Fall, Winter Advocacy Trips Cover Stops in Europe, Asia & US East Coast

Executive Director John Kamm made three international trips in late 2009 and early 2010. In October, Kamm went to Geneva, where he met with UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang and gave a presentation to the Special Procedures Unit. He was hosted to dinner by China’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Li Baodong, and held meetings with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Geneva-based human rights NGOs. Kamm continued on to Berne, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo, all capitals of countries that support Dui Hua’s work. He met with senior government representatives, Chinese diplomats, and representatives of civil society.

From Europe, Kamm traveled to Beijing and Hong Kong. In Beijing, he worked to secure the freedom of American businessman Xue Feng, meeting with officials from the foreign affairs and judicial departments. Sessions were also held with US Ambassador Jon Huntsman and his team. As he often does, Kamm met with ambassadors and senior officers of embassies involved in human rights exchanges with China.

Kamm returned to San Francisco but was off in less than a week to the East Coast, where he spoke to students in Washington and Oberlin, Ohio, and met with senior State Department officers, Chinese diplomats, and Congressional staff. Kamm then went on to Rome, where he gave the keynote address at a seminar organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In January, Kamm returned to Asia. In Beijing, Kamm and Dui Hua Senior Manager Joshua Rosenzweig met with Judge Hu Weixin of China’s Supreme People’s Court, finalizing details of a May delegation of San Francisco-based juvenile justice judges and other practitioners. This will be the return delegation for the visit by Chinese judges to study juvenile justice in the United States, hosted by Dui Hua in October 2008.

Kamm Delivers Keynote Speech at Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Seminar

Executive Director Kamm delivered the keynote speech at a seminar in Rome on December 10. The seminar, entitled “A Dialogue with China on The Rule of Law: Italy’s Commitment and the Experience of The Dui Hua Foundation,” was organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department for Asia, Oceania, the Pacific, and Antarctica. Kamm’s talk, “China’s Dialogues on Human Rights and Rule of Law: Dui Hua’s Experience,” focused on the history of human rights dialogues with China and Dui Hua’s extensive involvement in 20 years of exchanges.

The program was addressed by Secretary of State Stefania Craxi, Director General of the Asia Department Ambassador Massimo Iannucci, and Ambassador Sun Yuxi, China’s senior representative in Italy and one of its most distinguished diplomats. The audience included senior diplomats from more than a dozen countries, Italian jurists and diplomats, and several Chinese students.

In his introductory remarks, Ambassador Sun wished Dui Hua success in 2010. “Under the leadership of Chairman John Kamm,” Ambassador Sun noted, “The Dui Hua Foundation has had great success in the field of international human rights in the last ten years, developing close cooperation with the Chinese government and related organizations, and establishing open channels of communication for close, cooperative dialogue between China and the West in the field of law.”

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