Pasadena Weekly, CA
Dec 27 2007
States of denial
Former mayor calls on Rose Parade watchers to turn their backs on
Beijing-backed float to protest against human rights abuses
By Bill Paparian
In Mayor Bill Bo-gaard’s recent letter to Beijing, he called human
rights abuses in China `allegations.’ I join in solidarity during
this Christmas season with those victims of human rights abuse and
religious persecution, who languish in China’s prisons, and challenge
Bogaard’s denialist words and deeds.
By definition, allegations are unproven claims. They are merely the
legal precedent for someone attempting to demonstrate the truth of
their claims. Bogaard’s reference to `allegations’ puts him on the
path of those who have minimized human rights atrocities and later
denied them. A frightening trend is growing in our world. Many
revisionists first minimize atrocities, then they rationalize them,
and finally they get to the point of denial. Bogaard’s reference
reminds me of those denialists who minimize the Armenian Genocide as
a mere allegation.
By using the word allegation in his letter to Chinese officials,
denialist Bogaard demonstrates his complicity with those same Chinese
government officials who deny the Tiananmen massacre and continue to
perpetrate human rights abuse.
Besides the city’s own Human Relations Commission report, he even got
the benefit of first-hand testimony. And the most he gained from this
evidence is to say that there are allegations?
It disturbs me to know that Bogaard displayed nothing less than a
callous and disrespectful attitude toward dozens of people who poured
out their souls in person to testify at Pasadena City Council
hearings about ongoing human rights atrocities in China.
Bogaard has blurred the lines between Pasadena’s corporatist
financial interest and the interests of ethics and morality. Bogaard
and his City Council collaborators do not care about what they heard
at City Council hearings from brave women and men who seek freedom
for all.
When the Pasadena City Council voted in 1998 to establish a
sister-city relationship with Xicheng, a district within Beijing, I
never imagined that it would result in a City Council in 2007 turning
a blind eye to the atrocities facing many people who only wish to
have the same rights that are incorporated in the Uni-
ted Nations International Declaration of Human Rights.
I never imagined the thoughtlessness of a denialist Mayor and his
City Council collaborators who would turn their backs on victims of
oppression and human rights atrocities.
Allegations?
Tell that to Teresa Moreau, who almost weekly attends the City
Council and asks for support for the many Roman Catholic bishops and
clergy who are imprisoned, tortured and murdered for their faith in
China.
Tell that to Maxine Russell, whose son, Darren was brutally murdered
in China and was heartsick when she watched Mayor Bogaard enjoy a
little chat with a staff member while she begged for an investigation
about the murder of her son.
Tell that to Yaning Liu – who has been refused a simple letter of
support by Mayor Bogaard for the release of Yaning’s mom, who is in a
labor prison in China for practicing the breathing and spiritual
exercises of Falun Gong.
And tell that to the dozens of people who took time from their lives
to testify about the facts and present documents supporting the need
to help prisoners of conscience and persecuted people in China’s
prisons, including public records by the US State Department and
reports from international organizations such as Amnesty
International and Reporters Without Borders that demand immediate
attention.
On Jan. 1, many will protest Bogaard’s cowardly decision to turn his
back on the brave people of China and deny solid proof of human
rights abuse in China. This will be done by the simple act of turning
their backs to Bogaard’s Beijing Float of Shame.
Our city has a rich history of celebrating the Rose Parade. This year
should be no different. We have a special opportunity to join the
Pasadena Coalition for Human Rights in China who have spread the word
for the residents of Pasadena to show their concern by turning their
backs to the Beijing Float of Shame as it passes.
Each back that turns will send a message to Beijing that the
residents of Pasadena want Beijing to keep its Olympics promise and
improve human rights conditions. Let us respond to this call and show
Bogaard and others who think we too have been hoodwinked by China’s
government leaders and who expect only smiles from the spectators
along the parade route. Turn your backs on Bogaard’s Beijing Float of
Shame!
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