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Last week’s protests in Tibet heightened attention on AI both from the media and activists. Media is calling for interviews while activists want to take action. It is rather difficult, however, for AI to react immediately on a crisis. AI’s work is always based on credible reports. When information is tightly controlled in places like China, it takes time to verify claims of human rights abuses channeling from various sources. Eventually, several press releases and statements were made public:
- March 12: Concern grows over crackdown on Tibetan protesters
- March 13: Crackdown on activists and minorities in China
- March 15: Independent UN investigation needed
- March 17: UN scrutiny of Tibet crisis required
- March 18: Tension in Tibet as police raid homes
Yesterday, an Urgent Action was issued for 15 Tibetan monks that have been detained for starting a peaceful demonstration in Barkhor, Lhasa on March 10. The monks began marching from Sera Monastery to join other monks calling on the Chinese government to ease a “patriotic re-education” campaign which forces them to denounce the Dalai Lama and subjects them to government propaganda. The names and other details of those 15 monks are:
- Samten, age 17, Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
- Trulku Tenpa Rigsang, age 26, Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
- Gelek Pel, age 32, Lungkar Monastery, Qinghai Province
- Lobsang, age 15, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Lobsang Thukjey, age 19, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Tsultrim Palden, age 20, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Lobsher, age 20, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Phurden, age 22, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Thupdon, age 24, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Lobsang Ngodup, age 29, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Lodoe, age 30, Onpo Monastery, Sichuan Province
- Thupwang, age 30, Darthang Monastery
- Pema Garwang, age 30, Darthang Monastery
- Tsegyam, age 22, Kashi Monastery
- Soepa, age 30, Mangye Monastery
Photos of the monks are available through the Tibetan Centre on Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), based in Dharamsala, India. In the upcoming days and weeks, credible information will likely be coming from organizations like TCHRD while the Chinese authorities set up a near complete block of information in and out of Tibet. Journalists have not been able to obtain permits to enter Tibet since March 12. Foreign journalists were also barred or removed from areas in Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces where the unrest has spread. Time magazine journalist, Simon Elegant described briefly on such difficulties in his post on The China Blog. More details were recorded by Reporters Without Borders.
As China attempts to open its doors to media freedom in the run up of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, another publication is ordered to close. Beijing based nonprofit publication, China Development Brief produces a monthly electronic newsletter focusing on China’s social development. CDB’s editor, Nick Young has been accused by Beijing authorities of conducting “unauthorized surveys” in contravention of the 1983 Statistics Law. Young detailed his interaction with the authorities in a July 12th post of the “Message from the editor” on CDB’s website. The newsletter subscription has been stopped and the future of this great organization is in jeopardy.
Related news and links:
- The Guardian (UK): Briton fears deportation after Chinese media clampdown
- Time magazine’s The China Blog: Beijing Stops the Presses
- Reporters Without Borders: Ban on China Development Brief seen as part of growing censorship of socio-economic news
- International Herald Tribune: China confirms closure of Briton’s nonprofit development brief
HIV/AIDS activist Hu Jia and his wife Zeng Jinyan were barred from leaving Beijing last Friday for their speaking tour in Europe. The police placed them under house arrest because they were suspected of “endangering state security.” Radio Free Asia – Mandarin Service reached Hu by phone earlier today and further learned that he was beaten by police last Sunday when he attempted to leave home for grocery shopping since Zeng is three-month pregnant. Moments after Hu’s encounter with police, Zeng received a phone call from her family in Fujian province and was told that her grandfather passed away. The couple left Beijing today for the funeral. They were followed by police all the way from home to the city of Xiamen in Fujian.
The couple’s latest experience with the authorities came shortly after Zeng was selected earlier this month as Time magazine’s one of 100 most influential people in the world. She was recognized for blogging about the couple’s experience under the repressive government. Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post called Zeng, “Tiananmen 2.0″ – “the online progeny of the protester who blocked a column of advancing tanks during China’s Tiananmen uprising in 1989.”
In addition to blogging, Zeng edited video footage taken by Hu when he was under house arrest for 214 days last year. The 30-minute documentary was to be shown in Europe during their visit. Their latest house arrest and the upcoming anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown may prevent the film from being shown.
Related news and links:
- RFA – Mandarin Service (Simplified Chinese): Human Rights Defenders in various parts of China were harassed by police
- International Herald Tribune: China places 2 activists under house arrest
- Human Rights Watch: China: Activist Couple Accused of Endangering State Security
- RFA – Mandarin Service (Simplified Chinese): Beijing Human Rights Defender Hu Jia was beaten
- Global Voices: China: Most influential unknown person
- RFA – Mandarin Service (Simplified Chinese): Time 100 youngest selected person, Zeng Jinyan (transcript of RFA’s interview)
- Zeng Jinyan’s blog – Liao Liao Yuan (Simplified Chinese)
A few days after reading the latest Time article online, I found another article about Chen in an old copy of the magazine left in the lunch room at work. This one touched me more so than many other pieces I read about him. It described the first meetings of Chen with magazine reporter, Hannah Beech in 2005 and his first encounter with the authorities that took place hours about one of those meetings. It is hard to imagine meeting an activist in person and then hearing about his detention afterwards. I hope the magazine would continue to provide updates on Chen and other activists like him.
Amnesty International recently updated its appeal for Chen Guangcheng with specifics on writing letters to the Minister of Justice in Beijing.
Long-time AIDS activist Dr. Gao Yaojie was not allowed to travel to Beijing to apply for a visa in order to visit the US in March for the Vital Voices‘ Global Leadership Awards. The annual event honors courageous women leaders from around the world and Dr. Gao is to be one of the honorees. She has been trapped in her home since the beginning of this month. She posted on her blog describing the police activities outside but the blog post has since disappeared. China Digital Times publicized her situation with a rough translation of her blog post.
This is not the first time Gao was not allowed to leave China to receive an award. The Global Health Council selected her for the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights in 2001 and then in 2003, she was given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation based in Philippines (Gao’s response to the award). She could not travel out of the country for either occasions so it is not a surprise that she is experiencing the same fate again. During a regularly scheduled Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference on February 6th, the press inquired about the reports of Gao being placed under house arrest. Spokeswoman Jiang Yu replied that she was not aware of those reports. Earlier today, another news report emerged that Communist Party officials visited Gao at home to demonstrate good will before Chinese New Year.
A four-part video about Gao was posted on YouTube this week. She has also appeared in the final episode of the PBS series, China from the Inside that was broadcasted last month.
Related news and links:
- Washington Post: Chinese Officials Visit AIDS Activist
- Reuters AlertNet: China says not aware of travel ban on AIDS doctor
- PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu’s Regular Press Conference on 6 February 2007
- Telegraph (UK) – Richard Spencer’s blog: Beyond the call of duty
- Washington Post: China bars AIDS doctor from U.S. for award
- Amnesty International (December 2004): Human rights defenders at risk
- Telegraph (February 2004): China’s Aids whistleblower left in limbo
- BBC News (May 2001): China bars Aids activist visiting US
- Time magazine – Asia edition: Grandmother Courage
YouTube videos: Gao Yaojie, part 1-4
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Tiananmen dissident Chen Ziming described how his efforts towards setting up a website called Reform and Construction went down the drain after the site became popular. Chen was sentenced to 13 years in prison because the authorities blamed him and his colleague Wang Juntao for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests based on their leading roles in the Beijing Social and Economic Sciences Research Institute and journal publications. His prison term was completed off and on in jail and in the form of house arrest. Even after the official prison term ended in 2002, Chen continues to be under heavy surveillance.
In 2004, Chen and He Jiadong were approved to set up the website. The site received enough visits that it had to be moved to a larger server. The site was shut down in August 2005 during the server transition. Chen demanded an explanation from the authorities but he never received any. His conclusion for this experience is the most fitting description for the internet censorship environment in China:
“They just pull the plug on you, because they can.”
Related news and links:
- RFA: My Life After Tiananmen (English excerpt and Mandarin broadcast)
- The Times (UK): Free — and still fighting: the rebel of Tiananmen
- Committee to Protect Journalists, October 2002: Chen Ziming completes 13-year prison sentence
- Amnesty International, May 1996: Detention and harassment of dissidents before 4 June anniversary
- Time magazine, February 1991: China: The Merit of Obedience
I was reading the Time magazine in the lunch room at work the other day and found an interesting article about the collaboration of a writer and a Sudanese refugee. The end result is a book called What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. Strange title but it could be a good read. New York Times had a nice review.
News came out yesterday about the overturn of the prison sentence of Chen Guangcheng. Blind since he was a child and learned about law through auditing college classes, he filed a lawsuit on behalf of local villagers in their attempt to sue the local authorities for carrying out forced abortions and sterilizations. He became well-known outside of China when Time Magazine featured him as one of the “TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World” in May 2006 under the category of “Heroes & Pioneers” among Bono, Bill Clinton, and others.
And there have been many news articles about him since local officials trapped him in his home beginning in September 2005 and later detained him.
Related news:
- BBC News:
- Amnesty International – Press Release: Chen Guangcheng is prisoner of conscience
The overturn of his sentence is a surprise because this doesn’t happen often in China. Once a person is sentenced, his/her appeal would most likely be denied. It will be interesting to see how this case develops.
Related news:
- BBC News: China overturns activist sentence
- Radio Free Asia: Appeals Court Overturns Blind Chinese Activist’s Guilty Verdict
- AIUSA Press Release: Amnesty International USA Statement on Chen Guangcheng Case in China
In case you are wondering whether forced abortions and sterilizations are really happening in China, check out the case of Mao Hengfeng.
