One quarter of the human population lives in China. One quarter of the human population, the Chinese, do not have the right to freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, to form parties, to democratically elect their government and also do not have the right to leave the country. Jiang Zemin is responsible for all of that.
His way is the hard way. Merely a few days after the put-down of student demonstrations in June of 1989 he became General Secretary of China’s ruling Party. In April of 1996, he ordered the “hit hard” campaign. He said against criminals, but in actuality he meant the Tibetans and Uigurs. On July 22, 1999 he banned the Falun Gong movement. On December 13, 2001 he declared that the state’s influence upon religions must be intensified. Jiang Zemin and his ruling Party are power-possessed; they are unable to tolerate criticism; they are unable to tolerate any outside control; they don’t even tolerate self-actualisation in the private sector.
During his reign and with his government’s sanctions, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were sent to prisons and camps for their political views, and hundreds have been executed because of their political views.
The IGFM/International Association for Human Rights does not only monitor human rights abuses in China, but also how our own politicians react to those. Expanding associations with an important land as China are important and correct, but it is incorrect to keep silence any longer concerning human rights abuses, and only speak of cordial relationships. But can one tell Jiang Zemin anything at all, and can his ruling Party be trusted?
The IGFM expects of Chancellor Schroeder to intervene for Ms. Xiong Wei who had studied here in Berlin for six years, from 1993 until 1999, as a student at the Technische Universitaet Berlin. Is that too much to expect? Police officers arrested this woman in Beijing at Tiananemen Square on January 5, 2002 as she handed out informational materials about Falun Gong.
The Foreign Office during an appointment this weekend did interview Wie Jingsheng. It seemed to be the easy way out, instead of directly inviting a constitutional rights activist who is suppressed in China and intervene for his exit permits. It also seems easier to call Falun Gong an undesirable group and shun the issue instead of commenting on the movement’s peaceful actions in Beijing and to intervene for the release of the movement’s persecuted followers.
While Jiang Zemin consistently and doggedly persecutes his opponents, we here lack the courage to do the right thing. What I am bluntly saying is not merely directed at politicians, but also is directed at the press that insists proudly on her freedom! But is the press in reality as free as they claim to be? Or are they perhaps pursuing political and economic interests of their own? Are an interview and a press conference with Jiang Zemin more important than guarding human rights and responding to the question of guilt and responsibility regarding human rights abuses in China?
When IGFM first reported about human rights abuses in China in 1999, we publicised the names of Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Jieder. These people had already been arrested in July of 1999 and were accused of organising an illegal, undesirable group on October 30th, 1999. Many other names have since followed those initial four, and many more stories of nameless Falun Gong victims’ lives rent asunder whose traces are lost in Re-education Camps.
The IGFM has welcomed the intervention of people in the free world who want to send a message and have travelled to China, to protest at the source against the continuing persecution. Only if the persecution finds support and solidarity in China herself and the Chinese people become aware of this worldwide solidarity will changes begin to happen and this restrictive system will be overcome, just as it has happened in the former Eastern Bloc countries.
Every eye is turning toward Chancellor Schroeder: will he discuss human rights with Mr. Jiang Zemin or will he leave that to his underlings? Will the free press report only about agreements reached between Schroeder and Jiang or will the press also report about this demonstration?
To intervene for human rights does not necessarily always require great courage, merely persistence and tenacity. Jiang Zemin is free to come and go as he pleases; he can say what he feels like; he can express a belief system of his choice. He is aware of human rights. But those rights belong to all Chinese and must be available to all Chinese. That’s why we are here and continue to fight.
Karl Hafen
Managing Officer
Internationale Gesellschaft fuer Menschenrechte (IGFM) [International Association for Human Rights]
Berlin, April 8, 2002
(Original text in German0
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