CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Saturday was International Human Rights Day, and Chicagoans marched downtown in solidarity with citizens across the world who claim human rights violations in their home countries.
They began at Federal Plaza, wound through Millennium Park and then marched up Michigan Avenue to the Chinese Consulate. Activists who were representing countries around the world used the day to raise awareness for citizens, many of whom lack even the basic right to free speech.
“We are celebrating International Human Rights Day and also just bringing to attention various human rights violations across the globe, like for Tibetans, in Iran, Hong Kong, and China,” said one woman.
The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity, for fear of surveillance.
“I think there’s a lot of us who don’t want to share our identity, but we have been helping build a platform for many dissidents to voice out their concerns,” she said.
Even for protesters in Chicago, the fear of retaliation from overseas governments loomed.
“We want to hide our faces, our names, our electronic footprints — everything — but, technically, you should not have to do that,” the woman said. “We communicated this rally … with the City of Chicago and the police department. Everything is legal, but for some reason, we have to abide by certain rules that are not part of the laws of the United States.”
Several of the protesters came to Saturday’s event with experience fighting for their basic rights in places such as Hong Kong. They were able to share their knowledge with those who were relatively new to organized protests, such as those from mainland China, many of whom must leave the country in order to speak out against it.
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