Society for Threatened Peoples Imprint
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
April 2012 society for threatened peoples Imprint For human rights. Worldwide. Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) P.O. Box 2024, D-37010 Goettingen Tel.: ++49 551 49906-0 Fax: ++49 551 58028 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.gfbv.de Donation Account: 1909 Bank Code: 260 500 01 Bank: Sparkasse Göttingen (IBAN) DE 87 2605 0001 0000 0019 09 (BIC) NOLADE 21 GOE Society for Threatened Peoples has been acredited with the dzi-Certificate testifying to the transparency and proper usage of donations. Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) is an international human rights organisation which campaigns with and on behalf of threatened and persecuted ethnic and religious minorities, nationalities and indigenous peoples. STP has had an advisory status at the United Nations (UN) since 1993 and participant status at the Council of Europe (COE) since 2005. Text: Ulrich Delius Translation: Robert Kurth, Elizabeth Crawford, Owen Beith, Kaan Orhon Cover picture: In Goettingen's partner city Nanjing in prison: the writer Yang Tongyan Price: 10 Euros Published by Society for Threatened Peoples, April 2012 society for threatened peoples Enemies of the State – Persecuted Writers in China ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: Enemies of the State – Persecuted Writers in China Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 1 Synopsis ...................................................................................................................................... 3 The Communist Party's Cultural Offensive ................................................................................ 7 Dissident Writers in Trouble ...................................................................................................... 9 Perfecting Censorship .............................................................................................................. 10 Fear Leads to Self-Censorship .................................................................................................. 11 Misleading Figures .................................................................................................................... 13 (Han) Chinese Writers in Prison ............................................................................................... 15 Tibetan Writers in Prison.......................................................................................................... 48 Uyghur Writers in Prison .......................................................................................................... 62 Mongolian Writers in Prison .................................................................................................... 72 Writers subjected to Harassment ............................................................................................ 76 Persecuted Artists, Comedians and Filmmakers ...................................................................... 95 List of Writers in Prison .......................................................................................................... 102 List of Persecuted Artists ........................................................................................................ 104 List of Writers subjected to Harassment (House Arrests, Threats) ....................................... 104 List of Released writers .......................................................................................................... 106 Overview ................................................................................................................................ 109 1 Enemies of the State – Persecuted Writers in China ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Enemies of the State – Persecuted Writers in China ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Synopsis The new Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) human rights report, Enemies of the State - Persecuted Writers in China, documents the imprisonment of 54 writers and Internet authors in the People's Republic of China who are currently being held prisoner for political reasons, whether in secret prisons, work camps or in conventional prisons. The disproportionately high percentage of ethnic Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians among these political prisoners is striking. Although these "national minorities" make up only 20 million of the 1.4 billion inhabitants of the People's Republic, 28 of the 54 jailed writers are of these "nationalities:" 16 Tibetans, 10 Uyghurs, and 2 Mongolians. The other 26 imprisoned dissident authors are Han Chinese. The high percentage of "nationalities" among the arrested authors is an indication of how drastically political persecution has been stepped up, particularly in their regions. Other prominent exponents of the traditional cultures of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongolians are also targets of repression. This clearly contradicts the Chinese government's claim that they are making serious efforts to preserve the cultural assets of these minorities. In particular, writers and Internet authors who advocate reconciliation between minorities and Han Chinese are often the victims of arbitrary imprisonment. Tibetan Internet author Tsering Woeser, currently being held under house arrest, as well as Uyghur Gheyret Niyaz, who has been condemned to a prison sentence of many years, made huge efforts to ease the escalating tensions between the nationalities and the majority Han Chinese population. Internet author Gheyret Niyaz has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for describing in an interview his unsuccessful attempt to warn the Chinese authorities of an imminent outbreak of protests in Urumqi. More than 200 people were killed in the ensuing protests in July 2009. Niyaz's biggest mistake was stating publicly that the Chinese authorities knew in advance of the impending turmoil and intentionally failed to take any action to defuse the situation. While the number of writers imprisoned has declined in recent years, it would be incorrect to conclude from this that persecution of dissident authors in China has abated. On the contrary; suppression of free speech has become far more subtle. Chinese state security forces are moving away from long prison sentences as an instrument of repression used against authors, because it has done lasting damage to the international image of the People's Republic. China's reputation around the world suffered severely from the incarcerations of writer Liu Xiaobo and artist Ai Weiwei. That is why security forces in China have instead begun using threats and intimidation much earlier and more decisively against writers who are critical of the government. The aim is to force authors to censor themselves in order to avoid harm to themselves and their families. In the past two years, 55 of 70 honorary members of the Independent Chinese PEN Center have been released from prison. But the pressure on dissident writers continues to grow. The "cultural reform" announced by the Communist Party of China, or CPC, in October 2011 3 Enemies of the State – Persecuted Writers in China ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ only resulted in stricter controls for writers, Internet authors and bloggers. In the scope of this so-called "reform" the CPC has interfered in cultural affairs more than ever. The omnipotent state publishing houses, editorial boards, and propaganda departments have been subjected to political cleansing. More restrictive regulations are applied for the issuing of ISBN numbers for new books, and state publishers are unequivocally called upon to promote "socialist values." In numerous various internal directives, furthermore, the CPC proclaimed that in all cultural discussions the party must guide opinion, the "Marxist viewpoint" is the decisive viewpoint, and the "stability and unity of the country" as well as the "harmonious society" must not be endangered. In other words, writers must steer clear of any criticism relating to ethnic, social, constitutional or political topics to avoid getting into trouble with the state security forces. In the face of continuing intimidation, even after their release from prison, many authors are now adhering to these strict regulations in order to protect themselves and their families. This report focuses on 25 writers as well as three artists and filmmakers who are not officially in prison, but who are under massive pressure from the state security forces and live in fear for their lives. There are dozens of similar cases that could be added to those detailed here, but only a few cases from the past five months are presented as an example. Meanwhile, state security forces continue use these tactics and are growing more brazen from month to month. The released dissidents, for example, regularly receive invitations to "tea" – but this is a form of code; in reality they are subjected to yet another interrogation. They are intimidated and threatened, their families are threatened, relatives lose their jobs, friends and relatives are not allowed to visit, friends are explicitly intimidated, police keep the writers' residences and activities under surveillance - either around the clock or just on so-called "sensitive occasions." Writers are arbitrarily restricted in their movements and placed under