Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Reuters reports that China has arrested an activist on a charge of subversion and the latest sign that the authorities are hardening their stance toward dissent. Yang Lin, 45, a critic of China’s one-party system was arrested on a charge of “inciting subversion of state power”, according to his brother, Yang Mingzhu, who had received a notice of his brother’s arrest, dated July 19, but without details. The U.S.-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Yang Lin, had spent a year in a labor camp, and he was also a signatory of “Charter 08” – a manifesto organized by jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo – which calls for political reform. Chinese liberals and intellectuals had hoped the new government that took over this year, under President Xi Jinping, would be more tolerant of calls for reform but in recent months, authorities have detained at least 16 anti-corruption activists involved in demonstrations calling for government officials to disclose their assets. In June, authorities formally arrested a man for inciting subversion after he applied for permission to demonstrate on June 4, the 24th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

In the meantime, according to the Bangkok Post, Xu Zhiyong – a detained Chinese activist – has managed to release a video from behind bars urging citizens to fight for their rights in an act likely to further antagonise authorities. Xu Zhiyong, who has been detained since mid-July, is among two dozen activists rounded up this year for criticising corruption and other sensitive topics, despite a government campaign to fight graft. “Let us come together and work to make the rights of citizens matter, the identities of citizens matter, and together push for democracy, rule of law, fairness and justice,” he said. “We can surely build a free, public-spirited, loving and good China.” Xu wore handcuffs and sat behind metal bars in a quiet setting in the 80-second video posted on Thursday by the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project. It is not known where Xu is detained. He had signed an open letter in April urging the release of activists who had called for officials to disclose their assets. Altogether 25 activists, lawyers and others have been detained since February for speaking out against official corruption and “promoting other politically sensitive goals”, the US-based China Human Rights Defenders said last month.

via:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/11/us-china-subversion-idUSBRE97A01P20130811

Detained China activist releases video urging rights | Bangkok Post: news.

This entry was posted on August 11, 2013 at 18:23 and is filed under films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders.

Tags: anti corruption, Bangkok Post, Beijing, Charter 08, China, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, dissidents, illegal detention, Liu Xiaobo, Tiananmen Square, University of Hong Kong's China Media Project, video, Xi Jinping, Xu Zhiyong, Yang Lin