By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala. Dec. 23 – Writers, scholars, lawyers, and human rights advocates from around the world today sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging immediate and unconditional release of the writer Liu Xiaobo.
“As President of the People’s Republic of China, you have yourself often pledged to strengthen China’s legal system, stressing recently that ‘the rule of law is important for the promotion, realization and safeguarding of a harmonious society.’ We urge you to honor your commitment to ensure the civil rights of citizens who peacefully express their views on public affairs”, the letter read.
“It is equally urgent that judicial authorities throughout China cease to use China’s anti-subversion law to prosecute peaceful critics such as Mr. Liu Xiaobo, who should be released immediately without conditions.”
Liu is one of the first signatories of Charter 08, a call for the rule of law and respect for human rights in China. A literary critic and former professor of literature, Liu was taken away from his home by the police on December 8. Liu’s arrest came just days after at least two other rights activists in the southwestern province of Guizhou were also detained.
On 30 September 1996, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to three years in labour camp for writing a joint letter addressed to China’s President Jiang Zemin supporting Tibetan self-determination and also calling for dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was the first Chinese to be sentenced for speaking up for Tibet.
New York based right group Human Rights Watch said that Liu’s detention is arbitrary and violates the minimum procedural guarantees specified under Chinese law. Over 30 signatories of Charter 08 have been questioned, summoned by the police, or put under surveillance since Liu’s arrest, according to Human Rights Watch.
“Liu Xiaobo is the most significant Chinese dissident case in a decade,” said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “Jailing Liu might serve as a warning to other dissidents, but it would also indicate a political hardening that runs against the current aspirations of the Chinese people.”
The list of prominent signatories of the letter to President Hu includes top China academics, legal experts, writers and Nobel prize winners, including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco, Nadine Gordimer, Seamus Heaney, Carlo Ginzburg, Wole Soyinka, and Hari Kunzru.
