Perspectivas / Perspectives

• Signed by the Governments of Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

 Hong Kong, July 11.– The United States and 20 other countries have issued a joint statement expressing concern about the current and future outlook of press freedom in Hong Kong.

The group of 21 governments—part of the “Media Freedom Coalition” that was established in 2019 to advocate for press freedom and the safety of journalists—pointed to the recent forced closure of Apple Daily, a major pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, and the arrest of the paper’s staff.

Catholics in France were recently confronted by Antifa-like agitators in the streets during a procession to honor the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of Catholics killed by the Paris Commune.

The agitators shouted menacing slogans: "Down with the clergy!" "Death to Fascists!"

Paris, July 7.– On Saturday, May 29, 2021, Catholic parishes in the 20th district of Paris organized a pilgrimage to honor the memory of Archbishop Georges Darboy, several priests and other religious killed by members of the Paris Commune in 1871. The historic episode became known as the “Haxo Street Massacre.”

About 300 faithful Catholics, priests, and religious took part in the pilgrimage/procession, led by the auxiliary bishop, Most Rev. Denis Jachiet. The destination of the 2.5-mile procession was the parish of Our Lady of Hostages. The church marks the spot where, 150 years earlier, forty-nine hostages, including ten men religious, were shot by Communards—the atheist, anticlerical activists of the Commune. No sooner had the procession started than passersby and people sitting at tables in open-air cafes began to jeer and insult the faithful.

A Peaceful Procession Interrupted by Violence

Last week, thousands from around the world tuned in for the 13th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy to hear testimonies from courageous human rights dissidents, former political prisoners, and activists from China, Cuba, Belarus, Hong Kong, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Turkey, and Zimbabwe."

(See full list of speakers HERE) 

 Geneva, June 16 (DP.net).– After a defiant speech, Pakistani rights activist Gulalai Ismail, who fled the country after authorities falsely accused her of sedition for her advocacy, received the 2021 International Women's Rights Award.

More than 840,000 people watched Daria Navalnaya —daughter of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny— accept the 2021 Moral Courage Award on behalf of her father on Twitter and Instagram.

Leading Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's remarks calling out the brutal Lukashenko regime have received 10,000 views on Instagram.

International media put a spotlight on the stories of the remarkable speakers, including CNN, Reuters, AP, Newsweek, Agence France-Presse, Canada's CBC News, Germany's Deutsche Welle, France's Le Temps, and Denmark's Berlingske, among others.

Tania Bruguera spoke about Cuban repression in spite of her connection being suspended by the government. As a political performance artist, Tania is committed to telling the world the truth about the situation on the island which has sparked the ire of the regime. She has been repeatedly detained, beaten and recently subjected to house arrest as the regime persistently interrupts her internet connection, which kept her from appearing at the 2021 Geneva Summit.

Taipei, Mar.3.– The Chinese Communist Party has kept up its broad attack on faith amid the COVID-19 pandemic, burning and trashing religious books while jailing spiritual adherents for possessing religious literature.

While the officially atheist Chinese regime formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Christianity, it imposes strict rules over how these religious organizations should operate, and often installs Party cadres to control the entities, forcing millions of spiritual followers to turn underground.