Global Health G Subcommittee on Africa

The Tragic Case of Liu Xiaobo Global Health G Subcommittee on Africa

Liu Xiaobo's premature death was a jarring shock to everyone who admired this champion of freedom and democracy. He was the first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in state custody since Carl von Ossietzky died after being held in a Nazi concentration camp. We owe Liu Xiaobo a debt of gratitude because he demonstrated that the noble idea of democracy and due process, liberty, and the rule of law are not foreign ideas to China. They are universal principles that beat strongly in the hearts of people everywhere. We owe Liu Xiaobo a debt of gratitude because he reminded us that the desire for democracy and human rights is shared by everyone because each person is endowed by the Creator with inalienable rights. The Chinese Communist Party has tried to curtail his ideas, they call them dangerous and subversive, and they seek to silence, censor, and repress them. Yet they live on in the hearts of untold millions of Chinese people. With Liu Xiaobo's death we also reminded of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King who said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." We should all agree that what was done to Liu Xiaobo and his wife Xia was a grave injustice. Liu Xiaobo's imprisonment in 2009 became a death sentence. The blame for this should lie squarely on the Chinese Government, and for his death, they alone, should be held accountable.