Two Canadian dignitaries will be the only Westerners among a field of Chinese to receive awards at a human rights ceremony in Sydney this week.
The Honourable David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, and international human rights lawyer David Matas will receive the Guarding Justice Award for their report on illegal organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China and for their continuous efforts to bring international attention to human rights issues in relation to China.
The Asia-Pacific Human Rights Foundation will present the awards at a ceremony in the New South Wales State Parliament on Wednesday September 5, a statement said.
A range of human rights activists in China are to receive awards, including Professor Ding Zilin, who will receive the Casper Award as the representative of the Tiananmen Mothers group.
Professor Ding's only son was killed by the Chinese army as he attended the student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Only 17 years old, her son was shot as he was yelling: "Don't use force against the people," Professor Ding told a CNN reporter.
Since then, Professor Ding has been an advocate for the relatives of those who died in the Tiananmen Square massacre by gathering financial support and collecting and collating evidence about the event.
Another award recipient is Chinese literary critic Mr Liu Xiaobo, who will receive the Conscience Courage Award as the current chairman of the literary freedom group PEN in China.
Safeguarding Citizen's Rights and Resisting Violence awards will also be given to the Heilongjiang farmers Yang Chuanlin and Wang Guilin. Both rural activists were arrested in July this year for helping thousands of farmers protest at being thrown off their land by corrupt Communist Party officials. Mr Yang was also publicly advocating the slogan: "Human Rights wanted, Not Olympic Games". According to Mr Yang's family, he was officially charged with "inciting subversion of state power" on August 23.
The Human Rights Awards ceremony is one of a number of events staged to draw attention to China's human rights violations during the APEC leaders meetings in Sydney.
Free China, a non-government organisation (NGO) representing a range of groups concerned with human rights in China, will be holding a rally and march in Sydney's Hyde Park on Thursday September 6. Speakers include Phil Glendinning from the refugee and advocacy group the Edmund Rice Centre and Pan Qing from Human Rights Watch New Zealand.
The president of Free China in Australia, Sandra Hattingh, said they were expecting a large turnout for the event and were glad to be able to use Hyde Park, a venue so close to the APEC zone.
"We have around 20 speakers," Ms Hattingh said, "and a number of groups that will bring their own supporters."
Groups participating in the Free China rally include the Tibetans, Uighers, Vietnamese, Burmese and Falun Gong practitioners, she said.
Amnesty International will be holding a rally on Saturday September 8. As this will coincide with the APEC leader's weekend, the rally will be held in Victoria Park, well away from the security zone.
The Amnesty rally carries the slogan: This event would not happen in China! and will see a number of speakers, including representatives from Amnesty, The Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition, Falun Gong and the Tibetan and East Turkestan communities.
A representative from PEN will also be speaking at the Amnesty event. PEN has been campaigning for a number of writers presently incarcerated in Chinese prisons, including Tibetan Dolma Kyab, aka Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso, who has been sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of "endangering state security" after the release of his manuscript The Himalayas in Turmoil; Guo Qizhen, an Internet journalist and cyber-dissident who was arrested in May 2006 and charged with "inciting subversion of state power" for his pro-democracy activities and anti-government articles published on overseas websites; and more recently Chen Shuqing, who was sentenced to a four-year prison term on August 14 this year for "inciting subversion of state power" after writing two articles for a democracy magazine in China and five for overseas magazines.
A rally will be held to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong in China with speakers, an anti-torture exhibition and exercise demonstrations in Belmore Park, Friday September 7.
The Vietnamese community in Australia will also be holding a rally for human rights in Belmore Park on September 8. Speakers include Greens Senator Kerry Nettle.
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