|
CCD Board Member David Kilgour Nominates Gao Zhisheng for Nobel Peace Prize
July 3, 2007 |  Printer Friendly
David Kilgour, former Canadian Member of Parliament, Canadian Secretary of State to Latin America and Africa (1997-2002) and Asia-Pacific (2002-03), and current Board Member of the Council for a Community of Democracies (full bio), has nominated Chinese activist Gao Zhisheng for the Nobel Peace Prize. He submitted this nomination jointly with David Matas, Senior Legal Counsel to B’nai Brith Canada.
The American Board of Trial Lawyers (ABOTA) recently announced that it would award Gao its third Courageous Advocacy Award for his promotion of human rights in China. This announcement by ABOTA contained the following praise for Gao’s efforts:
“Gao is one of a small number of lawyers willing to handle high-profile human rights cases involving rural land rights, labor activists and religious freedom. He has championed the cause of thousands of Chinese citizens forcibly relocated for the construction of a massive dam and reservoir, as well as the families of miners killed in a 2004 coal mine explosion.
In the last few years, cases of Falun Gong practitioners – who are persecuted for attempting to bring uncensored information to China through the Internet – started to mount on his desk. But lawyers are not allowed to defend Falun Gong cases in China. After repeated legal efforts went nowhere, Gao directly appealed to his country’s top leaders – Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao – in open letters.”
The Associated Press also reports that the Chinese government has forced Gao from Beijing to further isolate him, as pressure has been building on the Chinese to allow him to travel to California so he could accept the ABOTA award in person. He was arrested in August 2006 on charges of subversion related to nine articles posted on websites abroad, and he was subsequently placed under house arrest. According to the AP report, Gao indicated by phone to fellow Chinese activist Hu Jia that the government would not allow him to return to Beijing until after the celebrations of the 10 year anniversary of Chinese rule in Hong Kong.
References:
American Board of Trial Advocates Presents Courageous Advocacy Award to Chinese Human Rights Activist Gao Zhisheng
Washington Post: Activist: Famed China Dissident Detained (Associated Press)
|
