An incidence on the other side of the globe is hitting close to home for Gibsons resident Anita Couvrette.
Couvrette's 22-year-old niece Alexandra (Ali) Taub was one of seven students arrested Tuesday for their part in a protest in San Francisco against the Chinese government actions in Tibet.
Taub, who spent a summer working on the Coast at Thyme Second Stage in 2006, is currently studying at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
While at UBC, Taub joined Students for a Free Tibet, a group that participates in non-violent protests and direct action to highlight the plight of the Tibetan people. Taub was in San Francisco Tuesday where the students hung a banner on the Golden Gate Bridge. Taub was one of four students on the ground providing support for three other students who climbed up the bridge.
According to Couvrette, her niece was released from jail late Tuesday evening. The seven students were charged with conspiracy and causing a public nuisance, with the three climbers facing additional charges of trespassing. All charges have since been dropped.
Couvrette, herself a member of a Canada Tibet committee and a peace activist, said she is proud of her niece and the other six students involved in the San Francisco demonstration.
"These students have really put a spotlight on this issue," Couvrette said. "Students for a Free Tibet have hung banners at the Great Wall of China, the base of Mt. Everest, the Westminster Bridge in London and now in San Francisco. The whole point has been to put the spotlight on China's brutalities and that those atrocities do not fit in line with the spirit of the Olympic torch relay."
The procession of the Olympic torch to Beijing for this summer's Olympic Games has been disrupted by protests since it began in Greece on March 24.
China faces increasing scrutiny of its human-rights record in the run up to the Games, which open Aug. 8.
Groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders are pressing the Chinese government on many issues, including arms sales to Sudan, detention without trial, media freedom and crackdowns on protests in Tibet, annexed by China in 1951.
"The big issue for me is that I hope they don't let the torch relay through Tibet. That would be so wrong," said Couvrette. "Personally, I hope the International Olympic Committee cancels the whole relay. Ali is motivated by compassion for all oppressed people and she is helping to give a voice to those who can't speak for themselves. These kids are my heroes - it's so cool to have heroes younger than me."
