Chinese Dissident Faces 15 years of Prison

Liu Xiaobo, a university professor and prominent Chinese dissident, will find out in 30 days if he will face charges for "inciting subversion" and if he is likely to face the maximum 15 years in jail that comes with the charge.



Liu Xiaobo was arrested on December 8th 2008 because of his online petition called Charter 08 which was based on Charter 77 (written by a former Czech president). Charter 08 was signed by over 10,000 people, including over 300 journalists, writers and intellectuals that were all subsequently arrested and/or questioned by the communist authorities.

Mr. Liu is no stranger to Chinese jails seeing as he was jailed following his participation in the Tienanmen Square protests of 1989. Later he also spent 3 years in a re-education and labor camp.

Charter 08 might seems very inoffensive to those of us living in democratic countries, but in a place like China where the government has the very last word on everything, it is a very provocative essay that challenges the very foundation of authoritarian rule... Here are a few excerpts from Charter 08:

" Human rights. Human rights are not bestowed by a state. Every person is born with inherent rights to dignity and freedom.(...)

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. (...)

Democracy. The most fundamental principles of democracy are that the people are sovereign and the people select their government. (...)

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. (...)

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. (...) "

Human Rights, Freedom of Expression and the Right to Self-Government are things that we often take for granted and seldom take time to appreciate unless we've seen first hand the repression that people face in countries where thoughts on government have to be whispered behind closed doors to very close friends.

At the end of the day, Mr. Liu arrest and the pending charge have probably brought more attention to Charter 08 than it ever would have gotten if the communist authorities would have left him alone. Mr Liu's voice from behind the wall is now being heard around the world and hopefully others inside China and other countries will follow his lead and "incite subversion".

Hopefully the international media will continue to cover the story of Mr. Liu and inspire others to join his cause.

Ottawa wants to read your Emails.

As reported by Bill Curry in the Globe and Mail the government in Ottawa is trying to push through legislation that would allow them to monitor emails, phone calls and chats without a warrant. Without going into details about Marlene Jennings' 30 plus page private members bill, I just want to take a few lines and comment about this.

There are arguments on both sides that I find valid. Those for the bill will argue that law abiding Canadians have nothing to fear from this bill, as the powers it grants would be used to monitor and track criminals and gods know the internet is full of sick people that need stopping.

On the flipside, I don't like the idea that Ottawa can read the emails exchanges I have with my accountant about how to better shelter my money from taxes, or about my political stance or about anything else for that matter.

The bill would force internet service providers to acknowledge requests from law enforcement without the need for a warrant. Warrants are in place to make sure that there is probable cause, that all bases were covered and that our privacy is respected. As has already happened in Ontario.

Imagine if a cop thinks his wife is having an affair and has the ISP track her emails and chat logs to satisfy his own curiosity? This could very well happen.

Personally, I think law enforcement needs better tools to catch and track criminals online... but not to the detriment of my (and your) right to privacy.

Muchacho Enfermo

Conservatives want to reopen abortion debate

It was reported by the Canadian Press that a secretive parliamentary caucus wants to reopen the abortion debate in Canada. It's been over 20 years since a court ruling made it legal for women to chose the fate of a fetus. But the pro-lifers in the Conservative party are willing to present a bill that would recognize the fetus as a living person for the purpose of criminal law. In short if a pregnant woman were to be murdered her fetus would be counted as a second person.

Pro-choice activists feel that this law would reopen the entire debate about the legality of pregnancy terminations. I think they're right.

While there are valid points to be made on either side of the debate; I believe that the pro-choice arguments are stronger. Should a woman made pregnant as a result of rape be forced to be reminded of the horrific even daily? Should that child be that reminder? How fair is that to the mother and to the child? Should a woman be forced to carry a child to term if it means risking her own life? Should it be criminal to choose what you do with your body?

The best question of all though: Should the Conservative government stay the hell out of a woman's uterus? The answer to that one is YES.

Muchacho Enfermo

New legislation in Russia brings back ghost of the KGB

New Vladimir Putin backed legislation would make it treason to pass "state secrets" to an NGO. Now we all know Russia and we all know Putin so the term "state secret" is a very loose term. Basically it means that anyone who criticizes the government or opposes them would be punishable by a 20 year term in prison. Russia has over 200 thousand NGOs according to wikipedia.

Let me put this in perspective: If this law were put in place in Canada, I could be arrested for my blog. Or if I criticized the government and donated money to Canadian Feed the Children.... Bam! 20 years in prison.

Between this law, the state appropriation of almost all the oil fields, that whole Georgia business and the talks of having a military presence in Cuba it feels like we're almost back in the bad old times of the Soviet Union.

Also check out The Jurist for a short and very concise explanation.

Muchacho Enfermo