For the past three months, the Visual Artists Guild, Reporters Without Borders, Caltech Falun Gong Club, Conscience Foundation, China Ministries International, LA Friends of Tibet, Justice for American Victims in China, Jews Against Genocide, New York Coalition for Darfur and many other human rights groups and volunteers have been working to urge the City of Pasadena to oppose a Beijing Olympics Float of Shame, sponsored by the Avery Dennison Company, as part of the 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade.
The Rose Parade float would be a propaganda coup for the PRC government in the same way the 1936 Olympics opening ceremony at Berlin was a fascist fantasy come true for Hitler.
On September 24, 2007, the Visual Artists Guild presented recommendations to the Pasadena Human Relations Commission: the Honorable Human Relations Sub-Committee Commissioners Kenneth Hardy, Chair, Milena Albert, Terrie Ann Allen, Felipe O. Infante.
Our first recommendation is for Pasadena's Mayor Bill Bogaard and the Pasadena City Council to send a letter to the Tournament of Roses Association and request that the Tournament of Roses Association withdraw its invitation to Beijing for a Rose Parade float until Beijing fulfills its Olympics promises.
We included a letter signed by more than forty prominent Chinese intellectuals demanding that the PRC end human rights abuses. They included a demand for amnesty for all prisoners of conscience, allowing exiles to return to China, and allowing foreign and Chinese journalists to conduct interviews without pre-approval.
Reporters Without Borders has outlined the need for the PRC to ensure freedom for everyone who has been in prison for the 1989 Tiananmen protests, to end control of the media including the internet, and abolish Article 306 of the criminal code which allows lawyers to be arrested or banned.
Human Rights Watch is demanding that the PRC government to fulfill the promise made by Wang Wei, secretary-general of the Beijing Olympics Games Bid Committee, to the international media that they will have "complete freedom to report when they come to China".
Friends of Tibet are pleading for the PRC government to allow the International Red Cross to ascertain the health of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the missing Panchen Lama, and engage in good-faith negotiations with the Tibetan Government-in-Exile for establishment of true autonomy for Tibet.
The New York Coalition for Darfur and Jews Against Genocide have stated their opposition to the Beijing Rose Float because of China's role in supporting the Sudanese government's genocide in Darfur. This has included the PRC's financing military support and the sale of arms in Sudan, political support by shielding the Khartoum regime from sanctions, and the need for an introduction by the UN Security Council for UN forces to protect the people of Darfur.
Roman Catholics call for the release of Bishop Jia Zhiguo, the underground Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Zheng Ding in Hebei Province, who was arrested on August 23, 2007, and the release of Father Wen Daoxin of Beiwangli Village, Qingyuan County, Hebei, who was arrested on August 15, 2007.
Falun Gong practitioners from California call for the release of California resident Hongwei Lou's husband Dongwei Bu who was arrested in Beijing on May 19, 2006 and has been sentenced to 2.5 years in labor camp because he practices Falun Gong, and for the release of California resident Yaning Liu's mother Shuying Li who was arrested on December 15, 2006 and sentenced to 2.5 years in labor camp because she practices Falun Gong and kept Falun Gong literatures at home.
New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz, the President of the New York Hispanic Clergy Organizations, issued a proclamation at the Human Rights Torch Relay Rally at the United Nations calling for the release of House Church leader Zhou Heng who was formally arrested on August 31, 2007 in Xinjiang for receiving 3 tons of Bibles.
Justice for American Victims in China is calling for a complete and transparent investigation into the murder of California resident Darren Russell in Guangzhou, China.
We urge all readers to take a few moments and call Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard and the Pasadena City Council. Urge them to accept the Commission Report which was released on September 26, 2007, by the Pasadena Commission on Human Relations (please see http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=5140&IssueNum=91 )
This report calls upon the Pasadena City Council and Mayor Bill Bogaard to address the issue of human rights violations in China. Among the many suggested actions are the "naming of a human rights advocate such as the Dalai Lama as a co-grand marshal for the parade, a float entry representing human rights activists, or changes to the controversial float."
The City of Pasadena can play a significant role in helping China keep its Olympics promise. But until they do, any association with the Beijing Olympics' Float of Shame will besmirch the reputation of the City of Pasadena.
One thing history has taught us is that pressure works. Let's get these demands heard.
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