Happy Chinese New Year!?

We stand with Amnesty International Australia who posted this on their website today:

We welcome the opportunity 2008 presents to the Chinese authorities to make a positive change for human rights. It is an exceptionally exciting year for China, with the Beijing Olympics commencing on 8 August 2008.

At this time of celebration we wish Chinese people a positive year ahead and further encourage action to improve human rights in China.

I hope I'm not leaking this inappropriately but we are hoping to support AI's upcoming 'Uncensor' campaign in the lead up to the olympics... it aims at supporting free speech in China.

The Chinese Government has a complex system to control China's 140 million internet users. that includes 30,000 Government employed "Internet cops" that make sure:

• Internet cafes & chat rooms are monitored
• Blogs deleted
  
• Websites Blocked
• Search engines restricted
• Searches come up empty for certain key words
• People are imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information considered 'sensitive' or 'state secrets'.

Shockingly, they are being assisted by companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! who have in one way or another facilitated or colluded in the practice of censorship in China. According to Amnesty International this includes:

• Yahoo! has provided the Chinese authorities with private and confidential information about its users. This info has been used to convict at least two journalists. One of which is Shi Tao (pictured right) who sent an email in 2004 to the US summarising Chinese Government information advising journalists not to attend Tiananmen Square on the anniversary of the 1989 protests by activists. Shi Tao was charged with "divulging state secrets abroad" and sentenced to prison for 10 years!
  
• Microsoft has admitted to shutting down a blog on the basis of a government request.
• Google has launched a censored version of it's international search engine in China.
  

Stay tuned for how The Body Shop will be getting involved. We believe strongly in sustainable and fair trade being the key to lifting millions out of poverty... but that's not mutually exclusive to our passion for defending human rights.

The Body Shop International has participated in the second wave of the Impactt project to reduce overtime in China along with other retailers including Marks and Spencer, Lambeth Howard, Next and IKEA. A major focus of this project is on capacity building with local Chinese organisations as well as with factory managers and workers. The Body Shop hopes that this project will result in a replicable model that will lead to tangible improvements in labour conditions in China.

Be A Good Activist:

• Amnesty International's China Campaign
• Eight Ways to Make A Difference During Chinese New Year

More Info:

• The Body Shop International's Supplier Code of Conduct.pdf
• Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc. Joint Statement to U.S. Congress Human Rights Caucus on Policies Related to Access to Internet Content (1/2/2006)
• Testimony of Google Inc. before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations (15/2/2006)

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager