Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 17:34:18 +0800
From: "Francis T.L. Lau" <tllau-AT-hknet.com>
Subject: At Least 241 Still in Prison for 1989 Democratic Movement


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	Hong Kong Voice of Democracy
	http://www.democracy.org.hk
	Phone: (852) 9267 6489
	Fax  :    (852) 2791 5801
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At Least 241 Still in Prison for 1989 Democratic Movement

At least 241 people are still imprisoned or on parole for participating in
the 1989 democratic movement, according to the latest report of Amnesty
International. Since the Chinese government still maintains the original
verdict on the movement as the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre
approaches, these victims of the democratic movement would still be in jail
10 years after the incident.

Amnesty International said the 241 were only mere fraction of the number
convicted nationwide during the democratic movement. The London-based human
rights group noted that they were convicted in unfair trials. The report,
released on April 28, 1999, shows that these people are still serving long
terms of up to life imprisonment for participating in the peaceful protest.

The prisoners, coming from Beijing, Shanghai and other provinces on the
mainland, included workers, students, teachers, professionals and many
whose occupations are unknown. Amnesty International called on the Chinese
government to review its verdict on the movement, re-examine the
convictions of those still in prison, offer compensation to the families of
those killed in the massacre, and bring those responsible for the bloody
crackdown on the unarmed civilians to justice.

In the report, Amnesty International said, "The refusal of the (Chinese)
government to instigate any form of inquiry into the 1989 crackdown goes
against the government's apparent willingness to improve its human rights
record through dialogue with other governments, the recent signing of two
key human rights conventions and the early release on medical parole of
several key dissidents."

Attempt by the U.S. government to censure China's human rights record at
the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva was unsuccessful due to the lack
of support of the European and other members of the commission.

Premier Zhu Rong-ji, in his recent tour in the U.S.A. still maintained that
the student protesters in 1989 had no respect for the rule of law.
Apparently, Zhu has ignored the fact the right to demonstrate and protest
is enshrined even in the constitution of the People's Republic of China and
the use of armed forces to crack down on the unarmed civilians is
unconstitutional.

As the Chinese government has no desire to reverse its official verdict on
the 1989 democratic movement, these 241 dissidents will remain in jail
until the next century. On the other hand, exiled student Wang Dan
initiated a global signature drive in April 1999. One of the demands of the
campaign is the release of all political prisoners related to the June 4th
democratic movement.

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Please add your name to the signature drive calling for the rehabilitation
of the June 4th Democracy Movement at http://www.june4.org
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	Francis T.L. Lau          
	Email:  tllau-AT-hknet.com   
	Mobile: (852) 9424 1068   
	Fax:    (852) 2493 3953  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Hong Kong Voice Of Democracy
	http://www.democracy.org.hk/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~