China: You have Conspiracy, We Have Solidarity

[10 December 2015] Press Release issued by Tibetan Uyghur & Chinese Solidarity UK on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. (Tibet Society is a founding member of Tibetan Uyghur & Chinese Solidarity UK.)

Tibetan, Uyghurs and Chinese express solidarity in London on Human Rights Day
 
[London, 10 December 2015] On the occasion of Human Rights Day 2015, the UK-based coalition Tibetan Uyghur & Chinese Solidarity UK (TUCS UK) [1] calls on international governments and all supporters of freedom and democracy to end the persecution injustices and call for the freedom for all, by expressing solidarity with human rights defenders living in the People’s Republic of China.  Such messages of support demonstrate defiance in the face of Chinese Communist Party policies, which deny universally accepted human and civil rights to the population under its rule.
 
To mark Human Rights Day, TUCS UK is holding a candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese Embassy in London on Thursday 10 December, from 6pm. [2]
 
This year has seen Chinese, Uyghur and Tibetan human rights defenders continue their unremitting peaceful struggle for human rights, freedom and democracy. The Chinese authorities’ response to these peaceful forms of protest has been to retaliate with violence, the restriction of movement and communications, imprisonment and executions, as the crackdown on the communities involved is increased daily.
 
2015 has marked the 26th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the 18th anniversary of the Ghulja massacre and the 6th anniversary of the Urumqi massacre and the death of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche on July 22nd. All of theses incidents remain under strict censorship by the authorities.
 
China continues to jail those who attempt to express their opinions or beliefs. Since Xi Jinping came into power in 2012, he has been responsible for the forced disappearance and arbitrary detention of over 2,000 human rights defenders in China, Tibet and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). Almost all those jailed have suffered ill-treatment or torture.
 
This past summer, the Chinese government began a clampdown on human rights lawyers and activists. Over 300 were detained, summoned for interrogation or intimidated. At least 23 lawyers and activists have disappeared while in police custody.

In July, revered Tibetan monk and political prisoner Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died in prison. Last year, at least five prisoners of conscience, including Chinese human rights activist Cao Shunli, died in custody or immediately after they were released from prison. No independent investigation has been undertaken into any of these deaths.
 
In September 2014, Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison for exercising his right to freedom of expression to promote equal rights for the Uyghur people.
 
The Chinese Communist Party’s war on “extremists”, “separatists” and “terrorists” in Tibet, East Turkestan and throughout China has led to thousands of government-sponsored acts of torture and hundreds of extrajudicial killings. For example, in the past two years, Xi’s government has been responsible for the deaths of over 600 Uyhur civilians in East Turkestan. In Tibet, the repression by the authorities has been so severe that over 140 Tibetans have self-immolated in protest. Also in the last year, China has executed more prisoners than the rest of the world put together, the majority of whom were Uyghurs.
 
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, the leading author of Charter 08, which calls for multiparty democracy and respect for human rights in China. The Chinese state had jailed Liu a year earlier for 11 years for “inciting subversion of state power”. He is the only Nobel laureate currently in prison.

TUCS UK also stands in solidarity with the three peaceful protesters - Sonam Choden, Jamphel Lhamo and Shao Jiang - who were arrested during Xi Jinping's State Visit to the UK in October. A formal complaint has been submitted to the Independent Police Complaints Commission regarding the police's actions against the protestors which included home raids and confiscation of electronic equipment. TUCS UK strongly condemns the unlawful behaviour of the British police and the shameless kowtowing of the UK government to the Chinese dictator.
 
Today, on Human Rights Day 2015, Tibetan Uyghur and Chinese Solidarity UK:
 
• calls on the Chinese government to adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to change its domestic laws to conform with the standards established therein;
 
• demands the release of all prisoners of conscience held by the Chinese government;
 
• demands the Chinese government end its policies of violent control of the population under its rule and instead address the grievances of the people;
 
• urges the Chinese government to allow independent investigations into the events of 4 June 1989 in Beijing, 4 February 1997 and 5 July 2009 in Urumqi. The persecution of survivors must end and measures introduced to bring about justice for those who lost their lives during all these incidents;
 
• urges the Chinese government to allow independent observers and the international media full and unhindered access to all parts of the People’s Republic of China, in particular Hong Kong, Tibetan and Uyghur regions;

• calls on the UK Independent Police Complaints Commission to carry out an independent investigation into the policing of protests during Xi Jinping's State Visit and hold those responsible for violating the rights of the protesters to account.
 
• calls on the European Union to refer the human rights situation in China to the European Court of Human Rights;
 
• calls on governments and leaders around the world to make human rights a top priority when engaging with the Chinese leadership, and publicly state their solidarity with human rights defenders and the Chinese, Uyghur and Tibetan peoples;
 
• calls on civil society around the world to show solidarity with the repressed people under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
 
End

Contacts (available for interview):
Shao Jiang (Chinese activist):  07534 366336, t.shaojiang@gmail.com
Rahime Mahmut (Uyghur activist):  07830 039 693, reyiman@yahoo.co.uk
Dr Stephen Ng (Hong Konger activist):  07789 037370, ngluinam@hotmail.com
Paul Golding (UK activist working on Tibet):  020 7923 0021, paul@tibetsociety.com
   
Notes:
1. Tibetan Uyghur and Chinese Solidarity UK is a coalition of organisations and activists that opposes the tyrannical rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and works to promote human rights, freedom and democracy for all oppressed people and nations under the CCP. The coalition includes the following organisations: Chinese Solidarity Campaign, Federation for Democratic China, Friends of Tiananmen Mothers, Students for a Free Tibet UK, Tibetan Community in Britain, Tibet Society, Uyghur Association and Uyghur Community UK.
Email: cuts.uk@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/cuts.uk

2. Human Rights Day Candle-lit Vigil, 6pm - 8pm, Thursday 10 December. Outside the Chinese Embassy, 49-51 Portland Place, London W1B 1JL.
TUCS UK is hosting a candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese Embassy to mark International Human Rights Day, to express solidarity with all those oppressed by the Chinese Communist Party regime, and to call for freedom, human rights and democracy for the peoples of Tibet, East Turkestan, China and Hong Kong.