10/12/2011 China (One News Now) - An international coalition that opposes China's one-child policy is highly concerned about whether a blind human rights activist in that country is still alive.
Self-taught lawyer Chen Guangcheng served more than four brutal years in prison for his work to expose forced abortions and sterilizations in his county. After his release, he, his wife, and his daughter were imprisoned in their own home, where police repeatedly tortured the couple in front of their little girl. But when nine activists recently tried to visit him, authorities shot at them, and Reggie Littlejohn of Women's Rights Without Frontiers says they were given a disturbing report.
"These people were detained. Some of them have disappeared. Some of them have been beaten. Some of them were actually shot at, and villagers said Chen Guangcheng is dead already, which is an extremely alarming thing," she shares.
The village itself has been turned into a virtual prison for residents, as police will not allow anyone to leave or enter. So Littlejohn is trying to verify whether Chen is alive or dead.
"If Chen is indeed dead, there's only so much that the human spirit can take," the women's rights group president laments. "And I think that instead of succeeding in completely smashing any support for Chen Guangcheng, what they're going to see is a nationwide citizens' movement on his behalf."
She believes the strategy of brutality will ultimately backfire on Chinese authorities.
