IMPARTIAL OBSERVERS?

So the Arab League team have begun their task in Syria. In the group is General Mustafa
al-Dabi – a man who has been accused of human rights abuses in the Sudan, a country that does not have a good reputation on human rights itself. Al-Dabi is reported to have said he saw nothing frightening on his visit to Homs – maybe he should take a look at photos taken by Mani, (a pseudonym), a French photojournalist. Having heard an interview with him on BBC Radio 4 programme, PM, it is obvious Mani's work has affected him greatly.
Opposition members in Syria have complained it is impossible to speak to any league members without the authorities knowing. One wonders how balanced the Arab League's representatives will be in their report; after all this is a political game with a fellow member of the Arab League, and doing the right thing politically is, I believe, far more important than concerns about individual groups of citizens.
Meanwhile the UN stands by, as did the crowds at games in the Colosseum in Rome. How many more people need to die before action is taken? Obviously détente is more important than human lives. The reports of torture and killing, even of patients in hospitals, beggars belief.
I worked with a Syrian in Saudi Arabia, and we would meet for coffee in my flat because he was afraid to speak to me outside in case a Syrian government agent was listening, (he feared for the safety of his family should he be heard to make an adverse comment about Bashar Al-Assad or his secret service).
I guess many people are immune to violence and human rights abuses outside their own sphere of experience. How do you arouse them? Empower them to act in what ever way they can? I have no answer to this. All I can do is keep writing and hope someone is spurred in to action as a result. I keep hoping.

APOLOGIES

Long time since I posted anything, and I have no real excuse because there have been plenty of subjects to write about.
26th December her in England, and will be back writing tomorrow

SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY

Here we have our beloved Prime Minister greeting the Vice Prime Minister of China, Mr Li Keqiang. Following talks with our beloved P.M., Mr Li enjoyed a dinner at the Mansion House along with George Osborne, (he of the expensive skiing holiday), and the Lord Mayor of London. It's only recently David journeyed to China, along with a group, (gaggle? horde? herd?), of top British business men in order to drum up business and improve trading links. Trade is the life-blood of the UK, so says David and his cronies in government.

This is Ai Wei, a Chinese artist, (he of the ceramic sunflower seeds exhibited in the Tate last year. His studio in Shanghai was demolished 12th January 2011 on the grounds, (so they say), there was a problem with planning permission. He is under house arrest in Beijing. Could his arrest and the demolition be connected to the fact he supports Chinese dissidents? Perish the thought.

Ai underwent cranial surgery in Germany after he was beaten by police in Sichuan Province when he went to give evidence in support of Tan Zuoren, an activist who was jailed investigating the collapse of thousands of schools in the Sichuan earthquake of May 2008.

This is Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer. "disappeared" thanks to Chinese security agents, surfaced in March 2010. He then "disappeared" again in April. A Chinese official stated "He is where he should be". That's what happens when one of China's top lawyers defends dissidents and speaks out on human rights.

Trade is important, but how far is the British government prepared to go when selling its soul to the devil? Trade is the life-blood of the UK; what about the life-blood of Chinese citizens?

I hope Cameron and his side kicks, (including the Lib dems, who have sold their own souls to the Tory devil), sometimes think of the consequences of their failures. Or maybe, just maybe, they don't give a damn, and pay nothing but lip service to human rights in the face of lucratvie trade deals