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Last Week’s Freedom to Write Action Alert - China and Turkey
June 24, 2008
Here is this week’s Rapid Action Network (RAN) Action Alert. There are two letters of appeal this week: the first for a detained internet writer in China; the second for publisher Ragip Zarakolu, on trial under Turkey’s Article 301.
I know we have been sending a lot of letters to China, but the Olympics are quickly approaching and as China has recently increased regulations on free expression, we must increase our efforts to defend that freedom. New rules have been introduced, aimed at reinforcing controls over Chinese “fixers” working for foreign journalists and overall foreigners visiting China during the Olympic Games. Chinese citizens working for foreign news media must now comply with new rules designed to get them to register with the authorities. There has also been an increase in police controls of foreign journalists trying to cover protests by parents whose children were killed when schools collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake.
Sample letters of appeal are located below.
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Action Alert: China
PEN Center USA is seriously concerned about the detention and well-being of internet writer Huang Qi, on 10 June 2008 in Chengdu, after criticizing the Chinese government’s handling of the consequences of the earthquake of 12 May 2008 in Sichuan province. It is concerned that he is detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, and that guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and, if so, calls for his immediate release.
Huang, director and co-founder of the Tianwang Human Rights Center in Chengdu, had been imprisoned on subversion charges from 2003 to 2005 for setting up a web site that investigated corruption, advocated democracy, and called for the release of those imprisoned in the wake of the Tiananmen protests. PEN fears that Huang has been detained by plainclothes police and may be held incommunicado in connection with his criticism of the government’s handling of the May 12th Sichuan earthquake. Huang Qi was last seen being forced into a car by three unidentified men in Chengdu on the evening of June 10.
Please send appeals:
- Expressing serious concern for the safety of detained internet writer Huang Qi following his critical reporting the government dealing with the consequences of the earthquake on the earthquake in Sichuan province on 12 May
- Seeking urgent information about Huang Qi’s well-being
- Expressing serious concern that he appears to have been detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which China is a signatory and that guarantees the right to freedom of expression and if so calling for his immediate and unconditional release
International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee recommends that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in your country asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments.
Government addresses:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China.
Mr. Meng Jianzhu
Minister of the Public Security
East Chang’an Avenue 14
100741 Beijing
P.R. China
Please note that fax numbers are no longer available for the Chinese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for China in your country to forward your appeals:
Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the United States of America
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20008
Action Alert: Turkey – Article 301
Turkish publisher Ragip Zarakolu has been sentenced to a five month sentence, commuted to a fine, for “insulting the state” under the notorious Article 301. This is the first conviction under this article since it was revised in April. International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee has been calling for the repeal of this Article and had been disappointed with the amendments that continue to provide a maximum of two years in prison for comments deemed to “insult” Turkish institutions.
This is the first conviction since this article was slightly amended on 30 April 2008, after over 1,000 people, including writers, publishers and journalists, have been brought to the courts in the three years since its inception in 2005. Around 29 writers and journalists are on trial today under Article 301. They are among a total of 79 charged under a range of laws that impinge on the right to free speech, including Article 318 that has led numerous commentators on conscientious objection to the courts, and a raft of articles under Anti Terror legislation and against “incitement” that have been used against writers on the Kurdish issues.
Ragıp Zarakolu, recipient of the 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize and an Honorary Member of several PEN Centres worldwide has said that he will appeal the sentence and is determined to go as far as the European Court of Human Rights if need be. Throughout his life, Ragıp Zarakolu has been subjected to a series of long, time-consuming and expensive court hearings.
Please send appeals:
- Expressing alarm at the conviction of Ragip Zarakolu on charges that are in direct denial of his right to freedom of expression;
- Pointing out that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code is not compatible with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which protect the right to free expression and to which Turkey is a signatory;
- Referring to the existence of numerous other laws in Turkey that are used against writers and journalists in the legitimate practice of their right to freedom of expression;
- Calling for there to be a further review of Turkish legislation to remove from its remit all possibility of trials and convictions that breach the international standards to which Turkey is committed.
Appeals to:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Office of the Prime Minister
Basbakanlik
06573 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Also send appeals to the Turkish ambassador in your own country:
Ambassador Nabi Sensoy
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
2525 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington, DC
20008