No deference towards China's leaders – Demand human rights for victims of persecution!

On occasion of the meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and German politicians in Berlin on Friday, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands human rights in China. The STP will hold a vigil together with Uyghurs, Tibetans and Chinese protesters in front of the Federal President's Office and the Federal Chancellery to demand an end to the persecution of human rights activists in the People's Republic. "There should be no deference towards Xi Jinping," said Ulrich Delius, the STP's Asia consultant. "World powers must respect basic human rights too. Also, foreign investors will not be pleased to see that China breaches even its own laws."

The STP's vigil also draws attention to the fate of Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur professor of economics who was imprisoned for political reasons together with four of his students. "Tohti's case is typical for China's policy of suppressing human rights activists," said Delius. It starts off with interrogations, dismissals, house arrests, intimidations and harassment by state security personnel. If the activists continue to speak up, "evidence" will be collected in order to set up an unfair trial and send them to prison for several years. Tohti had repeatedly advocated for more understanding between the Uyghur people and the Han Chinese. He was arrested in Beijing on January 15, 2014, and is now facing a charge for alleged "separatism" that could lead to a life sentence or even the death penalty.

In Tibet, human rights activists are sentenced to long prison terms almost every week. However, their supposed "crimes" are merely attempts to show commitment for the preservation of the Tibetan language and culture or protests against the destruction of their homes in the course of China's new mining projects. The Tibetans also face draconian punishment if they dare to publicly commemorate those who burned themselves as a form of protest against China's Tibet policy.

China's "New Citizen Movement" – a movement that campaigns for an end to corruption, for democratic change and a rule of law – is systematically criminalized too. Several dozen members of the movement were arrested during the past six months and some of them have been sentenced to prison in an unfair trial already. "However, despite being rigorously suppressed, the New Citizen Movement must also be seen as a sign that China is changing: The calls of the Chinese people for more participation and democracy are growing louder."

Ulrich Delius, head of STP's Asia department, is available for further questions: Tel. 0551 49906 27 or asien@gfbv.de.