PEN is alarmed by evidence that information supplied by the Internet Service Provider Yahoo! Inc. was used to convict journalist, poet and dissident writer Shi Tao.

The prosecution of Shi Tao was based on an email Shi sent to the editor of a New York-based Website detailing media restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities prior to the fifteenth anniversary of the June 3, 1989 crackdown on the pro-democracy protests. Shi Tao was sentenced on April 27, 2005 to ten years in prison for "leaking state secrets abroad”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) gives the following account of Shi Tao's arrest and trial:

"Officials from the Changsha security bureau detained Shi near his home in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on November 24, several months after he e-mailed notes detailing the propaganda ministry's instructions to the media about coverage of the anniversary of the crackdown at Tiananmen Square. Authorities confiscated his computer and other documents and warned his family to stay quiet about the matter.

On December 14, authorities issued a formal arrest order, charging Shi with leaking state secrets. On April 27, 2005, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court found Shi guilty and sentenced him to a 10-year prison term.

On June 2, the Hunan Province High People's Court rejected Shi's appeal without giving the journalist a hearing."

Shi's mother has applied for a review of the appeal hearing on the grounds that it did not comply with China's Criminal Procedures Law.

Shi Tao admits to sending the email, but disputes that the document was a 'state secret'.

The San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, which advocates for the release of political prisoners in China, has translated into English the verdict of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court. According to this translation, the verdict reveals that Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd provided Chinese police with detailed information that enabled them to link Shi"s personal email account and the specific message containing the alleged 'state secret' to the IP address of his computer. Yahoo! has refused to offer any details beyond the following statement: 'Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based.' However, Yahoo! is not believed to be under any legal obligation to co-operate with the Chinese police.

Shi Tao, aged 37, worked for the Changsha-based daily Dangdai Shang Bao (Contemporary Business News) until May 2004, when he became a freelance journalist and writer. He is a published poet, and is known for his social commentaries published on overseas Chinese language media such as Democracy Forum (www.boxun.com). He is a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre.

Shi Tao is held at the National Security Bureau of Hunan Province, Changsha.


PEN protests the detention of journalist, poet and dissident writer Shi Tao, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Please join PEN American Center in protesting Yahoo's complicity in the detention of Shi Tao by sending a letter to the Chairman of Yahoo! Inc. You may use the sample appeal letter below as a model for your own appeal.  

[Date]

Terry Semel, Chairman
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, California 94089
Fax: (408)349-3301

Dear Mr. Semel:

As one of the 2,700 writers who are members of PEN American Center, I am writing to express my alarm that Yahoo! Ltd appears to be complicit in the arrest of Chinese journalist, poet, and dissident Shi Tao. Shi was sentenced to ten years in prison on April 27, 2005 for supposedly "leaking state secrets abroad” in an email sent to the editor of a New York-based website. Shi Tao admits to sending the email, but disputes that the document was a 'state secret'.

It is my understanding that Yahoo! Ltd (Hong Kong) provided Chinese police with detailed information that enabled them to link Shi's personal email account and the specific message containing the alleged 'state secret' to the IP address of his computer. When questioned, Yahoo! has only responded by saying, "Just like any other global company, Yahoo! must ensure that its local country sites must operate within the laws, regulations and customs of the country in which they are based.” However, Yahoo! is not believed to be under any legal obligation to co-operate with the Chinese police.

I urge Yahoo! to re-examine its policies to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on the legitimate practice of the right to freedom of expression and information, as guaranteed by international human rights standards, notably Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Sincerely,

[Your name and signature]