Ngawang C. Drakmargyapon
Phayul Special Correspondent
Geneva, 24 September – According to the press release issued yesterday by the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the European Parliament, Chinese Human Rights Defender, Hu Jia, was named as one of the three finalists for this year Sakharov Prize. Jia’s nomination represented “the silenced voices of China and Tibet” according to the nomination papers.
The three finalists confirmed by the Foreign Affiars Committee of the European Parliamnet include, Alexandr Kozulin, a former presidential candidate in Belarus and Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu , Chair of the Independent Electoral Commission of Democratic Republic of Congo.
The justification and biography for Jia’s nomination released by the European Parliament on 4 September stated that he was being proposed on behalf of more than 50 and other political prisoners in present-day China, which included many Chinese, one Mongolian and Tibetans, Dolma Kyab Jigme Gyatso; Jigme Tenzin Nyima; Lupoe Adak; Phurbu Rinpoche; Runggye Adak; Tashi Gyatso and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche.
The nomination, “Hu Jia on behalf of the silenced voices of China and Tibet” was filed by Graham Watson on behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE), Monica Frassoni and Daniel Cohn-Bendit on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group and 55 Members of the European Parliament.
The political groups who proposed Hu Jia stated that he “became a leading symbol of China’s human rights problems as well as a symbol of resistance to Beijing’s authority. He represents all the other Chinese and Tibetan citizens who are repressed: lawyers, journalists, petitioners, human rights activists, writers and cyber-dissidents.”
The finalists for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2008 was short listed from a total of 8 proposed nominations which included one organisation, the European Roma Rights Centre based in Budapest.
The Dalai Lama was among those eight initially proposed candidates after being nominated by Cristiana Muscardini on behalf of the Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) and Piia-Noora Kauppi, Aloyzas Sakalas and 39 Members of the European Parliament. The nomination of the Dalai Lama stated: “Although he describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk, his achievements are extraordinary. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. In his life, His Holiness has travelled to more than 62 countries spanning 6 continents. He has authored more than 72 books and since 1959 he has received over 84 awards, honorary doctorates, prizes, etc., in recognition of his message of peace, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility and compassion. ’s work was described as follows.”
According one source in Brussels, the Dalai Lama was not chosen as one of the finalists because a good section of the Parliamentarians believed that the Tibetan leader had “enough” awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. “Hu Jia is very much supported by the parliamentarians as they feel partly responsible for his imprisonment linked to this live testimony given to the European Parliament on 26 November 2007”, the source familiar with the Parliament told this report.
The winner of the 2008 Sakharov Prize will be announced in mid-October. Prominent Asians who won the prize in the past were Aung San Suu Kyi (1990), Taslima Nasreen (1994), Wei Jinsheng (1996) and the current Prime Minister of East Timor, Xanana Gusmão (1999).
After his arrest, Hu Jia was on sentenced on 3 April 2008 for “inciting subversion of state power” on 3 April 2008 to three-and-a-half years’ with one year’s denial of political rights. He was found guilty of writing articles about the human rights situation in the run-up to the Olympic Games.
On 10 September 2007, Jia together with Teng Biao, a scholar and human rights lawyer in Beijing, singed an Open Letter called:“The Real China and the Olympics.” The letter asked “the international community to look beyond the veneer of munificence and normality put up in Beijing for the Olympics, and to seriously examine to what extent China had fulfilled the promises it made to improve human rights ahead of the Games.”
With regard to the situation in Tibet, the letter, released by Human Rights Watch said: “On September 30, 2006, Chinese soldiers opened fire on 71 Tibetans who were escaping to Nepal. A 17-year-old nun died and a 20-year-old man was severely injured. Despite numerous international witnesses, the Chinese police insisted that the shooting was in self-defense. One year later, China tightened its control over the Tibetan Buddhism. A September 1, 2007, regulation requires all reincarnated lamas to be approved by Chinese authorities, a requirement that flagrantly interferes with the tradition of reincarnation of living Buddhas as practiced in Tibet for thousands of years. In addition, Chinese authorities still ban the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and a world-renowned pacifist, from returning to Tibet.”
In October 2000, Ngawang Sangdrol while in prison in Tibet was nominated for the Sakharov Prize. However, the the Basque group, Basta Ya!, a citizen’s group struggling against political violence in Spain’s Basque region won the Prize that year. China protested the nomination of Ngawang Sangdrol.
The European Parliament will this year observe the the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize, awarded first in 1988, in the honour of the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov. “To mark the occasion, a special event to which all previous winners of the prize are being invited will be held in Strasbourg on 16 December, the day before this year’s prize is awarded, “ the Parliament said.
