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发帖数: 280 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Military 讨论区 】
发信人: almarvin (marvin), 信区: Military
标 题: Hu Jintao: Let Your People Go (zz)
关键字: Hu Jintao,Gao Zhisheng
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sun Jan 23 11:58:31 2011, 美东)
http://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases/3515-1182011-hu-
let-your-people-go.html
1/19/2011: Hu Jintao: Let Your People Go
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2011
Washington, DC - As President Hu Jintao began his visit to the United
States yesterday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF) urges President Obama to raise the cases of prominent religious
prisoners and human rights lawyers in China. There are an estimated
1,300 political and religious prisoners in China, in violation of
China’s international obligations and its constitutional protections for
human rights and religious freedom.
Both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have announced that
human rights, including religious freedom, will be prominent in their
discussions with President Hu.
“The Administration needs to become a strong voice for the voiceless and
vulnerable in China,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF Chair. “China’s
imprisoned dissidents stand peacefully for freedom and the rule of law,
but Beijing views them as enemies of the state, a position that is
fundamentally at odds with U.S. global interests. The United States
cannot ignore China’s continued repression of dissent in the hopes of
finding common ground on other important global concerns. Nevertheless,
we are encouraged that President Obama stated recently that human rights
would be a major part of his discussion with President Hu and urge him
to raise prominently the cases of prisoners.”
The prisoners below were some of those featured in USCIRF’s 2010 Annual
Report and are a representative sample of the many prisoners being held
in Chinese jails.
Bishop Su Zhimin (苏志民)
Current Status: Bishop Su was arrested for being part of the
“unregistered” Roman Catholic Church (diocese of Baoding in Hebei
Province). Bishop Su disappeared after his arrest in October 1997. In
November 2003, Su was seen receiving medical treatment under police
custody, but disappeared soon after. His whereabouts and status are
unknown.
Gao Zhisheng(高智晟)
Current Status: Presumably detained at an undisclosed location since
April 2010.
Background: Gao Zhisheng is an internationally recognized, self-educated
human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He has endured
detention, torture, and arbitrary detention from the Chinese government
for representing politically sensitive cases, for his outspoken calls
for constitutional reforms, and for calling on the government to cease
persecution of religious minorities.
Liu Xiaobo
Current Status: The 2010 Nobel Prize winner is serving an 11-year
prison sentence for allegedly “inciting subversion.” He was arrested
and sentenced for organizing the document Charter 08, signed by
thousands of Chinese calling for political reforms and the protection of
human rights, including religious freedom.
Background: Liu was also punished for essays he wrote and posted on
overseas websites. The essays were critical of the Chinese Communist
Party, but did not advocate violence. In a 2006 article “Changing the
Regime to Change Society,” Liu Xiaobo cited St. Thomas Aquinas’ notion
of political virtue as critical to the reform of China’s political
system, saying that “virtuous good governance lies not only in
maintaining order, but even more in establishing human dignity …
[recognizing that] humans exist not only physically, but also
spiritually, possessing a moral sense … that is the natural source of
our sense of justice.” This idea worked its way into the Charter 08
document’s emphasis on human rights, including religious freedom, as
essential reforms for China’s future.
Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄)
AKA Yang Maodong (杨茂东)
Current Status: Since December 13, 2007, Guo has been serving a 5-year
sentence in Meizhou Prison (Guangdong Province). He is scheduled to be
released on September 13, 2011.
Background: Guo Feixiong is a self-educated legal advisor and law
partner of Gao Zhisheng. He has endured repeated beatings and torture
for providing legal assistance to Taishi villagers in a political
corruption scandal in 2005, for publicly speaking out against the
Chinese government’s excessive crackdown of human rights activists and
religious communities, and for exposing governmental corruption.
Xu Na (许那)
Current Status: Na received a 3-year sentence on November 25, 2008.
While her status and whereabouts are unknown, it is presumed that she is
currently detained in Beijing Women’s Prison.
Background: On January 26, 2008, Na and her husband, musician Yu Zhou,
were arrested at a Beijing Olympic security checkpoint for possessing
Falun Gong literature. Yu died just 11 days after their detention,
raising speculation of police brutality. On November 25, 2008, Na was
convicted of “using a heretical organization to undermine implementation
of the law,” and received a 3-year sentence. In 2001, Na was detained
in Beijing Women’s Prison for five years for housing Falun Gong
believers at her residence.
Thabkhe Gyatso
Current Status: Since May 21, 2009, Thabkhe has been serving a 15-year
sentence for “endangering state security” for organizing a peaceful
protest at Labrang Monastery in the presence of international media,
opposing religious freedom restrictions. Reportedly, he was denied
access to legal representation, his family was denied visitation rights,
and finally, he endured severe beatings that may have seriously affected
his mental health.
Huseyin Celil
Current Status: Canadian citizen extradited from Uzbekistan toChina in
June 2006. Celil was detained in theUzbek capital, Tashkent, in March
2006, while visiting his wife’s relatives. He was traveling on a
Canadian passport when he was detained. China maintains that Celil is “a
Chinese citizen suspected of being involved in East Turkestan terrorist
activities,” and says his case is being tried and a verdict has not yet
been reached.
Background: Celil was wanted in China for his involvement in a campaign
for the rights of the country’s minority Muslim Uighurs. He was arrested
in China and tortured, but escaped from prison in 2000 and fled to
Uzbekistan and Turkey before reaching Canada, where he was given
citizenship.
Alimjan Yimit (阿里木江*依米提)
Current Status: Since his conviction on October 7, 2009, Yimit has been
serving a 15-year sentence in Xinjiang No. 3 Prison in Urumqi, XUAR.
Background: Arrested in January 12, 2008. While initially charged with
“endangering national security” during his first trial in May 27, 2008,
that charge was dropped due to lack of sufficient evidence. On October
7, 2009, he was finally convicted of “instigating separatism” and
“providing state secrets to foreign organizations,” and sentenced to 15
years in prison. Rights groups report that he has received harsh
treatment while in prison, including denial of medical treatment.
Gedun Choekyi Nyima
Current Status: Missing and incommunicado for the past 13 years, since
the age of six.
Background: On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama announced from Dharamsala
that he had recognized Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th reincarnation of
the Panchen Lama, the second most prominent lama of the Gelug sect.
Chinese officials denounced the announcement as “illegal and invalid”
and took Gedun Choekyi Nyima, then age six, and his parents into
custody. Several months later authorities installed another boy,
Gyalsten Norbu, and demanded that the secular and monastic communities
accept his legitimacy. The move continues to stir widespread resentment.
The United States and other governments have repeatedly urged China to
end restrictions on Gedun Choekyi Nyima and his family and to allow
international representatives to visit them.
Aminan Momixi
Current Status: Currently serving an unknown sentence for “illegally
possessing religious materials and subversive historical information”
Background: On August 1, 2005, authorities in Xinjiang arrested Aminan
Momixi, a Uighur Muslim religious instructor, along with 37 of her
students. Aminan Momixi was teaching the Koran to students between the
ages of seven and 20 when police arrested her. She was reportedly
denied her access to a lawyer.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission.
USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership
of both political parties in the Senate and the House of
Representatives. USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the
facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom
internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the
Secretary of State, and Congress.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Anu Vakkalanka,
Communications Specialist at m*********[email protected], or (202) 786-0610. |
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