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September 15, 2008
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China
Mr. Meng Jianzhu
Minister of Public Security
East Chang’an Avenue 14
100741 Beijing
P.R. China
Your Excellencies,
On behalf of the 3,300 members of PEN American Center, an international organization of writers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression wherever it is threatened, we are writing to welcome the release of dissident writer Hu Shigen.
According to our information, Hu Shigen, a university lecturer, political activist, and writer, was released on August 26, 2008. Reports suggest that he is in poor health after many years of ill-treatment in prison. Although now released, he remains formally deprived of his right to exercise free speech, right of association and of free assembly, and his eligibility to work for a state institution.
Mr. Hu was arrested on September 27, 1992 and convicted by the Beijing Intermediate People’s Court on December 16, 1994 of “leading a counterrevolutionary organization” and “counterrevolutionary propaganda.” He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and a subsequent five years’ deprivation of political rights. Hu Shigen’s sentence has been reduced several times in prison, most recently in May 2008. He was among dozens of China Freedom and Democracy party and China Free Trade Union members to be detained in April and May 1992 for planning June 4, 1989 memorial activities in many of China’s major cities. As a founding member of both parties, Mr. Hu drafted a number of key documents for them and was active in calling for government accountability for the violent suppression of the Democracy Movement in June 1989.
PEN American Center welcomes the release of Hu Shigen, but remains concerned about the continuing restrictions he faces. We therefore respectfully call for all restrictions against him to be lifted in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, and for the release of all writers currently imprisoned in violation of their right to freedom of expression.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Larry Siems
Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs
CC: H. E. Mr. Zhou Wenzhong
Ambassador of the PRC to the U.S.
2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20007
Fax: (202) 588-9760
Fax: (202) 298-5735
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