The IGFM (International Society for Human Rights) issued comments. In spite of China’s economic advances in certain sectors, the IGFM does not see that the Chinese regime has improved.
China remains a dictatorship with a one-party system. The population is still saddled with rigorous media censorship by the regime and forceful suppression of any efforts to establish labor unions or democracy. Systematic torture of dissidents is still the status quo.
IGFM President Martin Lessenthin emphasized, “The PRC is Torture-Nation Number 1. Even 20 years after the ruthless put down of the democratic movement, anyone not toeing the Party line will be imprisoned without a blink of an eye and exploited as a virtual slave in a forced labor camp in the form of ”labor re-education.” Relocation to a labor camp happens at the behest of the police—without following any rule of law, without a formal charge, and without a verdict.
The victims are civil rights champions, union organizers, democracy activists and members of non-state-sanctioned churches, primarily followers of the Falun Gong meditation system. Others are also suppressed, including ethnic minorities—primarily Tibetans and Uighurs.
Nooke at the Open-air Exhibit ‘Peaceful Revolution 1989/90’
Guenter Nooke, Human Rights Representative for the Federal Republic of Germany, laid a wreath for the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing at the Open-Air exhibit at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.
Twenty years after the peaceful revolution in Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the exhibit highlights the many-layered processes that culminated in the demise of the GDR’s dictatorship.
“I cannot think of a better place in Berlin right now to remember what happened 20 years ago at Tiananmen Square,” commented Dr. Olaf.
The CEO of the Robert Havemann Association which initiated the exhibit, Mr. Weissbach stated, “Our exhibit will not only dramatize the Chinese events, but also the reaction of the former GDR [German Democratic Republic, the former East German communist regime].
“The GDR leaders at that time applauded the Chinese communist regime’s action of using tanks against the demonstrating students. There was considerable fear in 1989 that the GDR might resort to this ‘Chinese Solution.’"
He continued, “The presence and sentiments of the Designate for Human Rights in commemorating this event is a reminder to us all of what occurred and underscores the need to create a center to document the opposition and resistance to any communist dictatorship.”
Letter Campaign
Chinese freedom organizations estimate that approximately 200 people are still incarcerated for their participation in the pro-democracy protests in Beijing. Amnesty International has demanded that the Chinese regime free these people. It also calls for an independent investigation of these events.
Amnesty International has urged concerned people to write to China’s president Hu Jintao to call for support for the Tiananmen Square Mothers’ requests. Amnesty International is also asking that those responsible for the massacre be brought to justice in a court of law. They ask President Hu to free those who are still incarcerated in connection with the event.
The letter also states, “I regret to know that Tiananmen Mothers Ding Zilin and Jiang Peikun were prevented from public mourning for their loved ones this year. We ask you to please permit such public mourning. We also request that you sanction open discussions about the events of June 4, 1989. This is an important step that will allow a modicum of justice and give recognition to the victims and their families.”
[Reprinted with permission, courtesy Amnesty International Germany]
