Swedish Branch of Amnesty International condemns the Chinese Consulate’s Human Rights Violations

After a Swedish television station reported the Chinese Embassy’s attempt to stop the broadcast of a Falun Gong programme in Sweden, the TV station followed up by reporting on the incident again on the evening news on September 19th 2003. The general secretary of Amnesty International in Sweden strongly condemned the violation of human rights and of Swedish law by the Chinese officials. The following is a transcript of the report from Swedish TV:

Amnesty International reacted strongly to an attempt by the Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg to discontinue a programme about Falun Gong on the local radio station. On September the 19th, Gothenburg’s Channel 4 broadcast a programme on how the Chinese Consulate threatened a local radio station to stop broadcasting Falun Gong programmes.

Regarding this, the General Secretary of Amnesty International in Sweden, Carl Soderbergh, said, “To me, this is highly offensive and unacceptable. We have watched the violations that Falun Gong has suffered in China for a long time. The fact that China wants to control Falun Gong activities in Sweden is outrageous.”

When the Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg learned about the Falun Gong programme, it began to do something that was, at the very least, abnormal. The association of local radio stations and related government agencies that fund the local station both received pressure from the consulate to discontinue the programme.

The Chinese government has been suppressing Falun Gong for quite a long time now. The Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg has claimed that the programme by the Falun Gong association will harm relations between Sweden and China.

The Chinese Consul in Gothenburg said the broadcast “affected China’s image.”

With this issue, Gothenburg’s Channel 4 interviewed many experts on international law. They were all astonished by the Chinese Consulate’s action. Commonly made comments made reference to stupidity and surprise.

According to articles of the Vienna Agreement on diplomatic protocol, no consulate is allowed to interfere with another country’s domestic affairs.

The Chinese consul, Yuan Wenjin, said, “We have the right to express our views and to protest.”

The general secretary of Amnesty International in Sweden, Carl Soderbergh, said, “This clearly shows the kind of society that prevails in China. It is a profoundly totalitarian society. He may think that he can order people around, just like they do in China.”

Originally in Swedish at http://www.tv4goteborg.se/visa/?ID=280136

Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200309/24445.html