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Last Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - China
March 03, 2008
There are two Action Alerts for this week, both of which are for China. The first is expressing concern for the health and treatment of four imprisoned writers in China, Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai. The second is protesting the restrictions placed on three female dissident writers in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8.
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Action Alert #1:
According to PEN’s information, Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai, reporter for Xiaofei Ribao (Consumer Daily), geologist and writer, writer and computer engineer, and freelance writer respectively, were arrested on 13 March 2001 and charged with ‘subversion’ as a result of their participation in the ‘Xin Qingnian Xuehui’ (New Youth Study Group), an informal gathering of individuals concerned with political and economic inequalities who used the internet to circulate articles. On 28 September 2001, the Beijing Intermediate Court initiated legal proceedings against the four focusing on two essays circulated on the internet entitled ‘Be a new citizen, reform China’ and ‘What’s to be done’, which allegedly demonstrated the groups’ intention to “overthrow the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership and the socialist system and subvert the regime of the people’s democratic dictatorship”. No verdict was announced at the time, and proceedings against the four writers re-commenced on 21 April 2003. Lawyers for the four men argue that the failure to issue a verdict in the case violates China’s Criminal Procedure Law, which stipulates that a court must pronounce judgment within six weeks of accepting a case. On 28 May 2003 Xu Wei and Jin Haike were sentenced to ten years in prison, and Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai to eight years, on charges of subversion.
According to PEN’s information, the four prisoners are all suffering from acute medical problems, some of which do not appear to have been properly diagnosed, and for which there are concerned that they are not receiving appropriate medical attention. Jin Haike, who received abdominal surgery in November 2007, is reportedly in acute pain. Zhang Hong Hia and Xu Wei were reportedly subjected to ill-treatment in prison, leading Xu Wei to stage hunger strikes in protest, exacerbating concerns for his well-being.
Please send appeals:
• seeking assurances that all four are treated humanely in detention, and granted access to necessary medical care and family visits.
• protesting the lengthy prison sentences handed down to writers Xu Wei, Jin Haike, Yang Zili and Zhang Honghai, solely for the peaceful expression of their opinions, and calling for their immediate and unconditional release, in accordance with the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory.
Government addresses:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R.China.
Procurator General Mr. Jia Chunwang
Supreme People’s Procuratorate
Beiheyan Street 147
100726 Beijing
P.R.China
Please note that there are no fax numbers for the Chinese authorities. WiPC recommends that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments. Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for China in your country if possible.
Action Alert #2:
Five months exactly before the opening of the Beijing Olympics on 8 August 2008, International PEN is marking International Women’s Day (8 March) by celebrating the work of three women writers under threat in China – Zeng Jinyan, Tsering Woeser and Li Jianhong. Whilst not actually detained, they are among the many lesser-known dissidents suffering wide-ranging forms of harassment, including brief detentions, periods of house arrest, travel restrictions, loss of work, denial of access to information and communications, heavy surveillance and censorship.
Each of these women is continuing to write in the face of great personal risk. They use the Internet to tell their own stories and those of others living through similar injustices in China. Although they are all banned within China itself, they strive to keep their voices heard, using what freedom remains to them to seek out overseas Chinese websites, publishers, and foreign news outlets. Amidst signs of an apparent crackdown on dissent as the Olympic games approach, aimed at silencing those who may attempt to use the Games as an opportunity to raise criticism of the authorities, there are fears that all three women are at increasing risk of arrest and lengthy imprisonment.
Please send appeals:
- Protesting the harassment of dissident writers Zeng Jinyan, Tsering Woeser and Li Jianhong, and urging that they are allowed to live and work freely without restriction and fear of attack, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China became a signatory in 1998.
Appeals to:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R.China.
Please note that there are no fax numbers for the Chinese authorities. WiPC recommends that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments. Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for China in your country if possible.
You can download copies of the sample letters here:
Sample Letter of Appeal