Remember Human Rights!

Today is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights! Let us remember those around the world who are suffering and may we continue to encourage leaders and the United Nations to stand up for human rights!
With great power comes great responsibility...

Petition To Release Imprisoned Chinese Christian

Voice Of The Martyrs and China Aid are petitioning for Chinese Christians who were arrested before the Olympics to be released. One such person is Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan and his wife and coworker. They ask for help:

On August 6, just two days before the Olympics began, Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan was arrested, along with his wife and a coworker. In response to these arrests, The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association have launched a petition drive to free these three Christians and to let the Chinese government know that the world is aware that these Christians are being detained.

The petition letter reads:

To the Attention of: Chinese Ambassador Mr. Zhou Wenzhong

Dear Sir:
We are aware that you have detained Pastor Zhang "Bike" Mingxuan, President of the Chinese House Church Alliance, along with his wife and fellow pastor, Wu Jianghe. These three individuals were on their way to Beijing from Hebei province to pick up medicine for Pastor Bike's wife, who is ill, when Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers detained them on August 6, 2008. All three are being held at an undisclosed location. We the undersigned are very concerned about their welfare and why they are being detained as this act of arbitrary detention itself is in violation of Chinese law. We are praying for the leaders of China and formally request that you release these three Christians immediately. Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Anyone who has read the book The Heavenly Man knows, Christians in China are severely tortured in prisons and have no trials or representation. The persecuted Christians consider it an honor to suffer in such inhumane ways- ways few Americans want to recognize.


And now that the Olympics are finally over, we can talk about China in a truthful way. The Washington Post reports: Power-Sector Emissions Of China To Top U.S.

The carbon emissions of China's electric power sector will jump by about a third this year and surpass the total emissions of the U.S. electric power industry for the first time, according to a report by the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank....

The report highlights the challenge of curbing greenhouse gases in time to slow climate change while maintaining world economic growth. China and India have made growth their top priority to raise living standards and many international climate negotiators don't expect meaningful limits on carbon emissions from those countries until after 2020....

Paul Ting, a veteran oil analyst now specializing on China, said that China relies on coal for three-quarters of its energy consumption. "They cannot get away from coal," he said....

If all of the power plants being planned for China and the United States are built, China's power-related emissions would exceed those of the United States by 40 percent, the Center for Global Development report said.

Bloggers United For Human Rights Day

Well, that is what I usually do but today it's extra important. May 15 is Bloggers Unite For Human Rights day!!! This event has spread like wildfire thanks to Amnesty International and Facebook. Check it out here.

Some the issues the group is hoping to see blogs promote are:

1. Human Rights in China. This is especially on our minds after their tragic 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck over the weekend. Amnesty hopes you will sign a petition to Yahoo! to protect Internet free speech in China.

2. Check out tearitdown.org to find how to campaign for an end to the Guantanamo Bay detaining center.

3. The crisis in Darfur, Sudan, which includes civil war, genocide, poverty, rampant AIDS, and a serious lack in education and military stability. Amnesty has a petition you can sign to protect Darfur.