The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB – cusib.org) posted a new press release about its activities in support of media freedom and human rights. We are re-posting it here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 10, 2013

CUSIB Marks International Human Rights Day

CUSIB marks the date in history, December 10, 1948, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly. We also wish to highlight the continuing efforts of our Advisory Board Members who remain dedicated to promoting and defending human rights.

Board Member Reggie Littlejohn, Founder and President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, has welcomed Ru Li and Anni, the daughters of Chinese dissident Zhang Lin, to live with her in freedom.  The sisters are celebrating their first Christmas in the United States of America, and continue to cry out for justice and for the release of their father from prison in China. The sisters sent an open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and world leaders: “Finally, the two girls living in exile in a foreign land, for our father and uncle in prison who cry out to you again: Focus on them! Out of your influence, your attention can make them be free!”

Board Member Robert Reilly, former Department of State Senior Advisor for Information Strategy and current Senior Fellow for Strategic Communication at the American Foreign Policy Council, will speak on the topic “Is the West Losing the War of Ideas?” during a conference on at the Newseum in Washington, DC on December 11, 2013.  This event is sponsored by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  The video will be available online after the event.
Board Member Harry Wu, Founder and President of the Laogai Research Foundation, held a press conference at the Cannon House Office Building of the U.S. House of Representatives on incidents of cannibalism during the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. The Laogai Research Foundation recently released a report attempting to document all known, publicly available records of cannibalism during these two periods.  Executive Director Harry Wu spoke about the broader relevance of the famine and cannibalism under Mao’s rule in China to the modern Chinese Communist Party.  Here is VOA’s Chinese language services coverage of this event.

Appo Jabarian at the USC Shoah Foundation Institute Gala hosted by Steven Spielberg and honoring actor George Clooney in New York.

Board Member Appo Jabarian, Executive Publisher/ Managing Editor of USA Armenian Life Magazine, actively supports efforts in Pasadena, California to commemorate the Armenian genocide anniversary.  The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee has planned a memorial to be constructed in Pasadena Memorial Park by 2015. Mr. Jabarian promotes efforts to increase archived testimony to document the Armenian Genocide and expand the growing public and international awareness of these atrocities.
Board Member Ethan Gutmann’s latest book, The Slaughter, documents the history of organ harvesting in China, including its beginnings in Xinjiang where Uyghur Muslims were executed and their bodies harvested.  The book has been published and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com
CUSIB remains vigilant in its efforts to support journalism and all journalists working for media freedom and human rights. We celebrate all who promote justice, peace, security, and prosperity in their nations and communities.  We support their efforts to remind the world about the prisoners of conscience, those who are missing, those who are under house arrest, and those who are persecuted and harassed for their defense of human rights.

The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization working to strengthen the free flow of uncensored news from the United States to countries with restricted and developing media environments. CUSIB supports journalism in defense of media freedom and human rights by the Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio and TV Marti, Radio Sawa, Alhurra TV and other U.S. taxpayer-funded media programs for international audiences produced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). We are working to make these programs more effective and better managed. CUSIB also advocates for better working conditions for broadcasters and other media professionals delivering news to countries without media freedom and defends their journalistic independence.

For further information, please contact:
Ann Noonan, co-founder and Executive Director
Tel. 646-251-6069
Ted Lipien, co-founder
Tel. 415-793-1642