2/17/11 China (ChinaAid) – updates of some major persecution cases ChinaAid has been following:
Gao Zhisheng – Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng was kidnapped over 740 days ago. He resurfaced briefly in the March of 2010 (read the AP report of his interview), but disappeared in April and has not been heard from since. The Chinese embassy has repeatedly rejected the petition to free Gao, signed by nearly 150,000 people worldwide. His whereabouts are still unknown. Bob Fu recently called for Gao’s release at a press conference with Congressman Frank Wolf on January 18, 2010 (watch video report). Visit FreeGao.com for more.
Alimujiang Yimiti – In far western China’s Xinjiang region, authorities sentenced Uyghur Christian Alimujiang to 15 years in prison on trumped up charges of leaking state secrets. In a welcome development last December, Xinjiang’s People’s High Court agreed to review the case. No decision has yet been announced. ChinaAid continues to support Alimujiang’s family and to fund his legal defense, and will continue to do so until he is free. Visit FreeAlim.com to learn more about his case.
Dr. Fan Yafeng – Dr. Fan, a leading advocate of constitutional democracy and the head of Christian Human Rights Lawyers of China, the Shengshan (Holy Mountain) Culture Research Institute and the Shengshan (Holy Mountain) Church, remains under house arrest since his return home from police detention on December 18, 2011. During his arrest he was tortured for several days. Nineteen Beijing lawyers have written a letter protesting the torture of Fan and Gao.
Chen Guangcheng
Last week, ChinaAid received a breathtaking hour-long video about Chen Guangcheng, the blind self-taught human rights lawyer who exposed 130,000 mass forced abortions and forced sterilizations in Linyi County, Shandong Province, in 2005. Chen was released at the end of a four-year jail term on September 9, 2010, but has since been under daily house arrest.
The video shows Chen, his wife and daughter living in miserable conditions, cut off from all outside contact, and detained illegally in their home. Chen describes being monitored daily by three shifts of agents with each shift consisting of 22 people.
Chen and his wife Yuan speak with unfailing spirit and brave hearts to expose their inhuman treatment from the Chinese government. He thanks supporters from around the world, and he indicates that he will never stop fighting for justice and rule of law.
Since its release, the video has received more than 33,000 hits on YouTube.
Soon after the video’s release, ChinaAid learned that Chen Guangcheng and his wife were beaten by the police for releasing the video. They were beaten so severely that they were unable to move from their bed, and they were denied the right to go to the hospital for medical care.
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