Support the peaceful Chinese, Burmese and Tibetan Human Rights defenders

We have a Dream...

Why ought we to pay attention to those courageous human rights advocates who are so cruelly silenced in their own lands? To those individuals of conscience who intensely hope that one day, the pitiless dictatorships in this ruthless world will find their way back to their own intrinsic humanity. Are we, who enjoy relative freedom, not morally obliged to support these mercilessly oppressed spiritual warriors; to make their mission, in whatever way, a part of our own lives. If we value and are worthy of our freedom, is it not our duty to support the unflinching spirit of their commitments. The truth of our freedom must be denied whilst even one prisoner of conscience remains confined. These victims of oppression need, more than anything, the knowledge that they are not forgotten, that when their voices are smothered , we will lend them ours. Time and time again, the testimonies of these peaceful Burmese, Tibetan and Chinese warriors of conscience, rise up in my mind; then I stop, stand still for a moment, deeply moved by their poignant stories.

Gao Zhisheng, Jiang Tianyong, Shi Tao, Chen Guangcheng, Ngawang Sangdrol, Ama Ada, Tenzin Tscheudrak, Liu Xiaobo, Teng Biao, Tenzin Tsundue, Lu Xun, Wang Dan, Wu'er Kaixi, Hu Jia & Zeng Jinyan, Wei Jingsheng, Wan Yanhai, Chen Yonglin, Rebiya Kadeer, Aung San Suu Kyi, Lao Zhang, Sheng Qi Me, Palden Gyatso, Yu Huafeng, Bagdro, Szeto Wah, Wang Ruowang, Harry Wu, Ding Zilin, Yang Chunlin, Zhu Jing Zhong, Feng Congde, Jung Chang, Kunlun Zhang, Gao Yaojie, and so mayn more and the easiest of all to remember, is of course, Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Exotic names, individual realities of pure compassion, motivation and courage. In my heart and mind, I live, fight, suffer and die with them. I cherish and repeat their names again; names of moral strength, intellectuals, passionate and physically undaunted world citizens with whom I feel great solidarity. By this Human rights “mantra” - not consisting of wise words or lofty aspirations-but just this ever-increasing list of names, I am joined to the essential and universal goal of humanity. A mantra of fervent hope that their sacrifices and suffering will result in the realisation of their incorruptible longing for truth. A mantra of humble respect for their unequalled struggle to create a world which can only be dreamt of by today’s humankind.