i have participated in theatre festivals all over the world including
countries with dodgy human rights records such as serbia & cuba. i don't
believe that by visiting & participating in such events i am condoning,
supporting or agreeing with the actions of the government of that
country. rather, it's a unique & privileged way to learn about such
countries, governments & peoples - not as a tourist, who generally only
sees what the government wants you to see, but from a position of
engagement with the local population.
it's my experience that festival & conference contact like this is
really important for people inside such countries (for whom travel
outside is often difficult or impossible), & really important for "us"
to get a better understanding of situations & recognise the difference
between government & people, & perhaps to support freedom struggles in
significant ways that we'd never have known about without going there.
i've said "such countries" & "us" but it's not really what i want to say
- it isn't a divided situation but a continuum. there isn't a government
in the world that doesn't have some sort of blood on its hands (we have
human rights abuses in new zealand too: http://october15thsolidarity.info/)
it's definitely important to be aware of human rights issues & not to
avoid discussion of them, but i would only boycott a country if the
people within that country were saying that is the best thing to do.
my 2 cents worth ...
h : )
How is hosting the LGM in Vietnam forcing anyone attending the LGM to
ignore the human rights violations of the Vietnamese government? Maybe
you'll start reading about it and become more conscious of it. I have
had many exchange contacts with artist activists from non-western
countries. They always laugh with our 'superior' track record of human
rights. For them Western democracies are not innocent at all. Maybe in
their own country, but not in the world abroad.
For me free software is not about judging governments in the first
place, but above all about building communities. I think it would be
rude to exclude the Vietnamese or Asian communities from hosting the
LGM. As Dang Hong Phuc noticed the Asian community is not very present
in the Free Software movement, although they like to take part. We are
not going to change that from our comfortable broadband connections
remotely. Refusing them to bridge this gap, is not very ethical
either.
I agree with Cyrille, that hosting the LGM in Vietnam rather promotes
freedom, than supports human rights violations.
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helen varley jamieson: creative catalyst
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http://www.creative-catalyst.com
http://www.avatarbodycollision.org
http://www.upstage.org.nz
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