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Freedom, Independence and Democracy for East Turkistan ! |
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E-mail: etic@uygur.org |
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OCEANSIDE: Amnesty International hosts annual pier walk
Former Chinese prisoner of conscience Rebiya Kadeer will be in North County on Sunday for the annual Amnesty International Walk for Human Rights at the Oceanside Pier. (Courtesy Photo)
Event to feature local
chapter's 'adopted' prisoner of conscience
The free event, which is open to the public, will
begin at the Oceanside beachfront amphitheater at
5:30 p.m.
In previous years, upwards of 700 people have held candles and made the walk from the amphitheater, around the pier and back, organizers said. "This is our main event of the year," said Vesta Ross, the local chapter publicist for the nonprofit human rights advocacy group. "Each year we have a different theme for the walk. This year, the theme is international justice." This year's event is particularly exciting because former Chinese prisoner Rebiya Kadeer will speak before the walkers leave the amphitheater, Ross said. "She was what they called our adopted prisoner ... and that means she was our case to work on," Ross added. A resident of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in China, Kadeer was arrested in a Chinese hotel room in 2000 and sentenced to eight years in prison, Ross said. Kadeer had gone to the hotel to meet with a U.S. Congressional delegation and discuss conditions of the Uighur tribal people in China. During their campaign to have her released, North County members of Amnesty International signed petitions and sent postcards. They also carried posters with her name and photograph when they hosted their annual human rights walks, Ross said. In March 2005 --- 5 1/2 years into her eight-year prison sentence --- Kadeer was set free. "The people who've attended past walks helped us do that," Ross said. In the years since her release, Kadeer ---- a Nobel Peace Prize nominee ---- has met with world leaders on a number of occasions. She now is active in an effort to get 17 Uighur tribes people freed from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, news accounts indicate. Sunday's candlelight walk will be the 20th that the North County chapter of Amnesty International has hosted. Other featured speakers at the event include Peter Schey, the executive director of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation, and Bridget Suhr, the director of regional programs at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. For information on Sunday's event, call (760) 434-7855 or visit the Web site at: www.amnesty471.org ... |
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Copyright © www.uygur.org . All rights reserved 20.04.2009 01:42 A. Karakash |
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