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China:
Tragedy of Tiananmen remains alive
Embargo Date: 3 June 2005 00:01 GMT
On the eve of the 16th anniversary of the
crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing,
Amnesty International calls for justice for those who
lost their lives on 3-4 June, 1989. The organisation
also calls for the release of those imprisoned in 1989
or jailed since for seeking a reassessment of events
at Tiananmen.
"Tiananmen clearly remains very much alive today for
the Chinese public and the demands by Chinese citizens
for justice continue," said Amnesty International.
"We reiterate our call on the Chinese government to
conduct an independent inquiry into the killing of
unarmed students and demonstrators. Those found
responsible should be tried and brought to justice. We
also call on the government to release all those who
are still imprisoned in connection with the Tiananmen
crackdown and who never received fair trials."
The government must stop the arrest and harsh
treatment of individuals who express their views
regarding Tiananmen or share information about the
event on the internet or by other means.
Background
Chinese leaders have taken the position that foreign
concerns regarding the 1989 crackdown on unarmed
citizens are "outdated".
However, the on-going passion that surrounds the issue
in China is clear from the continuous string of
detentions of citizens who seek to post information on
the internet regarding the dead or missing from 1989.
Numerous Chinese citizens have been detained and
imprisoned for such activities, for example:
Shi Tao: a writer and journalist, was sentenced on
April 30, 2005 to 10 years imprisonment for providing
an overseas web site with an official document
alerting journalists to possible social instability
around the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown.
He was charged with "illegally revealing state secrets
abroad."
Kong Youping, a former trade union activist was
sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in September 2004
after he posted articles and poems on the internet
calling for a reassessment of the 1989 pro-democracy
movement.
Huang Qi, was sentenced in 2003 to 5 years
imprisonment for hosting an online discussion forum on
Tiananmen and human rights abuses by the Chinese
government.
The Tiananmen Mothers group was set up by Ding Zilin
after her son was killed in Beijing on 4 June, 1989
and has never ceased to call for an independent review
of the events of 1989. The group seeks justice for the
126 relatives whose loved ones were killed, despite
persistent harassment and intimidation including
periodic detention and house arrest by the authorities
in an effort to prevent them from exercising their
legal rights.
The outpouring of emotion among Chinese citizens at
the death of Zhao Ziyang, former Secretary General of
the CCP, with hundreds mourning and seeking to show
their final respects, showed that Tiananmen is still a
living issue for the Chinese people.
The fact that international opinion still considers
the events of 1989 and China's human rights record
today of relevance was recently demonstrated by the
EU's decision in May of this year not to lift its
embargo on arms sales to China. EU ministers
specifically pointed to the need for the release of
individuals still held in prison for their involvement
in Tiananmen, along with other improvements in human
rights such as reform of the Chinese system of
detention without trial known as 'Re-education through
Labour'.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stated in New Delhi on 12
April 2005, "only a country that respects history,
takes responsibility for history and wins over the
trust of peoples in Asia and the world at large can
take greater responsibilities in the international
community."
Only by following this advice and addressing past and
present injustices will the Chinese authorities win
the trust of its citizens and the respect of the
international community.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty
International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20
7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW.
web: http://www.amnesty.org
For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org
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