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Monday March 8th is International Women’s Day. It also opens the last week of the Beijing+15 Review by the Commission on The Status Of Women in New York, an event which has witnessed a range of subjects being debated, condemned and exposed. Sadly the issue of China’s program of forced sterilizations has received no such interest, which is extremely disappointing as this constitutes a major violation of women’s human and reproductive rights.
During the conference Tibetruth has been very fortunate to cooperate with some extraordinary women, who share a genuine concern that this subject is ignored by the CSW and some NGO’s. Every effort must be made to support and encourage that enlightened and committed minority, it is not a shortage of documentation or evidence, but a political and ideological resistance which must be challenged. A demand that the CSW return to basic principles and act with integrity and compassion, by recognizing that these atrocities are a violent assualt upon women’s rights. If it is to retain any ethical or moral authority, with respect to women’s issues, it cannot continue to callously ignore China’s state engineered terrorism against women.
Tibettruth would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all our friends and supporters on Twitter and Facebook, who have been inspiring and generous in their action on this issue. To women-of-the-world, celebrate this important date, in doing so however please spare a moment to consider the plight of women in China and occupied nations such as Tibet and East Turkestan.
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Truth By Jules Joseph Lefebvre
On February 10 2011 Chinese ‘one child policy’ activist, Chen Guangcheng and his wife were beaten senseless by China’s security thugs in retaliation for the release of video footage documenting atrocities caused by China’s notorious population control program. Not that such a vicious assault would have concerned prominent Women’s NGO’s attending the 55th Session of the CSW in New York, who have remained callously indifferent to China’s mass programs of forced sterilizations, maintaining a collective silence on the subject, despite being acutely aware of the violations forced upon countless women across China, and occupied territories such as Tibet and East Turkestan.
As noted previously, there is a minority participating at the Commission on the Status of Women’s (CSW) current session who would wish to hang a sign outside the door saying ‘private party’. They see the event more as a festival than a vital platform to critically examine such a major issue, or to seriously advance women’s human rights. That is not to devalue the understandable sense of harmony and camaraderie felt at such gatherings, which offer an important opportunity to assemble in solidarity. Moreover, there is much to be positive about, most importantly the motivation and commitment evident, particularly from younger women, whose voice provides a refreshing challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy and stasis which continues to preside over such events. However, some would prefer that the inconvenient reality of China’s program of forced sterilizations did not intrude and disturb the occasion.
Yet if these meetings are to be genuinely representative, and any true progress is to occur, then the CSW and its NGO Committee must be willing to accommodate more youthful contributions, and act upon the range of concerns which have been raised thus far. To reject and censor issues which are not deemed to be politically correct, is a corrosive hypocrisy that tramples over the suffering of women in China, Tibet and East Turkestan, and denies the CSW any moral or ethical authority to speak on women’s human rights. It is significant to note that the tremendous support Tibettruth has received on the issue of China’s violations of women’s human rights, as a result of its coercive population program, has been from younger women.
Yet, as witnessed by the callous refusal to even debate this major human rights issue at the CSW and NGO parallel events, there is an adamantine resistance shared among prominent and influential activists. The architects of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were implacably opposed to any meaningful debate of this subject in 1995, little it appears has changed. If anything the prejudices and opposition to any exposure and criticism of China’s atrocities has fossilized during that time. Despite the continuing emergence of evidence and information documenting the tyranny of forced sterilizations in China and occupied Tibet and East Turkestan.
Thankfully a younger generation of women are expressing concern at the plight of their sisters and willing to speak out, however the presiding cabal, in their compassionless indifference, ensure that the subject is not featured by either the CSW or related NGO Forums. There is every reason to celebrate and value the genuine achievements of female activists, but such joy cannot be at the expense of ignoring the atrocities inflicted by China’s population program. It is surely time for the truth to be acknowledged, expressed and acted upon
Meng Xiaosi- Key Speaker At Today's CSW Conference
Image:womenofchina
Meet Meng Xiaosi, member of China’s communist party, Minister and Vice-Chairperson of National Committee on Women and Children under the State Council China, and vice president of the All China Women’s Federation (ACWF), a national organisation that enforces China’s notorious population control policies upon women in China, and occupied Tibet and East Turkestan. The automata-like members of her organization infest every village, town and city and are responsible at a local level for the enforcement of the population program. Through a spiral of intimidation and coercion they trample over women’s human and reproductive rights to meet Goverment population targets, imposing fines, organizing education campaigns, withdrawing employment and housing rights, and if such bullying fails, forcibly sterilizing women.
Such harrowing atrocities are all committed in loyal obedience to China’s communist party ideology. Anyone wishing to learn more about the ACWF is advised to read Susan Greenhalgh’s : Governing China’s Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics 2005 or Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s and Beyond, Resource Information Center, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), US Department of Justice, Perspective Series, September, pp.77-79 –Attachment 17)
Today Ms Meng will address the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which is conducting its fifteen year review of the Beijing Declaration, a toothless instrument that, among a range of other areas, supposedly committed China to eradicate coercive practices relating to reproductive health. The sad and tragic reality is that since 1995 the abuses have continued, engineered and authorized by China’s regime. These have beene ignored by the compassionless eyes of the CSW and many women’s NGOs, who have assembled again to review the supposed progress and achievments of the Declaration.
Given the speakers involved, and more importantly the political agendas of member states, we cannot expect any genuine critique and certainly no examination of China’s continuing violation of women’s human rights and medical atrocities suffered by countless women. In advance of this review member states were invited to complete a questionnaire on the implementation (and related issues) to the Bejing Declaration; to which China was a signatory, having agreed by its ratification to eliminate coercive practices such as forced sterilizations.
It’s response is a masterwork of evasion and propaganda that carefully avoids any refrence to reprodiuctive rights and its population program. See here: China’s Lies, Omissions and Distortions To The CSW Of course the CSW is acutely aware of this cynical ommision yet has shamefully remained silent.
It is the task of those who truly are committed to women’s human rights to stand up and challenge this concealment. Please join us in our effort to expose the suffering of women in China, Tibet and East Turkestan by sending Tibettruth’s Briefing Paper to the Commission On The Status of Women c/o daw@un.org and request them to give full examination of this major issue of women’s human rights.
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Cai Yiping
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Final day on the Women’s Global NGO meeting on Beijing+15 and already a number of concerns have been raised. Apart from yesterday’s singular silence on the issue of China’s program of forced sterilizations, which has traumatized the lives of countless women in China, occupied Tibet and East Turkestan, the meeting has been seen by younger women as being out-of-touch, too willing to celebrate the supposed achievements of the Beijing Declaration of 1995 and failing to make genuine progress on a range of key issues, most notably reproductive and health rights.
Outside the confines of the somewhat dreary surroundings of the venue itself, many women have expressed dismay at the lack of advancement of such issues. If yesterday’s performance is anything to go by they will be disappointed too at the absence of any rigourous demand for governments to protect and implement their commitments to sexual and reproductive rights, enshrined in the Beijing Declaration. As noted by one crititic:
“A review conference, a celebration, is an opportunity to move forward and really get everyone to make commitments to challenge all these heads of states – not all of them are terrific – and to say that until and unless there are national action plans, until and unless there are implementation programs, we’re still going to sit here year after year and it’s not good enough.” .
Whenever the subject of reproductive rights is raised attention is naturally turned towards China, the nation that hosted the 1995 UN World Forum on Women, while across China, occupied Tibet and East Turkestan women were (and still are) denied freedom of choice or control over their own bodies are are forced to submit to the dictates of a male dominated totalitarian state. It is reasonable to consider that this issue,which so closely touches upon a central plank of feminist ideology, would be given prominent exposure, yet as was witnessed yesterday there was a merciless absence of any reference to the subject, nor criticism of China’s program, which causes untold misery and suffering for millions across the Chinese Empire.
May we expect better things today, will the suppressed and violated voices of Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur women be given exposure? Can we hope to see the assembled NGOs reach a consensus and issue a forceful condemnation of such violations and call upon the Chinese government to honour the commitments it made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to eliminate coercive practices?
Before we get to hopeful perhaps we should take note-of-the fact that the opening guest speaker will be Chinese national. Ms Cai Yiping, who will be representing Asia and the Pacific in a presentation titled ‘Voices From Around the World’.
Ms Cai was formerly a journalist with the All China Women’s Federation (ACW) a national organization that with China’s State Family Planning Commission is responsible for implementing China’s coercive population control program! What are the prospects therefore of any balanced and unbiased asesssment of women’s human and reproductive rights in China, from an individial, who in all probability was responsible for drafting propaganda for an organization that inflicts forced sterilizations upon countless numbers of women!
“By far and away the most important mass organization involved in birth planning is the Women’s Federation (fulian). In the villages, where the great majority of the population still lives, the women in charge of women’s affairs, known as “women’s heads,” have had the duty of enforcing the policy throughout their villages, which means imposing birth restrictions on their neighbors and even relatives. Given the unpopularity of the policy and the drastic measures sometimes ordered from above, enforcing the policy has beenan onerous and unpleasant task at best. While grass-roots Women’s Federation cadres have been responsible for the day-to-day work of birth planning, during birth planning campaigns all the major mass organizations including those for workers, youth, and students have been enjoined to contribute to the effort to mobilize the population to achieve population-control targets”
(Source: Greenhalgh, S. & Winkler, E. 2001, Chinese State Birth Planning in the 1990s andBeyond, Resource Information Center, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), USDepartment of Justice, Perspective Series, September, pp.77-79 –Attachment 17).
Imagine hosting a conference on women’s rights in the Black townships of Soweto, and having as a prominent speaker, a supporter of the racist policies of the Apartheid Regime of South Africa! Such is the staggering hypocrisy and troubling ethical questions raised by Ms.Cai’s prominence within the Beijing+15 NGO Forum. Perhaps however she is now committed to women’s human rights, that being so we look forward to hearing her condemnation of China’s population policies, which continue to deny and violate women’s reproductive and human rights. Anyone wishing to see Ms Cai Yiping’s address (around 9/9.30 PM. EST) should visit:
http://www.livestream.com/salvationarmyny
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This Uyghur woman became another victim of China’s forced sterilization program
Image:etic
“Imagine the response if just one woman was dragged from her home in Washington DC, Paris or London, beaten, tied to a medical slab and forcibly sterilised. There would be riots on the streets and rightly so! Yet such violence is a central element in China’s population program and has traumatised countless women across the communist Chinese Empire. Sadly in the time since the Beijing Conference on Women all we have had is silence, how can anyone truly committed to the rights of women claim to be concerned about human rights, yet ignore or deny the plight of women subject to this brutality? Faced with years of in-action and evasion it seems we dealing, not with an absence of evidence, but a singular lack of integrity.” Extract from the Tibettruth Submission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. View Here
During the next few days New York City will be the destination for a large number of female activists campaigning on a range of issues from women’s human rights to social and educational issues. The focus is the forthcoming UN meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) which will undertake a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (agreed in 1995 these international documents promote and assure key women’s rights) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly. In addition to that major international event a NGO women’s Conference on Beijing+15 will also take place on February 27 / 28, at which a number of key subjects relating to women’s rights will feature, enabling NGOs to submit ideas and raise concerns with the official UNCSW conference (scheduled to begin on March 1).
Absent however from these events will be any meaningful examination of the abuses suffered by women as a consequence of China’s coercive population control program. Indeed in the months of preparations for the Beijing+15 events this major human rights subject has received virtually no attention from Women’s NGOs, despite the fact such organizations are aware of the atrocities inflicted upon women across the Chinese Empire.In an effort to raise this issue Tibettruth has drafted and distributed a document which has been submitted to the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) and Women’s organizations. You can read the document in full Here
It would be extremely helpful if you would contribute to the effort to ensure this issue is not concealed and ignored by sharing this with friends and colleagues. Thank you for your continuing support and interest.
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