CITIZEN JOURNALISM: Amnesty asks Obama to address human rights in China

Dear Mr. President

With President Obama scheduled to make his first official visit to China next week, Amnesty International is urging him “to candidly address grave human rights concerns.” Failure to do so “would send the wrong signal,” the organization says in a Nov. 3 letter to the president.

The letter summarizes Amnesty’s major human rights concerns by subject matter, such as foreign policy; singles out some imprisoned persons; and urges Mr. Obama to seek the immediate and unconditional release of “those detained solely for engaging in peaceful protest, including support for the Dalai Lama, the independence of Tibet, or greater autonomy for Tibet.”

Religious persecution and forced abortion are cited as major problems, and Amnesty Executive Director Larry Cox said “benchmarks” could be established to help assess whether China improves its record.

The letter points out that women are compelled to undergo abortion and sterilization to comply with China’s one-child policy. It also says religious persecution has led to the detention and repression of thousands of Tibetans, Uighurs and Falun Gong practitioners.

The United States should ask China to lift restrictions and obstacles to freedom of worship, the letter says, and end the repression of Tibetans and Uighurs, who have been “the target of systematic and extensive human rights violations. These include arbitrary detention, torture, severe restrictions on freedom of religion and employment discrimination.”

Mr. Obama is scheduled to arrive Sunday in Shanghai for a four-day stay in China before heading to Seoul.

Faith investors challenge Chamber

Leading faith-based investors are challenging 36 major firms - including McDonald’s Corp., Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Home Depot Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and PepsiCo Inc. - to announce publicly whether they endorse the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s position against health care reform.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which has 275 members and represents more than $100 billion in invested capital, said Tuesday that 60 of its faith-based institutional investor members have contacted 36 companies asking them to clarify their positions on the health care legislation that is before the Senate. They also are demanding a public statement. The other companies that were contacted are: Aetna, American Express, AT&T, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cardinal Health, Cisco Systems Inc., Duke Energy, DuPont, Eli Lilly, Exxon Mobil Corp., General Electric Co., General Mills, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Kellogg Co., Kohl’s, Manpower Inc., Marriott, Medco, Merck & Co., Peabody, Pfizer Inc., Safeway Inc., Staples Inc., Starbucks, 3M, UnitedHealth Group, United Technologies, Wellpoint and Xerox.

Signatories of the letter include Benedictine Sisters of Ridgely, Md.; Catholic Health East; Catholic Healthcare West; Dominican Sisters of Hope; Dominican Sisters of Houston; Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, Wash.; Friends Fiduciary Corp.; Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers; Maryknoll Sisters; Mennonite Mutual Aid; Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati; Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; and Wisconsin-Minnesota Coalition for Responsible Investment.

“It so happens that many of the very corporations [that] recognize the need for comprehensive health reform, and [that] have expressed to not only us but to congressional members, their support for the majority of policy positions proposed in either the Senate or House legislation, are also members of the Chamber of Commerce,” said Edward Gerardo, director of community and social investment for Bon Secours Health System Inc. “And many have expressed privately their disagreement and dissatisfaction with both the position and tactics of the national office of the Chamber. Well, it’s time for accountability. If we are going to have meaningful and effective health reform, if our health system is to be affordable and serve all, then we believe our friends in boardrooms and executive offices who underwrite the very work of the Chamber must take responsible action and call on the Chamber leadership to adopt a more constructive tone.”

Priests caught in cross hairs

Clergy in Mexico, who are caught in the cross hairs of a national drug war, are taking action. They have been meeting this week with their counterparts from Colombia and Italy to draft their own strategy for coping with violence. It’s a step for which they were lauded by the Vatican.

Their fear is warranted; even speaking has consequences.

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