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<\/a><\/div>\nThe Nobel prize for Peace goes to Chinese dissident and democracy activist Liu Xiaobo<\/a> who currently languishes in prison for that work.\u00a0<\/i> The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China<\/a>. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace. Such rights are a prerequisite for the \u201cfraternity between nations\u201d of which Alfred Nobel wrote in his will.<\/p>\n Over the past decades, China has achieved economic advances to which history can hardly show any equal. The country now has the world\u2019s second largest economy; hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. Scope for political participation has also broadened.<\/p>\n China\u2019s new status must entail increased responsibility. China is in breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory, as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights. Article 35 of China\u2019s constitution lays down that \u201cCitizens of the People\u2019s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration\u201d. In practice, these freedoms have proved to be distinctly curtailed for China\u2019s citizens.<\/p>\n For over two decades, Liu Xiaobo has been a strong spokesman for the application of fundamental human rights also in China. He took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989; he was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China which was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations\u2019 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 10th of December 2008. The following year, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison and two years\u2019 deprivation of political rights for \u201cinciting subversion of state power\u201d. Liu has consistently maintained that the sentence violates both China\u2019s own constitution and fundamental human rights. <\/p>\n The campaign to establish universal human rights also in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad. Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.<\/p>\n China\u2019s totalitarian regime has denounced this award in various venues, using the interesting term \u201cblasphemous\u201d for it & has along the way threatened Norway with vengeance. Real sweethearts\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n Why PEN supported this nomination\u2026<\/i><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=b4s7N4fkgX4?fs=1<\/a>\n A call for his freedom\u2026<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cxicZkNDQSc?fs=1<\/a>\n
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The text of the citation from Norway, published at the Washington Post<\/a>:<\/i><\/p>\n