Rights Groups, Nobel Commission Express Regret Over Liu's Death

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is calling for China to release Liu Xiaobo's widow from house arrest Thursday.

"I call on the Chinese government to release Liu Xia from house arrest and allow her to depart China, according to her wishes," he said in a statement hours after the Nobel Laureate's death.

"In his fight for freedom, equality, and constitutional rule in China, Liu Xiaobo embodied the human spirit that the Nobel Prize rewards. In his death, he has only reaffirmed the Nobel Committee’s selection," Tillerson added.

Liu, a Chinese a literary critic-turned-dissident and pro-democracy advocate, died Thursday at age 61 following a high-profile battle with liver cancer.

"I join Secretary Tillerson in mourning the death of Liu Xiaobo, a courageous advocate who dedicated his life to the pursuit of democracy and liberty," U.S. ambassador to China Terry Branstad said.

"China has lost a deeply principled role model who deserved our respect and adulation, not the prison sentences to which he was subjected. We again ask that China release Liu Xia from house arrest, and permit her and her family to travel as they wish," he added. "As we mourn the loss and celebrate the life of this remarkable man, we call on China to release all prisoners of conscience and to respect the fundamental freedoms of all.

The leader of the Norwegian Nobel committee said Thursday the Chinese government bore a "heavy responsibility" for his death.

"We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill," said Berit Reiss-Anderssen. "The Chinese Government bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death," she said in an emailed statement.

Rights groups were quick to praise his achievements and legacy while calling on the international community to investigate deaths in captivity and work to prevent them.

“Even as Liu Xiaobo’s illness worsened, the Chinese government continued to isolate him and his family, and denied him freely choosing his medical treatment,” said Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government’s arrogance, cruelty, and callousness are shocking – but Liu’s struggle for a rights-respecting, democratic China will live on.”

The U.N. Human Rights chief expressed "deep sorrow" over Liu's death, saying the human rights movement has lost a "principled champion".

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi also expressed her condolences for Liu and disappointment with the Chinese government's handling of his illness.

"The world grieves loss of one of the great moral voices of our time. We had hoped that the Chinese ... they mistreated him in prison, contributed to his illness, we would hope that they would allow him to leave the country to receive medical care," she said, "They did not. It is a sad day.”

Phyllis Schlafly 'First Lady of US Anti-Feminism' Dies

Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist who almost single-handedly helped defeat the proposed Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and pushed the Republican Party to the right in ensuing decades, has died. She was 92.

Schlafly died Monday of cancer at her home in St. Louis, her son John Schlafly said.

Known as "the first lady of anti-feminism," Schlafly rose to national attention in 1964 with her self-published book, “A Choice Not an Echo,” that became a manifesto for the far right. The book, which sold 3 million copies, chronicled the history of the Republican National Convention and is credited with helping conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona win the 1964 GOP nomination.

She later helped lead opposition to the ERA, a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee equal rights under the law regardless of gender. Schlafly argued that the measure would mean the end of the traditional family.

Supporters of the measure argued it would require that laws determining child support and job opportunities be designed without regard to gender.

Schlafly told the Associated Press in 2007 that perhaps her greatest legacy was the Eagle Forum, which she founded in 1972. The ultraconservative group has chapters in several states and claims 80,000 members. "I've taught literally millions of people how to participate in self-government,'' Schlafly said.

The Eagle Forum pushes for low taxes, a strong military and English-only education. The group is against efforts it says are pushed by radical feminists or encroach on U.S. sovereignty, such as guest worker visas. The group's website describes the Equal Rights Amendment as having had a "hidden agenda of tax-funded abortions and same-sex marriages.''

Saint Louis University history professor Donald Critchlow, who profiled Schlafly in his 2005 book, “Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade,” said the defeat of the amendment helped revive conservatism and pave the way for Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980.

Schlafly remained active in conservative politics well into her 80s, when she was still writing a column that appeared in 100 newspapers, doing radio commentaries on more than 460 stations, and publishing a monthly newsletter.

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Phyllis Schlafly speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on 12 February 2011.

Thousands Cheer as Mandela Goes Home for Last Time

by Scott Bobb

The body of South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela has been returned to his ancestral home Saturday where it is to be buried Sunday at his family compound in Qunu. Thousands of people cheered the funeral procession as it traveled Saturday from Mthatha to Qunu. 

Throngs of people sang and danced along the roads as they waited many hours for the funeral procession.

As the convoy passed with its coffin draped with the South African flag, police struggled to keep the crowd from surging onto the highway.

It was the beloved leader’s last public appearance.

Sizwe -- he goes by only one name -- was eight years old when Mandela was freed from prison 20 years ago. He says his generation will never forget South Africa’s first black president. 

“Especially us, the youth, because we are looking up to him, a lot of things that he has done for us. Even here in this area there is a lot of changes through him," said Sizwe. "If he didn’t fight for this country like he did I don’t think we’d be standing where we are today.

Luyanda Liberty Gcaza agrees. He is graduating with a university degree in biology. 

“In the olden days it was rare to find a man like me in South Africa, completing his degree," said Gcaza. "I think this is special because education was the first [most] important thing for him because he said that in order for South Africa to be free we need to be educated.”

Nano Binase, a mother of two, also waited for hours to pay her last respects. She says she wants her children to learn Mandela’s humility and his ability to forgive despite many injustices.

“He has lived an exemplary life. We can [should] follow his example," said Gcaza.

Mandela, before his body was returned to his home region, was eulogized by leaders of his ANC party at a memorial service near Johannesburg.

His grandson and designated family heir, Mandla Mandela, said his 95-year-old grandfather worked tirelessly even after his retirement to improve people’s lives. He focused on social issues such as HIV/AIDS and improving the well-being of South Africa’s children.

Authorities say more than 100,000 people paid their respects over three days while Mandela lay in state in Pretoria.

He was eulogized Tuesday at a memorial in Johannesburg that was attended by more than 60,000 people and more than 80 heads of state and government.

The anti-apartheid icon is to be buried in Qunu Sunday following ceremonies to be attended by several thousand people - family members, close friends and a handful of leaders, mostly from Africa.

Dissident Vietnamese Poet Nguyen Chi Thien Dies at 73

Dissident Vietnamese poet Nguyen Chi Thien, who memorized his poems while languishing in prison where he was not allowed to write, has died at age 73.

A friend of Thien announced his death this week in Los Angeles, where he had lived since 1995.

Thein was first jailed in 1960 after telling a group of Vietnamese students that World War II ended when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan. Official communist-issued textbooks insisted that the war ended by the Russians defeating the Japanese.

Thien spent most of the next 31 years in jails and prison camps, where he memorized his poems and only writing them down after he was released.

His collection, Flowers of Hell won him international awards and honors.

Thien moved to France and later to the United States, where the Vietnamese community in Southern California saw him as a symbol of freedom.

Former First Lady of France Danielle Mitterrand Dies

Danielle Mitterrand, a hero of the French Resistance and widow of former President of France Francois Mitterrand, has died at the age of 87.

Mitterrand died early Tuesday after being hospitalized in Paris for several days. She helped redefine the role of first lady, and was known as a humanitarian and activist for the underdog.

Mrs. Mitterrand lent her support to ethnic minorities such as Tibetans and Kurds. She was also a strong supporter of Cuba's Fidel Castro and started several charities to help the disadvantaged.

During World War II, she met her future husband as both worked for the French Resistance. She was awarded a prestigious medal for her work against the Nazi occupation of France.

Photo: Danielle Mitterrand in 2005 by Kenji-Baptiste OIKAWA.

Kenyan Nobel Laureate Maathai Dies

Kenya's Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, has died. She was 71.

The organization she founded, the Green Belt Movement, said in a statement that Maathai died Sunday at a Nairobi hospital after a long struggle with cancer.

The Nobel Committee awarded her the peace prize in 2004, citing her stand against Kenya's former oppressive government and work to encourage women to improve their lives.

Maathai started the Green Belt Movement in 1977 to help poor women in rural communities meet their basic needs for firewood, food and clean drinking water through a tree-planting program. The effort later grew to include focusing on issues of democracy, human rights, women's rights and peace.

The organization says it has mobilized hundreds of thousands of men and women to plant more than 47 million trees.

Maathai also served as a member of the Kenyan parliament, and as the country's deputy environment minister.

She attended college in the United States during the civil rights era in the 1960s, and said that experience inspired her to return home and do something positive for the people of Kenya.

Maathai was one of the founding members of the Nobel Women's Initiative, joining other female peace prize winners to support women's rights advocacy around the world.

(Photograph of Wangari Maathai by Martin Rowe)

Czech Anti-Communist Activist Masin Dies at 81

Ctirad Masin, a Czech anti-communist fighter who shot his way to freedom in a daring escape in 1953, died Saturday in a war veteran's residence in the U.S. midwestern city of Cleveland, Ohio. He was 81.

Masin, his brother Josef and another man, Milan Paumer, were part of the Masin brothers resistance cell established after the communists seized power in 1948 in the then Central European nation of Czechoslovakia. The group carried out raids in Czechoslovakia, killing several people, before fleeing to the West in 1953.

Two members of the five-person cell were captured during the escape and executed but the other three reached West Berlin after a month-long manhunt involving thousands of East German police and soldiers.

The three later settled in the United State and served in the U.S. army. Paumer returned home following the fall of communism in 1989 and died last year. The Masin brothers never returned to Czechoslovakia, which split in 1993 into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, saying it has not fully rid itself of its communist past.

Many Czechs consider the fighters to be heroes but others say they were criminals. In 2008, the group was awarded a prime minister's medal.

Photo: Ctirad Masin, 1950, courtesy of Barbara Masin, digitized by Don Rumata.

Soviet-Era Human Rights Activist Yelena Bonner Dies at 88

Yelena Bonner (left), Andrei Sakharov and Sofiya Kalistratova in Moscow, 1977. (Photo: M.A.Kallistratova)

Soviet-Era Human Rights Activist Yelena Bonner Dies at 88
Sunday, 19 June 2011

Veteran Soviet-era rights activist Yelena Bonner, widow of Nobel Peace laureate Andrei Sakharov, has died in the United States at the age of 88.

Bonner died of heart problems Saturday in Boston, where she lived with her son and daughter.

Bonner was a relentless critic of human rights abuses by Soviet-era authorities. She was born in Turkmenistan in 1923 to a Jewish mother and an Armenian father. Her father was executed and her mother sentenced to a labor camp under Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

After a career as a nurse, Bonner married nuclear physicist and fellow dissident Andrei Sakharov in 1972. Both became vocal critics of nuclear weapons proliferation. When the Kremlin banned Sakharov from collecting his 1975 Nobel Peace Prize, Bonner went to Oslo to accept it for him.

In the 1980's, authorities sentenced the couple to internal exile in the city of Gorky for criticizing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

After Sakharov's 1989 death, Bonner remained an outspoken critic of Russian military action in Chechnya and of former Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. State Department says it is profoundly saddened at Bonner's death, calling her an extraordinary voice among human rights defenders.

Her family says Bonner will be cremated and her ashes buried in a Moscow cemetery beside Sakharov.

Anti-Apartheid Activist Who Shielded Mandela Dies

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

An old friend of Nelson Mandela who once helped hide the anti-apartheid leader from the South African white minority government has died.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation says Arthur Goldreich died in Israel on Tuesday. He was 82.

In the early 1960s, Mr. Mandela posed as a worker for Goldreich at the white activist's farm near Johannesburg.

The Liliesleaf Farm served as a base for the anti-apartheid movement. While there, Mr. Mandela took the name David Motsamayi and pretended to be a black servant who often wore simple blue overalls.

In 1963, police raided the farm and arrested Goldreich and other anti-apartheid leaders. Goldreich later escaped from police and eventually moved to Israel.

Goldreich returned to South Africa for a reunion at Liliesleaf Farm after Mr. Mandela became South Africa's first democratically-elected president in 1994.

Besides being an activist, Goldreich was also an artist. He designed the set for “King Kong,” a popular musical in South Africa about the life of a real-life black boxer.