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Citizens speak out. In countries across the world, people are calling for greater government
fairness in the treatment of individuals and their families, including better job opportunities,
as well as permitting a voice in the laws that rule their country. Among these nations
are Bahrain, China, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Palestine, Syria, Tibet and Yemen.
Thousands of Mexican citizens in 20 cities across the country marched on Wednesday, April
6, calling for an end to drug-related violence which has killed 35,000 people since 2006.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities halted a protest by Tibetans
calling for equitable settlements in the face of China's plans to seize their land for redevelopment
following a devastating earthquake. Witnesses said that many of the protesters were injured
while others were detained, with representatives vowing to continue with peaceful demonstrations.
Following the arrest of internationally known and outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei last
Sunday, Hong Kong activists joined others in the international community in protesting
his detainment and urging his release, including the United States, Germany, United Kingdom
and other European Union member states. Mr. Ai, also son of one of China's most famous
modern poets, Ai Qing, is among dozens who have been arrested by the government since
February. A European delegation to China expressed concern about the increasing number of human
rights activists and lawyers being arbitrarily detained. Meanwhile, Chinese writer Mr. Zhao
Lianhai, who was imprisoned for a month in 2010 following his campaign against a tainted
milk scandal that sickened his own and 300,000 other children, was detained again briefly
on Wednesday after he asked the government to release Mr. Ai Weiwei. In response to the
recent events, Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Emily Lau stated, “It is time that
the Chinese government listens to people like Mr. Ai Weiwei or Mr. Zhao Lianhai saying you
have to respect the rights of your own people. Let them speak out.”
In Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo have
shown no signs of surrender as the president remains in his surrounded residence in Abidjan,
despite a last warning on Thursday from the United Nations to step aside in recognition
of elected President Alassane Ouattara. Meanwhile, an estimated 20 foreign journalists and diplomats
from Japan, Israel and India asked the US and UN for aid in fleeing from a besieged
area in Abidjan. Upon receiving word that the Japanese diplomats' lives were at risk
after government-led forces invaded their building, French troops acting in cooperation
with the United Nations on Thursday were able to airlift them to safety.
A group of 40 prominent Israelis released a draft “Israeli Peace Plan” in an attempt
to encourage the Israeli government to make peace with Palestine, while the European Union
and the US both spoke out against Israel’s decision to build more Jewish settlements
in Palestinian territories, with the UN declaring them to be illegal.
On Wednesday in the Palestinian West Bank town of Awarta, Israeli officials arrested
and later released over 100 women during an overnight house-to-house search for suspects
in the death of a family who had been living in a nearby Jewish settlement that was built
on Palestinian land.
In Palestinian Gaza, after a rocket fired from the area landed on an Israeli school
bus, injuring at least two people, one critically, airstrikes and artillery fire from Israel
resulted in the death of five and wounding of more than 30 Palestinian people.
With scores of Bahraini activists, including 14 women, having been arrested since protests
began in February, many are now also missing. Meanwhile, a day after citizens held a funeral
procession for a man found dead in Saar, PressTV reports that female protester Khadijah Al
Abdulhayy was killed on Thursday in the village of Sanabis. Around 200 members of Iran’s
Parliament criticized Saudi Arabia for sending troops to Bahrain to repress peaceful protests,
with attacks that have included the destruction of a mosque.
In Yemen, following dozens of fatalities during protests this past week, tens of thousands
still turned out on Wednesday in Taiz, with large groups each walking several miles from
different parts of the city to converge in a unified call for the resignation of President
Ali Abdullah Saleh. Meanwhile, President Saleh has reiterated calls for protesters' representatives
to join him in mediated talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council after having ignored their
proposal that he step down in a peaceful transition of power. Amnesty International also released
a report urging for an international investigation of the deaths of 94 protesters, also recommending
against any deals that would grant President Saleh and close relatives immunity in exchange
for his resignation.
With most protests in Syria occurring after Friday prayers, the government has attempted
to address some of the religious leaders' concerns by closing the country’s only gambling
casino and relaxing restrictions on women wearing head scarves as part of their religious
observation.
However, despite the president's offer on Thursday of another concession to protesters
by granting citizenship to thousands of Kurdish residents, such changes were considered superficial
by many, according to leading human rights activist and lawyer Haitham al-Maleh, who
also said that protests would continue until real changes were made. US-based National
Public Radio meanwhile reported that people from the city of Daraa had begun fleeing to
Jordan to escape the conflict in their homeland.
Former US congressman Curt Weldon is visiting Tripoli at the invitation of Col. Muammar
Gaddafi, who he met in 2004, with a ceasefire proposal. Colonel Gaddafi has also written
a letter to US President Barack Obama asking for a ceasefire. In response to the Libyan
government's recent accusation that British planes attacked the country’s oil fields
and infrastructure, commander Lieutenant Charles Bouchard of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) said that their forces were never in the area as this was not a region where civilian
populations were at risk. Meanwhile, after pro-democracy leaders criticized NATO for
not doing enough to protect the citizens of Misurata, where government forces continue
heavy attacks on civilians, NATO pledged that protecting the people is now its top priority.
However, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé raised concerns about the difficulty in achieving
this because of government troops' use of innocent civilians as human shields. As much
of the population is still trapped and unable to receive basic supplies such as water, food
and medicines, the confirmed dead from attacks by Libyan government forces has reached 247,
with locals saying the actual number is much higher because of not being able to report
on the people dying in homes throughout the city. On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon called for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Misurata as he also expressed concern
for other municipalities where civilian populations have been under military attack by government
forces, including Brega and Zintan.
Tragically, on Wednesday an overladen boat carrying African migrants leaving Libya toward
Europe capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa. Italian officials stated that
51 people were rescued but up to 250 remain missing. On Thursday, Italian Immigration
Minister Roberto Maroni announced that Italy will give temporary humanitarian visas to
many of the tens of thousands of Tunisian and other North African refugees who have
arrived since the beginning of the year, allowing them to fulfill their wish to join family
or friends in European Schengen zone countries.
As we mourn the loss of cherished lives, we pray for the halting of conflict in all nations
as people in every spectrum of society treat each other with
mutual respect so that all may live in shared freedom, dignity and peace�