Thank you and hope that with your help, the lives of
these prisoners of conscience will improve.
Gratefully,
Ann Lau
China’s Prisoners of Conscience
List April 17, 2015
Ai Weiwei 艾未未, Artist
A
world renowned artist, Ai Weiwei investigated the Sichuan
schools corruption scandal following the collapse of many school
buildings in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He and fellow activist, Tan
Zuoren, recorded over 5000 names of children who died during the
earthquake.
Ai
was beaten severely when he traveled to the city of Chengdu to
attend the trial of Tan Zuoren.
Afterwards he traveled to Germany and was found to have
internal brain bleeding. He
subsequently had emergency brain surgery in Germany. It was surmised that the
injury was the result of the beating.
On
April 3, 2011, Ai was arrested and held for 81 days without any
official changes being filed. Banned
from traveling outside China, Ai has remotely produced several
art installations inside San Francisco’s former prison,
Alcatraz.
We
ask that Ai Weiwei be allowed to travel outside of China as
the government is currently trying to end corruption which Ai
Weiwei also wanted to bring out on the shoddy construction of
the school buildings.
Chang Boyang 常伯阳, public interest lawyer
Lawyer Chang Boyang was detained
on May 28, 2014 after authorities repeatedly denied his requests
to visit his clients who were detained earlier for trying to
organize a memorial event to commemorate the 25the anniversary
of the Tiananmen Massacre.
Chang, with other lawyers, formed
a volunteer legal aid group in 2004 to work on behalf of those
being discriminated, including women, migrant workers, people
living with HIV/AIDS or hepatitis B or C and other vulnerable
individuals. He was
nominated as one of the top 10 Legal Aid Lawyers in Henan
province in 2007.
He has been accused of “Gathering
a crowd to disrupt public order. “
Currently, he is being criminally detained.
As a lawyer, Chang Boyang has
the right to meet with his clients. We ask that Chang Boyang
be released so he can continue to represent his clients
Dhondup
Wangchen, Filmmaker
Dhondup
Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker imprisoned by the Chinese
government in March 28, 2008 on charges related to his
documentary “Leaving Fear Behind.”
The documentary consists of interviews with ordinary
Tibetan people discussing the 14th Dalai Lama, the Chinese
government, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Han Chinese migrants
to the region. After smuggling the tapes of the interviews out
of Tibet, Dhondup Wangchen was detained,
On
June 5, 2014, Dhondup Wangchen was released from prison after
serving a six-year sentence. Currently,
Dhondup Wangchen is still being monitored and prevented from
leaving for California where his wife and children reside.
We
ask that Dhondup Wangchen be allowed to join his wife and
children as he has served his full sentence already.
Gao
Yu 高瑜,
71, journalist,
Gao
Yu is a well-respected journalist who started her career working
for the China News Service. She
has been imprisoned twice before for her news commentaries.
On
April 24, 2014, Gao Yu was detained by police on the charge of
leaking state secrets to a foreign website.
According
to her lawyer, Gao Yu is in a relatively good mental condition,
but she suffers from high blood pressure, heart problems and
other medical conditions.
Gao
Yu has been sentenced to seven years in jail on April 17, 2015.
We
ask that Gao Yu be released as her confession was forced
through threat against her son.
Guo
Feixiong 郭飞雄 (real
name Yang Maodong杨
茂东) Rights
Defender
Guo
Feixiong is a human rights defener. He was criminally detained
on August 8, 2013 on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt
social order.” His crime
is his support for another human rights activist Xu Zhiyong
(currently in prison) as well as his support for an editorial by
Southern Weekly newspaper.
Guo
is a long-time rights advocate who has been calling for greater
government transparency and an end to corruption. Guo is a vocal supporter of
those calling for disclosure of officials’ assets.
On
November 28, 2014, Guo Feixiong, with his fellow rights
activist, Sun Desheng were tried but the trial ended without
verdicts for the defendants.
We
ask that Guo Feixiong and Sun Desheng be released since they
are merely asking for an end to corruption which the
government is now trying to do.
Liu
Xia 劉霞,
wife of Nobel Peace Laureate
In
2010, after it was announced that Liu Xiaobo had won the Nobel
Peace Prize while he was imprisoned for an 11-year term for
calling for multiparty elections in China, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo’s
wife, was placed under house arrest and her mobile number
deactivated.
Security
guards surround Liu Xia's home. She is not allowed to leave or
accept visitors. The police have banned her from making or
receiving phone calls or accessing the Internet.
Liu
Xia had a heart attack in January 2014. She suffered from
psychological stress, anxiety and depression - severe mental
health problems that multiple doctors warned will worsen unless
her current living conditions change.
We
ask for Liu Xia to be allowed to visit her friends and family. After all, Liu Xia has
not been accused of any crime.
Su Changlan 苏昌兰, Women’s Rights Activist
Su Changlan, a
women’s rights activist has been detained since October 27, 2014
after she made comments on social media in support of Hong
Kong’s umbrella movement. She
is formally charged on December 3, 2014 for “incitement to
subvert state power.”
Su’s lawyer has not been allowed
to meet with her.
We ask to inquire about the
health of Su Changlan.
Wu
Lihong 吳立紅,
Environmentalist
Honored
by China’s National Peoples Congress as an “Environmental
Warrior” in 2005, Wu Lihong was nevertheless sentenced to three
years of prison on 2007 by a local court in retribution of his
years of crusade against pollution in Lake Tai. He was released in 2010 but
continued to speak out about pollution in the lake even though
he is constantly being monitored and prevented from travelling
beyond his township of Yixing.
Jiang
Hongliang, the Party official who personally persecuted Wu,
jumped to his death on March 31, 2015 after two former officials
above him were fired and under investigations.
We
ask that Wu Lihong be allowed to travel freely as he has
already served his sentence.
Zhu
Yufu
朱虞夫, Poet
and Writer
In
January, 2012, Zhu Yufu (朱 虞夫), a
poet and writer, who had previously been imprisoned twice for
his activism, was convicted of “inciting subversion” and
sentenced to seven years for having written a short poem
entitled, “It’s Time”. The
court “considered it a serious crime that deserved stern
punishment.”
It’s time, people of China! It’s time.
The Square belongs to everyone.
With your own two feet
It's time to head to the Square and make your choice.
It’s time, people of China! It’s time.
A song belongs to everyone.
From your own throat
It’s time to voice the song in your heart.
It’s time, people of China! It’s time.
China belongs to everyone.
Of your own will
It’s time to choose what China shall be.
We
ask to inquire about the health of Zhu Yufu.