Dharamshala Nov. 14 – Chinese authorities have threatened members of a group planning to hold a human rights seminar on December 10 coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, New York based NGO Human Rights in China said yesterday.
The Local police had summoned Chen Xi, Shen Youlian and Liao Xuangyuan, leaders of the Guizhou group, for hours of interrogation in recent days. The police ordered them to cancel all activities because those activities would be illegal, and threatened imprisonment.
But Chen Xi and his colleagues in the group said that they would never succumb to such threats saying their activities are totally legal. “We will not stop our human rights defense activities because of this kind of illegal intimidation. Furthermore, we will not give up our beliefs. The Fourth Annual Guizhou Citizen’s Human Rights Symposium will go on as planned,” Chen told HRIC on phone.
“As the international community prepares to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Chinese authorities are depriving their own citizens the right to join in the celebration,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of HRIC. “This kind of behavior completely undermines the recent claims about China’s commitment to human rights made by Chinese representatives to the UN Committee Against Torture.”
HRIC said the local authorities must stop harassing and threatening the Guizhou organizers and respect human rights guaranteed by Chinese and international law
The organizers approached the Domestic Security Protection Unit (DSPU) with documents required to hold such events but the head of the DSPU did not even look at the material, but instead tore to pieces the documents that contained the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, HRIC said citing a statement that it received from the Guiyang group.
According to HRIC, Shen said to the DSPU authorities during interrogation, “Our human rights defense activities are not only a response to the United Nations’ appeal but are also the right and duty conferred on us by the Chinese Constitution. We are organizing and participating in these activities not only to fight for the human rights that have been abridged by you, but also to fight for the human rights of all Chinese, including you. That is why I am determined to participate in all of these activities.”
