The International Center for Mental Health and Human Rights (ICMHHR) applauds the selection of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese intellectual,author,and human rights activist as the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009, Mr. Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” for calling for greater freedom of expression,human rights,and for free elections in China in an open manifesto entitled “Charter o8.”
Freedom of expression is “an essential test right” for any nation and serves as an important indicator regarding the protection of other human rights and fundamental freedoms. In the words of Liu Xiaobo (December 23,2009):
Freedom of expression is the basis of human rights,the source of humanity and the mother of truth. To block freedom of speech is to trample on human rights, to strangle humanity and to suppress the truth.
Standing in solidarity with Liu Xiaobo and other prisoners of conscience around the globe, the ICMHHR is gravely concerned about the escalating use of China’s “endangering state security” laws to criminally punish dissidents for exercising their basic human rights. The Center urges the People’s Republic of China to adhere to its international legal obligations, including the prohibition against arbitrary arrest, and to tolerate freedom of opinion and expression for the genuine growth and mental health of its people.