China: More than 80 civil rights activists detained to prevent public commemoration

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) accuses the Chinese government of having arrested (or placed under house arrest) more than 80 civil rights activists two months before the 25th anniversary of the massacre on Tiananmen Square in order to prevent any public commemoration of the massacre on June 4, 1989. "China's leadership won't stop at anything to enforce a dead calm peace on Tiananmen Square: kidnappings, threats, interrogations, house arrests and arbitrary arrests," criticized Ulrich Delius, the STP's Asia-consultant in Göttingen on Tuesday.

On Sunday evening, the artist Guo Jian was arrested. After the bloodbath, the human rights activist who belonged to the Tiananmen-movement had lived in exile in Australia for 13 years. He was arrested because he gave an interview for a foreign newspaper and talked about one of his pieces of art which he dedicated to the victims of the massacre. The police announced that the detainee would be released 15 days later.

"In order to secure its power, the ruling Communist Party is trying to establish memory loss and impunity as state principles," said Delius. On occasion of Mao Zedong's 120th birthday on December 26, 2013, the Chinese government had systematically suppressed public criticism concerning the former leader's crimes against humanity. Civil rights activists are demanding a truth commission to clarify the circumstances and the level of violence of the brutal crackdown of the protests in 1989. They call for credible information concerning the numbers of deaths and injuries. Estimates vary between 200 and several thousand victims. For some human rights activists, these demands are not enough. They not only want to know what really happened, but also call for an end to impunity and a consequent punishment of those who were responsible for the violence .

"China is a nation of culture, in which the people have a right to be informed on the dark sides of the centuries-old history of their country," said Delius. "This is the only chance for a reappraisal of the crimes and for reconciliation between the victims and the perpetrators. The increase of violence in everyday life clearly shows how important this is for modern China." Almost every day, there are knife attacks and bombings – not only in Xinjiang / East Turkestan, but also in many other parts of the country – committed by people who feel unjustly treated by the Communist Party functionaries and are unable to claim their rights before the authorities or in court.

Tomorrow, the STP will publicly commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre and the victims in front of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, also calling for an immediate release of the imprisoned civil rights activists.

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Asia department, is available for further questions: +49 551 49906 27 or asien@gfbv.de.