Amnesty International

Yesterday I was at an Amnesty International meeting for the UTas Amnesty Society for which I somehow became part of the committee at the recent AGM. This is despite the fact the AGM was the first meeting I'd been to. As part of their current China campaigns, they have a link which is supposed to be able to be put into facebook, blogger and many equivalents to highlight some of the many words that you can't type into Google/Yahoo in China due to the insane censorship. For example some guy searched for something relating to Tienanmen Square and was promptly arrested and is doing hard labour. They have cartoon cops that stroll across your screen checking up on what you do - and if they don't approve, you'll have a visit from the real cops. This is in the face of the Chinese Government getting the Olympics and claiming that this will be an opportunity to improve Human Rights in China. There are many facets to the China campaign, but one that seems particularly relevant to a blog is the internet suppression. There are many site you can't access from within China - for example, Amnesty International (unsurprisingly), but also BBC, and even the IOC - International Olympic Committee.

If you like, there is an Amnesty Petition you can sign HERE relating to these matters.