui (Beijing, Lawyer)

Ma Gangquan (Beijing, Lawyer)

Wang Jinxiang (Hubei, Rights Defender)

Wang Jiaying (Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Yan Laiyun (Hubei, Entrepreneur)

Li Xiaoming (Hubei, Rights Defender)

Xiao Shuixiang (Hubei, Rights Defender)

Yan Yuxiang (Hubei, Rights Defender)

Liu Yi (Beijing, Painter)

Zhang Zhengxiang (Yunnan, Environmentalist)

Censorship in China

Analysis: Basque history

By Daniel Schweimler
Madrid 1999/12/06 13:16:31 GMT
--bbc.co.uk--

The Basques have been fighting to protect their language and culture for thousands of years. They are fiercely proud of their history.
They have been occupying their corner of Europe with its lush, green valleys and rugged coastline, since well before Roman times.

No-one knows where they came from. Their language, known as Euskera, has no clear links with any other known language and was spoken long before all of the Indo-European languages in the rest of Europe.
The protection and promotion of Euskera has always been at the heart of the Basque struggle.

Since the return of democracy in Spain following General Franco's death in 1975, Euskera has been thriving.

About 30% of the 2.5 million Basque people speak it and more than 90% of Basque children are now enrolled in Euskera schools.

Radio and television stations broadcast in the language. There are Basque newspapers and a growing number of internationally renowned writers, such as Bernardo Atxaga, whose works have been translated into Castillian Spanish, English, German and French.

Throughout history, Basques have developed a reputation as fierce defenders of their territory - against Romans, Vikings, Visigoths, Muslims and others.

Many invaders have chosen to by-pass the region. When they have managed to put down roots, the Basques have negotiated and learned from them, but have never mixed too much or risked becoming integrated.

From the Middle Ages onwards, they developed a reputation as formidable fishermen and have built boats which have taken them great distances in search of whales and cod.

Sailed with Columbus

There is some evidence that Basques landed in North America hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus.

It was Basque sailors who made up the bulk of Columbus's crew.

Basque men wear their large berets with pride. It is a hat which was first worn in the Basque region and then exported to France and beyond.

They are are also recognised as the best cooks in Spain for their simple fish dishes and interesting cakes.

In the heart of the Basque country, there are 75 gastronomic societies in the city of San Sebastian alone.

They hold feasts and sometimes march through the streets. These occasions are so important that the mayor is expected to eat at all of them at least once a year.

There is also a rich vein of Basque music and storytelling. Public storytelling sessions are still held in many rural towns and villages.

Loyola - a famous Basque

Basques have always been known as a fiercely religious people. So it is no surprise that one of the most radical and disciplined religious orders, the Jesuits, was founded by a Basque, Ignatius Loyola, in 1534.

Originally a solider, while recovering from a serious war wound he began reflecting on his life and reading about the saints.

He studied in Paris where he founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.

It had originally been intended as a missionary order. Instead, it went on to spearhead the Counter-Reformation, inspiring respect for its missionary work but fear for its often ruthless defence of its disciplined beliefs.

Fought against Franco

The Basques had been some of the fiercest opponents of Franco's Nationalist troops during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

One of Franco's most hated opponents, Dolores Ibárruri - known as La Pasionaria or the Passionate One for her inspiring speeches - came from a working-class family in Bilbao.

Picasso immortalised the bombing of the Basque town, Guernika, by Franco's German allies. The painting now hangs in a museum in Madrid.

During Franco's 40-year rule, he punished the region for its opposition. He declared two provinces "traitor provinces."

Franco believed in one, unified Spain and opposed any kind of regional diversification.

He banned the speaking of Euskera in public and ensured that there was little economic investment in the region.

ETA is born

Franco, like many before him, had found it difficult to suppress this proud nation and the movement for an independent Basque homeland began in the late 1950s.

The separatist group, ETA, began its violent campaign 10 years later.

While support for an independent homeland remains strong, it is by no means overwhelming. Many Basques are happy with the large degree of autonomy they have been granted by the central government in Madrid.

While still a long way from reaching any kind of long term political solution and establishing a permanent peace, it is clear that the Basque language and culture are enjoying a resurgence and that the Basque nation is as strong and vibrant now as it has ever been.

Kyrgyz head for coalition rule
With 90 per cent of ballots counted, the nationalist Ata Zhurt party leads, but has just 8.7 per cent of the total vote. --aljazeera.com--
Last Modified: 11 Oct 2010 11:56 GMT


Five parties have passed the threshold to win seats in Kyrgyzstan's new parliament after an election aimed at shifting the strategic Central Asian nation away from authoritarian rule.

Holding a narrow lead with 93 per cent of the votes counted is Ata Zhurt, whose members include former colleagues of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the ousted president. The Central Election Commission on Monday emphasized that the results are not final.

But with just 8.69 per cent of the share of the vote, the nationalist party would be unable to govern on their own as Kyrgyzstan attempts to form Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy.

The Social Democratic Party, which supports the interim government, was close behind Ata Zhurt on 8.09 per cent, while the pro-Moscow Ar-Namys party of ex-prime minister Felix Kulov was third on 7.48 per cent.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the capital Bishkek, said the election results were "going to be very close" and as a result a "coalition will be formed".

"The preliminary results show that five parties all have a projection of between 20 and 28 seats in the new parliament." (cont...)

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern.

William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

How Long? Not long because no lie
can live forever...
How long? Not long because
you shall reap what you sow...
How long? Not long, because the
arc of the moral universe is
long but it bends towards justice.

Yes--- We are tired of being lynched physically in Misssissippi, and we are tired of being lynched spiritually and economically in the North. We have also come here today to remind Chicago of the fierce urgency now. This is no time to engage in luxury of cooling off or to take the 'tranquilizing drug of gradualism'. We have also come here today to affirm that we will no longer sit idly by in agonizing deprivation and wait on others to provide our Freedom... Freedom is never voluntarily granted by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.

This day--- Henceforth and forever more, we must make it clear that we will purge Chicago of every politician, whether he be Negro or White, who feels he owns the Negro vote rather than earns the Negro vote.

- Martin Luther King. Jr., Soldier Field July 10th, 1966 -

Iroha

Though fragrant are the colors,
Yet shall the flowers scatter.
Who in our world
Could forever endure?
Over the mountain of transcendence
Let us today cross,
And there will be no more shallow dreams,
No more drunken illusions.

Nepotism around the World and Russia...
anti-Putin manifesto

Citizens of Russia! The recognition that the ruling elite has led our country into a historical dead end has prompted us to issue this statement.

The transfer of virtually unlimited power by the [Yeltsin-era] Family, which was trying to guarantee its own security, to a man of dubious reputation who was distinguished neither by talent nor by the requisite life or professional experience has resulted predictably in the serious degradation of all institutions of state governance.

Even a significant portion of the ruling “elite” feels that a change is necessary, as attested by the loud reaction to [President Dmitry Medvedev’s] opus “Forward, Russia!” But Medvedev’s modernization project bears a distinctly artificial character and is aimed at a single goal – to redo the decorations while maintaining the nature of an authoritatian-kleptocratic regime.

We state that the sociopolitical construction that is killing Russia and has now bound the citizens of our country has one architect, one custodian, and one guardian. His name is Vladimir Putin.

We declare that no essential reforms can be carried out in Russia today as long as Putin controls real power in the country.

We declare that the dismantling of the Putin regime and the return of Russia to the path of democratic development can only begin when Putin has been deprived of all levers of managing the state and society.

We declare that during the years of his rule, Putin has become the symbol of corrupt and unpredictable country that is pitiless in its treatment of its own citizenry. It is a country in which citizens have no rights and are for the most part in poverty. It is a country without ideals and without a future.

If, as the Kremlin propagandists love to repeat, Russia was on its knees during the Yeltsin period, then Putin and his minions have pushed its face into the filth.

In the filth of the authorities’ contempt we find not only individual rights and freedoms, but human life itself as well.

In the filth of a false and feeble imitation of political and social institutions – from the bureaucratic phantom of United Russia to the Nazi-like Putin Youth.

In the filth of soul- and mind-warping televised obscurantism that is turning one of the most educated nations in the world into a soulless, amoral mob.

In the filth of total thievery and corruption emanating from the very pinnacle of Russian power. If not for the years in which Putin roamed the galleries of the Kremlin, the billionaires of his inner circle –Abramovich, Timchenko, the Kovalchuks, Rotenberg – would not exist. Nor would the parasitical state corporations of his friends – these black holes of the Russian economy.

Having begun his rise to power with the epical statement about “wiping them out in their outhouses,” Putin over the course of nearly 11 years has used this universal “tool” of ruling the country, and it has proven particularly effective in regard to his political opponents and business competitors.

Any political, social, or economic dissent is immediately suppressed: in the best cases, by administrative restrictions, but often by the bully clubs of the riot police, by criminal prosecution, by physical violence, and even by murder. Putin has proven that he is willing to destroy his personal opponents by any means available.

During the time that Putin has been at the pinnacle of state power, everything that could be ruined has been ruined. Pension and administrative reforms have been undone. There has been no reform of the armed forces, the secret services, or the law enforcement and judicial systems. The health-care system remains in its previous, pathetic condition.

The decline of education and science, which has been farmed out to the Ozero cooperative group, has reached the point where the “titans” of Russian scientific thought must be considered people like Petrik and Gryzlov.

Ten whole years have been lost – years when a boom in hydrocarbon and metals prices could have been used to modernize the country and carry out a structural reorganization of the economy. That is why the blow of the global economic crisis hit Russia so mercilessly, and it is far from over for us.

Having been named prime minister by Yeltsin, Putin not only was unable to correct the fatal mistakes made by his predecessors and put out the flames in the Caucasus, but his policies managed to raise that conflict to a new level that is capable of destroying the integrity of the country.

The “Kursk,” the Nord-ost theater, Beslan, the tens of thousands who died in the internecine second Cacasus war, the thousands who have lost their lives in infrastructure disasters, who burned in homes for the elderly and the handicapped that were unfit for human habitation, the dozens of murdered journalists and human rights activists and political opponents of the regime, and the ordinary victims of sadistic police lawlessness – these are the gravestones of the years of Putin’s rule.

These are the unexposed secrets of the Putin regime: the [1999] entry of [Shamil] Basayev into Daghestan; the explosions of apartment buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk; the so-called training exercise in Ryazan.

People have long since stopped being surprised by Putin’s incapacity for strategic thinking. He is unable to see what the world will be like in 10-15 years and what place Russia can and must occupy in it. He is not capable of evaluating the real threats and risks facing the country, and that means he is in no position to correctly plan possible moves or identify potential allies and rivals.

A clear illustration of these short-sighted polices are the recent surrender agreements with China, in which Putin lightly erased the Russian Far East and Siberia off the map.

Further evidence of Putin’s lack of understanding of the future is his maniacal passion to build gas and oil pipelines in all thinkable and unthinkable directions; his initiation of expensive, ambitious projects (like the Sochi Olympics and the bridge to Russian Island), which are absolutely wrong for a country in which a large portion of the population lives below the poverty line.

Having temporarily moved form the presidential chair to the prime minister’s offices and having left in the Kremlin an obedient placeholder who is “of the same blood” – a modern Simeon Bekbulatovich – Putin has created an openly unconstitutional construction for governing the country for life.

It is obvious that Putin will never voluntarily relinquish power in Russia. His fierce intention to rule for life is no longer based on a thirst for power itself so much as on the fear of being held responsible for what he has done. For the Russian people, this is humiliating. But for the country it is fatally dangerous to have a ruler like Putin. This is a cross that Russia can bear no longer.

As the Putin grouping feels it the ground falling from under its feet, it could at any moment move from targeted repression to mass repression. We are warning law enforcement and security agency officers not to stand against their nation, not to carry out criminal orders from corrupt officials when they send you out to kill us for Putin, Sechin, and Deripaska.

Now the national demand at demonstrations from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad must be the call “Putin Must Go!” Ridding ourselves of Putinism is the first, obligatory step on the path to a new, free Russia.