[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Brian Conley and 5 others detained in Beijing

[Brian Dolinar]

Anybody interested? BD

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Danielle Chynoweth <chyn at ojctech.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Subject: Fwd: [UCIMC-Finance] Update: Brian Conley and 5 others detained in
Beijing
To: Bookkeeperlist <imc-bookkeeper at lists.chambana.net>, Brian Dolinar <
briandolinar at gmail.com>


These 2 are officially part of the UCIMC, which fiscally sponsors Alive in
Baghdad, unless they did not renew - what's their status Michelle?

I feel that because of this relationship we should do something to highlight
this detention in solidarity with Brian and the other journalists.  Ideas?

- Danielle

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brian Conley Update <brian.conley.update1 at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 1:26 AM
Subject: [UCIMC-Finance] Update: Brian Conley and 5 others detained in
Beijing
To: brian.conley.update at gmail.com


Hello friends and family of Brian Conley and Alive in Baghdad,

If you haven't heard yet, Brian was among 6 people recently arrested in
Beijing, China while traveling to cover pro-Tibet demonstrations. We believe
his arrest and detention (now over 3 days) are a direct result of his work
as a journalist and his commitment to reporting on people's struggles. Of
course, a repressive and authoritarian Chinese government doesn't help much
either.

We have set up this email list to provide regular (daily, more or less)
updates on the situation. If you DO NOT want to receive these updates,
please feel free to respond directly to this email address These updates
will not include information about other Tibet-related protests or
detentions. We couldn't do better than
www.FreeTibet2008.org<http://www.freetibet2008.org/>, so we won't even
try.

Here is the most recent information we have about the situation. This is
followed by a statement from Eowyn (Brian's wife) and resources for
additional information. Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might
be interested. Also, send us links to articles or other resources you find.
Thanks!


As of about 8 pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, August 21 Brian and 5
others had been detained for approximately 77 hours, with no communication
from them and minimal direct information from the Chinese authorities.

Earlier on Thursday, according to the Agency France Press the Beijing police
disclosed that "Thomas" and 5 other unnamed activists had been sentenced to
10 days administrative
detention<http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news/article/-/4945948/olympics-foreigners-given-10-days-detention-beijing-police>for
"upsetting public order." We believe that the 6 detainees are Brian
Conley, Jeff Rae (who also works with Alive in Baghdad), James Powderly,
Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant.

After 72 hours of detention, foreign governments are expected to inform
local embassies of the detention of any foreign nationals. The US Embassy
has been confirmed the names of the 6 detainees with the Chinese
authorities. The Embassy has also been in touch with Eowyn and assured her
that they are working diligently to gain access to Brian and the other
detainees.



Videoblogger Brian Conley, detained with 5 others in Beijing

Statement from Eowyn Rieke

My husband, Brian Conley, has dedicated his life to helping oppressed people
communicate their struggles to the world. Since 2004 he has worked on the
video blog Alive in Baghdad <http://aliveinbaghdad.org/> which produces and
distributes weekly video segments about daily life in Iraq and the impact of
the war.

Brian went to China to document pro-Tibet protests taking place concurrent
with the Olympics. He was not participating in political actions, only
documenting them as any journalist would. On August 19, 2008, he was
arrested by Chinese authorities for this work, along with 5 others working
with Students for a Free Tibet, Jeff Rae (who also works with Alive in
Baghdad), James Powderly, Jeff Goldin, Michael Liss, and Tom Grant. Under
China's repressive government it is illegal to record expressions of free
speech  and work as a journalist without state supervision.

This situation is only one of many examples of the Chinese government's
repression of free speech and activists for Tibet. In most cases the
repression is much more severe, ranging from torture to indefinite detention
to summary execution. In the last few months over 400 people have been
killed in Tibet for their political activities.

Brian would be uncomfortable with the attention being paid to his situation.
He would want us to focus on the people around the world who are truly
struggling – as a result of war, global economics, racism, imperialism and
other injustices.

But we also want Brian home, along with the 5 people detained with him. He
and are I starting a family, and are looking forward to the birth of our
first child in October.  Although I am now 31 weeks pregnant, Brian went to
China with my full support. We decided together that we cannot stand aside
while people are tortured, detained and killed because they want a better
life for themselves and their children.

For more information about the detention of Brian Conley and 5 others in
Beijing, please see www.freetibet2008.org . Please consider donating money
to Students for a Free Tibet <http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/> to
support their work. To get regular updates about Brian's situation or to
arrange an interview with me (Eowyn Rieke, Brian's wife), please email
brian.conley.update at gmail.com

_______________________________________________
IMC-Fundraising mailing list
IMC-Fundraising at lists.ucimc.org
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc-fundraising





-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20080822/d650ea3f/attachment.html