Hu
Jintao
General Secretary
Standing Committee of
the Political Bureau
CPC Central Committee
President of China
Re:
Call to release all journalists, writers and bloggers
on
90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China
Dear President Hu,
The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) writes to you to respectfully urge the Standing
Committee of the Political Bureau of Communist Party in China, on the eve of the
party’s 90-year anniversary on July 1, to demonstrate its commitment to free
expression by releasing all imprisoned journalists, writers and bloggers and
fully implement rights and protections to these individuals that are enshrined
under the constitution of China.
In the past 30 years, China has dramatically changed its
economy, infrastructure and defence systems and its relationship with the
world. Many citizens of China
have experienced the benefits of these changes but the past three decades has
not seen people also enjoy their constitutional rights. Since 2008, the IFJ has
recorded too many cases of journalists, writers, bloggers, activists and
ordinary civilians who have been harassed and threatened with physical harm,
including death, of punishment or imprisonment after exercising their right to free
expression under Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution.
“We need to create conditions for people to oversee and criticise
the government to make the government live up to its responsibility and prevent
corruption.” These are the words of Premier Wen, from a speech to Britain’s
renowned Royal Society on June 27. This is not the first time such a promise
has been made. Premier Wen made similar pledges in September 2008 at the World
Economic Forum in Tianjin and when addressing the
National People’s Congress in Beijing in March 2010.
We appreciate that Premier Wen has made efforts in these areas.
The IFJ recognises comments made this week by the General Administration of
Press and Publications (GAPP) which made it clear that “blacklisting” of
journalists by Government departments would not be allowed.
Overall however, these promises have barely been honoured. People who
have courageously spoken up to help the Government understand the realities and
the hardships that people experience at the grassroots have routinely been
targeted with severe punitive action by local, provincial and central
authorities.
Thousands of journalists, writers and bloggers have been harassed for
exercising their right to report the news, in some cases by Government agents.
Some journalists have died or been brutally assaulted. Investigative journalist
Sun Hongjie of the Northern Xinjiang
Morning Post was killed after he was beaten on December 17, 2010 by unknown
people in Kuitun, Xinjiang. Sun’s death came immediately after he had published
an investigative report about the corruption of Kuituntownship government. Local police speedily concluded that Sun’s
death was due to a personal dispute and detained six people. However, the IFJ considers that the conclusion
of the investigation was unconvincing.
A female journalist, known as Lim, of China Central
Television was seriously injured on June 9 by an unknown male outside of the broadcaster’s
office building in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Lim sustained knife wounds to her nose
and face in the attack. Police announced on the day of the assault that they apprehended a suspect, yet results of the investigation are obscure.
Cases such as these highlight the fact that journalism is a
dangerous profession in China.
The IFJ believes conditions for media professionals will worsen if the
Government persists in its apparent intention to ignore the dangerous
conditions that journalists and media workers face in the course of their
working lives.
The Communist Party has a monopoly on power in China, and as such it should bear a
much greater burden to protect its citizens and their constitutional rights, particularly
regarding freedom of expression. Such rights were enshrined in China’s
first constitution made in 1954 and have been maintained in later amendments.
Premier Wen also told Britain’s Royal Society on June 27
that “the more the people participate in social management and public affairs,
the greater the momentum there will be to sustain social progress.” The IFJ believes
that in order to constructively achieve such social progress, it is imperative
to allow people to enjoy genuine freedom of expression, which in turn will
allow the government to be more inclusive and make for a stronger, more
harmonious society.
IFJ appeals to the Standing Committee of the Communist Party
Central Committee to release all people who have been imprisoned for merely
exercising their right to freedom of expression including Liu Xiaobo, Tan
Zuoren, Ran Yunfei, Shi Tao, Qi Chonghuai, Liu Xianbin, Hailaite Niyazi and
Dilshat Perhat.
We urge the Public Security Bureau of China to ensure that public
security officers at all levels uphold and promote Article 35 of the Chinese
Constitution and release all information about the attacks made on journalists since
the 2008 Olympics, when the Chinese Government promised to support more media
freedoms in mainland China.
The IFJ believes that on this 90-year anniversary, Communist Party
of China officials must recognise that increased media freedoms will assist China to
become a transparent, accountable, fair and respectful nation, goals that match
the party’s future vision for the country.
IFJ Asia-Pacific
June 30,
2011
Cc:
Wen Jiabao
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee
Premier of China
Wu Bangguo
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee
chairman of the 11th NPC Standing Committee
Jia Qinglin
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC
Central Committee
chairman of the 11th National
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Li Changchun
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee
Oversight Communist Propaganda Department
Xi Jinping
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee
Vice President of China
Li Keqiang
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the
CPC Central Committee
Vice-Premier of the State Council
He Guoqiang
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and
head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee
Zhou Yongkang
Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
Minister and Party secretary of the Ministry of Public Security
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +61 2 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents more than 600,000 journalists in 131 countries
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