Willie Rennie was right: Alex Salmond did panda to China over Dalai Lama

So, now we know. Willie Rennie was right all along. Scotland's First Minister didn't put up any sort of a fight when China sent the boys round to talk about the Dalai Lama. Today's Scotsman has the details.

The Scottish Government didn't get involved in meeting the Dalai Lama when he visited Scotland between 21 and 24 June. Alex Salmond refused point blank to meet him, and nor did any other member of his Government. He had no problem giving time to the Chinese Consul General two weeks before, though. The Scotsman have obtained a record of that meeting and it makes no mention of any discussion taking place on human rights.

This is what the note says about the Dalai Lama's visit:

The Ambassador asked the First Minister about the Dalai Lama’s visit to Scotland in June.  The First Minister clarified that is a private visit at the invitation of the Conference of Edinburgh’s Religious Leaders and the Edinburgh Interfaith Association, amongst others.  The Scottish Government is not involved in the visit.  

It almost sounds apologetic. A "Yes, he's here, but it's now't to do with us."  Not "We welcome the fact that he's coming. He's an important figure in the world who stands for peaceful protest and human rights. I'm going to meet him. I know you don't like it, but that's the way it is. I hope that you'll reflect on the way your Government treats your citizens."

I feel quite ashamed that our First Minister showed himself to be completely devoid of spine in front of these people. Shabnum Mustapha, Amnesty Scotland's Director, said in January that there is direct evidence that raising the issue of human rights with China does reduce the amount of repression. Why did Salmond allow a full meeting to go by without doing so. It's not even as if he could have been thrown out - they were on his turf.

This is not the first time I've been ashamed of Alex Salmond. The way he sucked up to Rupert Murdoch made me many other Scots cringe.

I am, however, proud of my leaders, both in Scotland and London. Willie Rennie isn't the pandering sort and has spoken out vociferously on human rights. He's not been afraid to take on powerful bodies like the Catholic Church in support of equal marriage even if it means upsetting people.

Nick Clegg was happy to meet with the Dalai Lama even though the Chinese threw a bit of a strop about it.

Alex Salmond never really talks about the things that I care about - like poverty, children, human rights, equality. He often seems uncomfortable when asked about these issues. I'd much rather be part of a thriving union that does act on these things than an independent Scotland that ignores them because they might be a bit awkward. That's part of the reason I just don't get independence. I want a free, liberal society where everyone has a decent place to live and enough to eat and a decent education, where people aren't held back by their background. I want a Scotland that stands up against other places where governments abuse their own citizens. Those are my priorities and while they could be achieved as part of the union or by independence, I'm just not confident that all the people who are leading the calls for independence share my values enough to fight for them.

Amnesty Scotland tells Russia: stop arming Syria

Campaigners protest at Russian Consulate in Edinburgh. Photo: Shabnum Mustapha

I was up early on Saturday morning to join an Amnesty Scotland protest outside the Russian Consulate in Edinburgh. The event was to mark 500 days since the start of the uprisings in Syria which have seen so many  lives brutally taken. There as a mix of particpants, with the youngest at just 10 months, to symbolise the 24 lives needlessly lost every day. It goes without saying that little children like Zain here should be happily toddling around, not being indiscriminately murdered by a horrible regime. 

What do we want the Russians to do? Well, they could stop giving the Syrian Government arms for a start.Amnesty Scotland Director Shabnum Mustapha added that:

We are calling for an immediate arms embargo on all arms sales to the Syrian government, we are calling for the situation to be referred to the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes, and we also want a freeze on the assets of the president and his associates.

What started as a protest for freedom and rights has ended in terrible bloodshed.

The event attracted a fair bit of media coverage, on the BBC , STV, the Scotsman and many local papers across Scotland.

Shabnum Mustapha herself had a long article in the Scotsman on Saturday in which she wrote:

We were disappointed that the extended UN supervision mandate in Syria did not include a stronger human rights component which would have improved monitoring and reporting of human rights violations on all sides. Amnesty has repeatedly called on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, to freeze the assets of the Syrian president and his associates and to impose an immediate arms embargo to stop the transfer of arms to the government.

We have also been consistently calling for the international community to unite to end the violence. With Russia and China vetoing a UN Security Council resolution last week (the third one they have vetoed since the violence began), the international community has collectively failed the people of Syria. By the end of today, another 24 lives will be lost.

I've finally put my money where my mouth is and actually joined Amnesty. I've been meaning to do it for ages but never got round to it. Amnesty Scotland has done so much great work in the past year, on Guantanamo, Egypt, Syria and equal marriage.

Amnesty Scotland disappointed that Scottish Government is not meeting Dalai Lama #dontpandatoChina

I asked on Monday why on earth Alex Salmond wouldn't meet the Dalai Lama. It now seems worse than I had anticipated as Dundee City Council have gone at best lukewarm over an event they were supposed to be full partners in. It appears that the Chinese Consul-General has sent the boys round, not only to Bute House, but to Edinburgh, Dundee and Highland Council too, to express their displeasure.

Amnesty Scotland's director, Shabnum Mustapha, has issued this statement today, expressing Amnesty's concern over the Scottish Government and Dundee Council's snubs to the Tibetan Spiritual Leader:

It is appalling and very worrying if Dundee City Council has ‘withdrawn’ its support for the Dalai Lama’s visit to its city due to pressure from the Chinese Government.

Amnesty has again and again highlighted China’s questionable human rights record, including its continued restriction on freedom of expression – and it seems that this censorship has now reached our shores. To think that our own publicly-elected officials would bow to pressure of this kind is unthinkable, and we would urge Dundee City Council to reconsider their decision.
It is also very disappointing that it appears no-one from the Scottish Government, including the First Minister, is able to welcome the Dalai Lama as he embarks on his visit to Scotland.

His visit to our country should serve as yet another opportunity for our government to put the spotlight on human rights abuses in China. Instead it seems that economics trump human rights when it comes to Scotland's growing relationship with the world's second largest economy.

The Scottish Government should be welcoming this opportunity to support the Dalai Lama, an important spiritual figure who symbolises the movement for non-violent self-determination for an oppressed people.

Throughout China, freedom of expression continues to be restricted by the authorities and re-education through labour camps continue to operate. And the Chinese government has displayed increasingly repressive behaviour in ethnic minority areas such as Tibet.