By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – An international writers’ organization has called on the Chinese government to release dissident Liu Xiaobo.  More than 300 writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Chinese novelists Ha Jin and Jung Chang, signed the call for Liu’s release, writers group International PEN said.

Liu was arrested last month after he issued an online petition called Charter 08. Around 300 Chinese dissidents and intellectuals signed the text.  Despite censors repeatedly removing references to the charter from websites, supporters say that 7,000 more have added their names.  Charter 08 called for greater rights for Chinese, direct elections and political and fiscal reforms.

Since the issue of Charter 08, Chinese authority constantly harassed some of the Charter signatories.  But Liu is the only signatory to have been detained for an extended period.  Police appear to believe that he took a lead in drafting the document. Others say they have been questioned repeatedly regarding the Charter and Liu’s role in its preparation.

Under Chinese laws, Liu Xiaobo could be held under “residential surveillance” for a maximum of six months.  He is not allowed to leave his residence or meet people without prior police approval during this time.  The Chinese authority has not yet made public any information concerning the charges against him.

Liu was not allowed to meet his lawyer or family, except during the New Year’s Day lunch (with his wife and two police officers).  “He was unshaven, and to me he looked a little thinner,” Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, said. “We could only really discuss family matters during lunch.”  He does not have the right of access to a judge to challenge the grounds of his detention, unless his detention exceeds the six-month limit.

“The use of such detention without formal arrest or charge against peaceful activists is arbitrary and in violation of international human rights standards, including the rights to liberty, security of person and fair trial,” said Roseann Rife, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Programme.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – China urged to release scholar Liu Xiaobo from ‘residential surveillance’ – 07 January 2009

Guardian – Authors lobby for Chinese dissident’s release – 21 January 2009

BBC – Authors urge Liu Xiaobo release – 21 January 2009

Reuters – Writers call for China dissident’s release – 21 January 2009

By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BEIJING, China – Ji Sizun, a 58 years-old grassroots legal activist from Fujian province, has been sentenced to three years in prison.  He was charged for making fake official government seals and forging official documents in 2006.  Last year, Ji traveled to Beijing from the southern province of Fujian. He wanted to call for greater participation of Chinese citizens in the political process and denounce rampant official corruption.  He applied for a permit to hold a protest against corruption in one of Beijing’s three official “protest zones” designated for public use during the Beijing Olympic Games.  When he returned to check on his application three days later, he disappeared, human rights groups said.  Eyewitnesses said Ji was escorted out of the building and put into a car by several men who appeared to be plainclothes police officers.

Ji’s lawyer Huang Qiang says, “For charges of making fake official government seals and forging official documents, three years is the heaviest punishment.”  However, Huang refused to say if the sentence was linked to Ji’s attempt to demonstrate during the Beijing Olympic Games. Huang said he did not know about Ji’s activities during the games.

Ji’s action was a respond to an announcement made by Liu Shaowu, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) security director on July 23, 2008.   The announcement stated “people or protesters who want to express their personal opinions can go to do so” in line with “common practice in other countries.”  Over the following week, 77 applications were filed.  Citizens who applied were either detained by authorities or blocked by complicated application procedures.  In one instance, two women in their 70s were ordered to spend a year in a labor camp after applying, but authorities later reversed their decision.

Human Rights Watch called for immediately exonerate and release of Ji. Human Rights Watch said that Ji’s conviction is part of a broader campaign against dissent and perceived threats to the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party rule linked to official concerns about possible unrest in 2009.   Sophine Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, says, “Ji Sizun’s conviction is just the latest betrayal of the Chinese government’s promises that the Beijing Olympics would foster greater development of human rights in China.”

For more information, please see:

AP – Would-be Olympics protester sentenced to prison – 16 January 2009

Guardian – China Olympics protester jailed on forgery charges -16 January 2009

Human Rights Watch – China: Would-Be Olympics Protester Ji Sizun Jailed – 16 January 2009

By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SRI LANKA – A demonstration is set to be held on January 15 protesting the death of lead journalist and editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge.  Reporters Without Borders supports the protest stating, “We urge the government to react quickly to end the climate of impunity in Sri Lanka and we urge Londoners to join the rally in memory of the murdered journalist, to condemn repression and the critical situation for journalists in Sri Lanka.”

The demonstration is organized by Wickrematunge’s colleagues with support from various organizations, such as Reporters Without Borders, and will be conducted outside of the prime minister of the United Kingdom’s home.  Protestors will be denouncing the killing of Wickrematunge and urging for the protection of journalists and press freedom.

While driving to work in Colombo, Wickrematunge was shot by four men on motorcycles.  Shortly after, he was taken to the Kalubowila hospitall where he died.  His death occurred only two days after a grenade attack on a private television studio in Colombo.

Wickrematunge was known as a controversial journalist who was said to be extremely critical of the Sri Lankan government.  He founded the newspaper, The Sunday Leader, with his brother in 1994.  The Leader constantly received threats and were targets of violence for speaking out against corruption, war, terrorism, organized crime and human rights violations.

His final editorial was published after his death on January 11.  He knew that he was being targeted by the government since he was in the midst of writing on a controversial story, stating, “When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me.”

Approximately 4,000 protestors demonstrated in Colombo on January 12 calling for justice over Wickrematunge’s death.  They shouted against the government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  Meanwhile, the government denies any involvement and stated that it is continuing its investigation.

For more information, please see:

Guardian – Dying for Free Speech in Sri Lanka – 12 January 2009

Reporters Without Borders – Reporters Without Borders Backs London Demonstration in Protest at Murder of Leading Editor – 15 January 2009

Sri Lanka Guardian – The Death of a Journalist – 15 January 2009