Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany): Human Rights Week

A large crowd gathered in one corner of the Pausenhof (recess courtyard) in front of the posters. The loud sound of drums played by students could be heard everywhere, while girls sold cakes. Something that felt like an early high school diploma celebration was in reality the action during human rights week at the Liebigschule [Liebig High School] in Hausen. The earnings from the sale of the cakes were donated to organisations that are committed to work on human rights issues.

The posters depicted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration was enacted in 1948, fifty nine years ago in Paris, on December 10th. Since that day, December 10th has been designated Human Rights day. This day gave the Liebig students the incentive to inform the public about torture, slavery and other injustices for six days.

Even at the end of the recess, everything still revolves around the human rights topic. In the auditorium, two Chinese dissidents exposed to upper level students the suppression in their homeland. The surname of both is Wang, although they are not related to each other. The experiences of the two Wang’s are excellent examples for presenting the true human rights activities in China.

The older one was imprisoned after the 1989 Student Protests in China for thirteen years in a psychiatric hospital. The younger one was incarcerated for two years in a slave labour camp because he is Falun Gong adherent, a practice that is banned since 1999 in China. He performed hard agricultural labour from before sunrise until shortly before midnight. He explained to the more than 300 students in German who were awestruck by what they heard, “We suffered sleep deprivation, had to perform hard labour and were fed awful food.”

Even worse than the labour was the brainwashing he suffered. As he refused to renounce Falun Gong after having suffered all that, they tortured him until the moment he renounced Falun Gong in writing. Two implanted artificial hip prosthesis’s after emigrating from China are the most visible signs of the torment he suffered.

Wang Wan Xing, suffered for much longer. He was on Tiananmen Square when the students were shot in cold blood. Despite being of sound mind, someone with no mental problems, he was incarcerated for thirteen years in a psychiatric clinic with convicted murderers. He has to thank officials from the European Union (EU) who obtained his release and emigration after much political pressure. Today, no one in European political circles wants to be associated with him. They fear the loss of diplomatic connections with their Chinese trading partner has taken precedence over anything else.

Europe Award

Liebigschule was accorded the 2007 Europe Award during the human rights week. The award sponsor is the Frankfurt branch of the German Europe Union. One group at the school received special mention. On a separate note, they had arranged the student exchange with two Latvian youngsters from Rica.

Originally published in German at: http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200712/40895.html target=blank>
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