SHRIC

China must avoid excessive force in response to Tibetan protests

johan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:27:07 +0000

China must avoid using excessive force in response to protests and allow independent monitors into areas of protest, Amnesty International said today after Chinese security forces in Sichuan Province reportedly fired on Tibetan protestors for a second successive day.

Chinese authorities have dismissed reports based on eyewitness accounts of deadly clashes between police and Tibetan protesters as “hype”.

“The Chinese authorities are responding only with repression and a security crackdown to an already volatile situation, instead of addressing long-standing human rights grievances on the part of Tibetans,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director.

“The situation has not improved in Tibetan areas since 2008 when tensions exploded into violence. Grievances regarding restrictions on religious and cultural freedoms have gotten worse, not better.”

According to the official Xinhua news agency, Chinese security forces fired on protesters in Drango County (in Chinese, Luhuo) on Monday, killing at least one.

Chinese Bishops Jailed for Decades, Whereabouts Unknown

johan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:43:54 +0000

Two Chinese Catholic bishops have been imprisoned in China for a total of 40 and 51 years each, and the country’s communist authorities appear to have thrown away the keys. Outside observers do not know whether they are dead or alive, and when asked about the men and their whereabouts, Party officials have simply said they don’t know.

Upon seizing power in 1949 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) vowed to eradicate religion and forcefully broke up congregations, smashed religious buildings, and either forced recantations from or imprisoned believers. The two men, Bishop James Su Zhimin and Bishop Cosma Shi Enxiang, were victims of these early campaigns.

But rather than being left alone after the initial purge, both the men were persecuted repeatedly throughout their lives.

Hundreds Appeal and Get Arrested at Shanghai Political Meeting

johan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:42:05 +0000

Shanghai police detained hundreds of citizens who went to submit their petitions during the annual meeting of Shanghai political leaders recently.

The 2012 Shanghai meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a quasi-legislative and consultative body respectively, commenced on Jan. 11 at the Shanghai Expo Center. Hundreds of Chinese civilians went to the site to submit their petitions, hoping that the NPC would pay closer attention to their needs. All of the petitioners were detained by the police and only released in the evening, according to reports and interviews.

A Hard Year For Rights

johan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:44:26 +0000

AFP: The wife of Chinese dissident Gao Zhisheng, speaks to the media in Washington, Jan. 18, 2011. At left is the picture of her husband.

One year after Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, activists, journalists and ethnic and religious minorities are facing a harsher political climate than before in China, analysts said on Friday.

Human rights took a hard knock as Beijing boosted arrests and sentencing amid ethnic tension and in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East.

“The human rights situation in China has got worse in the past year,” said Hu Ping, editor of the U.S.-based online magazine, Beijing Spring.

Group Hopes Blind Chinese Lawyer Will Be Nobel Nominee

johan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:35:28 +0000

A Chinese group advocating for democracy has expressed the wish to nominate Chen Guangcheng for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to recent statements.

Chen is a blind human rights lawyer now under house arrest in Shandong Province. His story gained attention recently when Hollywood star Christian Bale attempted to visit him with a CNN film crew, which shot Bale being shooed away and attacked by Chinese guards.

The National Committee of the Democracy Party of China, a group based in New York that maintains ties to democracy activists in China, announced on Jan. 10 that they intend to organize a global effort to nominate Chen for the Nobel Peace Prize. The group wants to attract international to Chen’s case and eventually win his freedom.

Amnesty International condemns harsh sentence for activist Chen Wei

johan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:30:59 +0000

The nine-year jail sentence handed down to activist Chen Wei for writing critical articles about the Communist Party is unacceptable, Amnesty International said today, and urged Chinese authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.

Chen Wei was sentenced for “inciting subversion of state power”. His lawyer, Zheng Jianwei, said the trial lasted less than two hours and added that his family said he would not appeal.

“Chen Wei is being punished for peacefully expressing his ideas,” said Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia-Pacific Director for Amnesty International.

“I wish we could say we were surprised by this sentence, but we have seen the Chinese government use this vague charge of “incitement” over and over to silence its critics and suppress discussion of human rights and political change,” she added.

China must reveal whereabouts of Uighur children detained after deadly clash

johan — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:28:36 +0000

The Chinese authorities must reveal the whereabouts of up to five Uighur children reportedly detained after a deadly clash with police on 28 December in Hotan, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in western China.

According to Chinese government sources, seven members of the Uighur ethnic minority group were killed while illegally trying to cross China’s western border, another four were injured and a further four detained. A local deputy police chief was also killed in the clash, reportedly stabbed to death.

According to local sources who spoke to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the whereabouts of at least five children who were part of the group, aged between seven and 17, are still unknown. They are believed to be in official custody, and some may have serious injuries.

SHRIC deltog i Schysst Jul 10-11 december 2011

johan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:58:52 +0000

Den 11-12 december var SHRIC med på julmarknaden Schysst Jul på ABF-huset
i Stockholm. Ordförande Petra Lindberg höll ett föredrag på
temat "Bristen på mänskliga rättigheter i Kina. Cheng Li som
kom till Sverige för fem år sedan berättade om hur han och hans
familj flydde från Kina där de förföljdes p.g.a. att de
utövade qigongmetoden Falun Gong. Det var många som ville veta mer om
situationen i Kina och om det arbete som SHRIC gör.
Även här var det många som skrev under namninsamlingen till den
svenska regeringen.

Chinese Wukan Villagers Step Up Protest in Face of Police Blockade

johan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:26:52 +0000

Chinese from Wukan Village, a hamlet of 20,000 that is now surrounded by paramilitary forces, have stepped up their protests, calling for a gathering in Beijing and holding a rally against corruption.

The Wukan Village in southern China that has been taking care of itself since Monday after it kicked out Communist Party representatives was besieged by police on Dec. 14. Now villagers and the authorities are in a standoff. The latter has set up a blockade, allowing neither entry nor exit for supplies, food, and water. The tensions that led to the current impasse have been simmering for three months.

Wukan residents who currently study and work in other places in China have announced plans to launch an appeal, or protest, in Beijing on Dec. 21, according to Mr. Chen, a village resident reached by telephone, in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Chinese Authorities Lose Control as Village Revolts

johan — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:25:45 +0000

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