Independent Chinese Pen Center

Petition Letter on Behalf of the Tiananmen Mothers Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping from the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC)

(Note: this petition letter is open to the public to sign!)
The English version has been edited for style and thus is slightly different from the original Chinese version.
Please send your signature to icpc@penchinese.net !
For Chinese version, see http://www.penchinese.net/icpcappeal.htm

To Whom It May Concern,

The Independent Chinese PEN Centre, which is a member of International PEN, is shocked by the news that China’s security authorities arrested Professor Ding Zilin at her residence in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province on March 28th, 2004. The same day, security authorities in Beijing also arrested Mrs. Zhang Xianling and Mrs. Huang Jinping and searched their homes. It was reported that the police arrested the three women because of “their alleged involvement in activities to endanger national security.” China’s law provides that family members must be officially notified in writing within 12 hours after the person is arrested, but according to Prof. Ding’s husband, Prof. Jiang Peikun of the People’s University of China in Beijing, at least 24 hours had passed after Prof. Ding was arrested, yet he still had not received any official written notification from the authorities.

It is well-known that Prof. Ding Zilin, Mrs. Zhang Xianling and Mrs. Huang Jinping are all activists of the “Tiananmen Mothers” Campaign. They are family members of victims killed in the massacre around Tiananmen Square in Beijing fifteen years ago in 1989. Prof. Ding Zilin’s son, Jiang Jielian, then 17 yearsold and a high school student, was shot dead near the Muxidi subway station in Beijing on the night of June 3, 1989; Mrs. Zhang Xianling’s son Wang Nan, then 19 yearsold and also a high school student, was shot dead at the southern end of Nanchangjie Street west of - Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the early morning of June 4, 1989. Mrs. Huang Jinping’s husband Yang Yansheng, who was a staff member of the computer office of China’s Sports Newspaper, was shot dead while he was trying to rescue other wounded people at Zhengyi - Street in Beijing at 7 a.m. on June 4th. The bullet was shot into his liver and exploded. He died immediately, and was only 30 years old.

After the June 4th massacre, family members of the victims gradually organized themselves into a group, with Prof. Ding Zilin as its representative. They have persevered in efforts to carry out a campaign “to inquire into the truth, and to restore justice.” They have collected names of victims and those who disappeared, helped family members of the victims with their living expenses and children’s education, published evidence of the massacre and testimony of family members of the victims. Every year they appeal to the Chinese government to redress the June 4th massacre, and seek through appropriate legal measures to hold those responsible for the massacre accountable for their actions. Now they are also providing their testimonials to the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights which is in progress in Geneva.

But in mainland China, June 4th -- one of the key terms in today’s China-- has been deleted from all mass media. All discussions referring to the truth of the June 4th massacre will lead to some people’s imprisonment. The Tiananmen Mothers have also suffered political persecution. The authorities have prohibited them from exposing the truth, forbidden them to openly hold memorial ceremonies for the victims, ignored their appropriate appeals, even frozen or confiscated the humane donations they have received from the international community and from people inside China. The peaceful and humane activities the Tiananmen Mothers have carried out have become very dangerous and they have risked their safety and freedom. However, these Tiananmen Mothers have never given up, despite the terror politics they have been subjected to. With greater patience and reason, more sympathy and love, bravery and tolerance, they continue to fight against political persecution, humiliation, threats, and admonitions. They continue to search for victims, one by one, and follow up on any small clues they might find. They have turned bloody facts into vivid details, and into clear memories of the massacre and the democratic movement. These are memories to witness the crime and society’s soul, and all perverse acts of the Communist government in the last fifteen years. Their testimonials of the June 4th massacre are stronger then any tears or screams in recovering the history and justice.

Whether Chinese people can appropriately deal with the June 4th massacre of 1989, is not only about the lives of the victims, and about wrongful treatments of the family members of the victims, but also about the truth of contemporary Chinese history, about the future of Chinese people and state, about the universal human values of freedom of expression and justice!

Those who have suffered will get sympathy because justice is in people’s minds. The Tiananmen Mothers have based their struggles fully on humanity and justice, and they have therefore received great support and sympathy both from abroad and home. In the last fifteen years, appeals from the society and people to redress the June 4th massacre have never stopped. In mainland China, every year there are petition letters asking for redress for the June 4th massacre signed by many people. In addition, each year essays circulate among people to commemorate the event and those who died, to condemn the executioners, and to appeal for justice. In Hong Kong, where the “One Country Two Systems” policy has been carried out, each year thousands of people get together to hold a candlelight vigil for the June 4th victims. Chinese people abroad come together to hold memorial ceremonies for the dead. Among others, many intellectuals and even old Communist Party members openly appeal for a reevaluation of the June 4th event. Mr. Bao Tong, who was member of the Communist Party’s central committee and was sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in the democratic movement before June 4th, wrote a petition seeking clarification of the June 4th incident as soon as he was released from prison in 1996; in the same year, the famous scientist Prof. Wang Ganchang published an open letter “Welcome the United Nation’s Year of Tolerance, Appeal to the Tolerance in Homeland China,” and the main topic in the letter was a request that the Chinese government reevaluate the June 4th event, and thereby create harmony in the whole society. The signatories of that petition included many famous and highly respected intellectuals, writers and scientists. Also in 1996, many famous professors from universities in Beijing signed another petition letter for the same purpose. Another petition letter entitled “Learning the Bloody Lessons and Promoting Democracy and Rule of Law – A Petition Letter for the 6th Anniversary of the June 4th Incident” was signed broadly by many intellectuals and dissidents from all generations. In 1999, when it was the 10th anniversary of the June 4th event, the famous scholar Li Shenzhi published his well-known essay “Fifty Years of the Storm,” in which he openly appealed to the Communist government to redress the June 4th issue. His essay met with great response both at home and abroad. In 2002, when the Communist Party held its 16th Congress, a famous old Communist Party member Li Rui also openly appealed to the authorities to reevaluate the June 4th event, and to use this action as a starting point for political reform. In the end of that year, famous economist Prof. Mao Yushi signed his name in a letter for supporting the family members of the victims. The latest example is Dr. Jiang Yanyong’s petition to the National People’s Congress in early March 2004, to appeal for reevaluation of the June 4th incident. As of today, approximately 5400 people have signed the letter to support him.

At the same time, as a group, family members of the victims of the June 4th massacre have also received international support and sympathy. They have received a series prizes for their struggle for human rights activities in China. Prof. Ding Zilin was awarded the Excellent Democratic Activist prize of the American Democratic Education Foundation in 1994; the Glatzman Citizen’s Achievement Prize and New York Academy’s Scientist Prize for Human Rights in 1995; Wanrenjie Massmedia and Cultural Prize and the French Freedom Foundation’s Memorial Prize in 1996. She has also received awards from the Swiss Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights in 1998 and the Italian Alexandra Lange Foundation in 1999. The Second World Democratic Congress held in St. Paul in Brasilia gave its Bravery Prize for Democracy to the mothers of the victims of Tiananmen Square, who comprise the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign. For several years, the Tiananmen Mothers as a group has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Fifteen years ago, these mothers lost their sons in a criminal massacre; afterwards, they have been suffering this pain for 15 years but at the same time also have been fighting for 15 years against the Communist Party’s suppression. Now, they themselves have been arrested, and they have been deprived of their freedom and of their right to appeal for justice for their dead sons, husbands, and brothers! This happens just a half a month after the National People’s Congress passed an amendment to the Chinese Constitution, and added the sentence “the state respects and protects human rights.” This happens while the 60th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights is in progress in Geneva where the Chinese government has a representative sitting on the commission. Is this actually a humiliation to the Communist Party itself since they have broken their promise with respect to “human rights written into the Constitution”? How can they face the broad support that family members of the victims of the June 4th massacre as a group receive, and the criticism and protest they will hear at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and from the international community?

Even if we cannot expect that the present Communist Party’s government has the capacity to admit their mistakes and correct its mistakes, even if we cannot expect that the Communist Party will keep its constitutional promise to respect and protect human rights, even if we cannot expect that the present government exercises the duties proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations and in the convenants which the Chinese government has also signed, the least we can expect is that the Chinese government can have basic humane respect and restore Prof. Ding Zilin. Mrs. Zhang Xianling and Mrs. Huang Jinping’s personal freedom.

For the above reasons:

We strongly protest that the Chinese authorities arrested Prof. Ding Zilin, Mrs. Zhang Xianling and Mrs. Huang Jinping, these three family members of the victims of the June 4th massacre!

We appeal for an immediate release of these three Tiananmen Mothers!

We appeal to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Commission for Human Rights in the EU, and all governments and all organizations for human rights, to declare your concern for these Tiananmen Mothers!

Independent Chinese Pen Centre
March 29, 2004

Signatures:

刘晓波, 蔡 楚, 万 之, 梦 浪, 余 杰, 廖亦武, 马 建, 王 怡, 任不寐, 张祖桦, 张 裕, 一 平, 刘宾雁, 郑义, 北村, 师涛, 高寒, 茉莉, 郭成东 ( Sweden) , 陈破空, 林牧, 任畹町, 余世存, 孙文广, 林信舒, 程凡, 何刚 (力刀， 医生，美国纽约), 康正果, 胡平, 安驰, Linda Du, 黄大川 (沈阳), Ming Zhang (Geologist,Sydney Australia), 陈墨 (成都), 赵达功, 徐文立, 贺信彤, 郭罗基, Tong Zi Qiang, 王长荣 (中国内地), 徐高金(江西), 魏晓涛, 王一梁, 井蛙, 根源, 吴学灿, 韦锋（广东）, 魏晓涛, 黄河清, 陈光铭 (美国纽约), 邢大昆 (美国纽约), 王有才 (美国纽约), 丁凯文 (美国纽约), 陈立群 (美国纽约), 王策 (西班牙), 郁申树 (爱尔兰), 杨天水 (中国南京), 李卫平 (中国武汉), Bowen Bai (Canada), 杜忠权, Renxue Wang, Eva Salzman (poet and writer, UK), Zoe Smith (London), 蔡宏伟 (上海), 三一言, 晓非(加拿大,程序员), 安魂曲, 杨银波（大陆作家、社会活动者）, Jimmy Zhang, 东海一枭（余樟法）, 孙文广（山东）, 黄翔 (自由作家), 秋潇雨兰 (自由作家), 刘水 (自由作家, 广东) , Perry Link (Princeton University), Lu louis (Australia), 吴越雨 (江苏南京), 姜涛 (中国湖北), 梁志辉（广东), Michael Yahuda (Emeritus Professor, the London School of Economics), Barrett L. McCormick (Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI), Jonathan Mirsky, 刘真 (中国郑州), 殷越 (中国北京), 殷蒙 (中国郑州), 张驰 (中国陕西), 徐锡亚 (中国宝鸡), Yajian Li, UK, 胡勇 (北京), Liwu Chi (Canada), Sophie Beach (US), 萧强 (UC Berkeley), Sun Wengang, 野渡舟横, 王立(江苏连云港),徐春元, 戚应宏, 马少方, 袁浪生, 李健, 牟波, 宋玉峰, 曹晖, 孟乾成, 黄雪涛, 郑柯, 秦耕, 温克坚, 邵家华, 杨仲侠, 李剑虹（小乔）, 傅斌 ( 江苏扬州), 王治晶, 北国游子, 庄苓, 王继海, 刘荻(不锈钢老鼠), 张子战, 钮丰禾 (江苏扬州), 刘阳, 钮丰禾 (江苏扬州), 周华 (Stanford University), 穆 康 (加拿大), 王希哲 (美国加州), Zen Yan (California, USA), Jiabin Qi, Edward Friedman (U Wisconsin), Perry John Tkacik (Heritage Foundation), 戴学武 (上海), 沈继忠 (上海), 高晓良 (上海), 杨勤恒 (上海), 张汝隽 (上海), 王　雄 (上海), 何永全 (上海), 李国涛 (上海), 傅正明, 韩江, 郑若思, 伯夷, 贝苏尼, 老灯, 魏碑, 韩飞 (自由职业者, 瑞典), Robin Lloyd-Jones (Scottish PEN Centre), Prof.Han Dongsheng, Lee Feigon, Dr Judith Buckrich (Chair, International PEN Women Writers’ Committee, president, Melbourne Centre of PEN), 张郎郎, Xiang Fu (Wife of Yang Jianli, Researcher at Harvard University), Yongyi Song (US), 郭国汀 (律师, 上海), Rosie Scott (Vice President of Sydney PEN), 散木 (福建), 刘飞跃 (湖北), 蔡咏梅, 卓一航, 金柯(台), Fang Zhao (Helsinki, Finland), Prof Bob White (University of Western Australia), Li Silfverberg (Sweden), 自平博 (上海), Dr Katie Hill (University of Westminster, London), Fredrik Fllman (Stockholm University), Cheung Ho Yan (Hong Kong), San Miguel (Mexico) PEN Center, Goran Malmqvist，(马悦然, 诺贝尔文学奖评委), Dr. Liu Wei (Munich), Ben Carrdus (Amnesty International, International Secretariat,UK), 赵南, 樊百华, 王心丽, 殷明辉, 冼智（香港）,冯骏征修 (丹麦), Paola Voci (U Otago), 北国雪 （加拿大）, Elspeth Sandys (writer, New Zealand), Joseph Y.S. Cheng (Professor of Political Science, City University of Hong Kong), 潘晴, 陈维健, 陈维明, 陈二幼, 草虾, Chaorong Peng, 吉筱林（中国云南昭通）, Dr Denise Leith (Australia), 潘晴（新西兰）,陈维健（新西兰）,陈维明（新西兰）,陈二幼（新西兰）, 封从德, 草庵居士, 玉雪，张小刚（澳洲　不锈晓钢）, 李青 (不锈钢不锈), 洪哲胜(台湾) ， 刘晴， 杜欣欣, 老灯, 胡安宁, Jianru Lu, 贝岭, 梅菁