From Johannesburg to Beijing

January 7, 2009 2:10 PM | No Comments
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Mark Heywood with Korekata AIDS Law Center in Beijing

We're still quite excited about the success of Mark Heywood's trip to China last month.

Mark is the director of the South African AIDS Law Project, and a co-founder of Treatment Action Coalition -- two groundbreaking groups working on AIDS and human rights. He's also chair of the U.N. Reference Group on AIDS and Human Rights. But not quite your typical UNocrat. Asked to deliver a keynote address to the U.N. High-Level Meeting on AIDS last June, Mark agreed, but did it wearing a hipper-than-your-mama black "HIV positive" t-shirt and shades. And he roundly denounced the Chinese government for imprisoning AIDS activist Hu Jia (bucking U.N. protocol that prohibits countries being criticized by name - which raises the question - exactly what are we all doing here again?). Cheers, of course, from the Chinese civil society delegation at the back of the room.

This wasn't the first time Mark has taken China to task for human rights violations in its fight against the AIDS epidemic. At the International AIDS Conference in Toronto in 2006, he delivered another keynote address - "The Price of Political Inaction and What Needs to Be Done to End It" -- that equally castigated South Africa and China for failures on that front.

 

"The UN Human Rights Council, UNAIDS, the Secretary General and international activists must demand an immediate end to the detention of HIV-positive petitioners and activists," he said.

 

At the meeting, Wu Zunyou, director of China's National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, stood up and invited Mark to come to China and see for himself the progress that had been made.

 

So two and a half years later, Asia Catalyst worked with Korekata AIDS Law Center to bring Mark to China. China AIDS Information Network co-sponsored the visit. Mark spoke at an AIDS law training organized by Korekata in Wuhan; to a group of AIDS activists convened by Prof. Wang Ruotao in Beijing, and lectured at Tsinghua University Law School. Prof. Wu Zunyou took him out for dinner, arranging a meeting with Chinese health officials and doctors where (by all accounts) frank views were exchanged.

 

It is great that Chinese officials followed through on their invitation, and gave Mark such a warm welcome.

 

And duoxie to Mark for making time to go at a moment when the new South African leadership is going through tumultuous changes, and his inbox is no doubt full. Hopefully the trip opened up a smidgen more space for work on AIDS and human rights in China.

 

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