Charter 08:
http://penreporter.blogspot.com/2009/01/china-has-seen-ghost-and-it-is-afraid.html.jpg)
19 January 2009
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/ipfarcry/conjuror/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20/go/freedom-of-expression/world-authors-call-on-chinese-authorities-to-release-dissident-writer
Liu Xiaobo: World authors call on Chinese authorities to release dissident writerOver 300 members of International PEN, the world writers' association, have joined together to protest against the ongoing detention of prominent Chinese dissident writer Liu Xiaobo by the Chinese authorities.
Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, J.M. Coetzee, Tom Stoppard, Umberto Eco, Jung Chang, Ian McEwan and Azar Nafisi are among the signatories calling for the immediate release of Liu Xiaobo and championing his right to freedom of expression.
Liu Xiaobo, former President and current Board member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre has been detained since 8 December 2008 for signing Charter 08, a declaration expressing the need for political reform and human rights in China. He is one of many dissidents to be detained or harassed after launching
Charter 08 and issuing an open letter to the National People's Congress Standing Committee to ratify the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Since the declaration was launched over 7000 journalists, writers, scholars and activists have become signatories despite the Chinese government shutting down all websites referring to Charter 08.
Members of International PEN are shocked by the apparent crackdown of the Chinese authorities on those who have endorsed the Charter:
"Liu Xiaobo's arrest and continued detention for being one of the original signatories of Charter 08, which calls for greater freedom of expression and democracy, demonstrates the extent of the ongoing restrictions imposed upon the people of China. We call for his immediate release," says Caroline McCormick, Executive Director of International PEN.
International PEN has had significant concerns about freedom of expression in China for many years where the large numbers of writers and journalists harassed, detained and imprisoned for calling for improved civil and political rights have remained largely unchanged. PEN also has serious concerns about prison conditions, ill-health, access to medical care and family visits. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing highlighted ongoing human rights and freedom of expression abuses in China despite the Chinese authorities' promise to improve conditions and honour the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which it is a signatory. Five months after the games ended, and international scrutiny has been focused elsewhere, PEN continues to campaign against the ongoing persecution of writers exercising their right to freedom of expression.
There are over 40 writers and journalists currently detained in the P.R.C., making China the largest jailer of writers worldwide. Sentences range from 3-20 years, with the majority of cases serving sentences of over 8 years. PEN is particularly concerned about the rise of Internet writers being detained - held generally under subversion or state secrets laws - famously Shi Tao, serving a 10-year sentence for ‘revealing state secrets' for emailing his notes of a government briefing meeting. Minority issues are a key concern in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang where separatist struggles' place writers at risk of arrest.
Liu Xiaobo first received support from PEN 20 years ago, when, in 1989, he was one of a group of writers and intellectuals given the label the "Black Hands of Beijing" by the government, and arrested for their part in the Tiananmen Square protests. Liu has since spent a total of five years in prison, including a three year sentence passed in 1996, and he has suffered frequent short arrests, harassment and censorship. Liu Xiaobo is currently being held under Residential Surveillance at an undisclosed location in Beijing. No charges have as yet been made known.
For more information contact Emily Bromfield, Communications Director:
emily.bromfield@internationalpen.org.uk or 011 44 20 7405 0338
International PEN protests the continued detention of Liu Xiaobo
International PEN protests the continued detention of leading dissident writer and former President of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, Liu Xiaobo
19 January 2009
We the undersigned, support International PEN, the world association of writers with members in over 100 countries, in its call for the release of Liu Xiaobo, prominent dissident writer, former President and current Board member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, who has been detained since 8 December 2008 for signing Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reforms and human rights. Liu Xiaobo is being held under Residential Surveillance, a form of pre-trial detention, at an undisclosed location in Beijing, and no charges against him have been made known.
Liu Xiaobo is among a large number of dissidents to have been detained or harassed after issuing an open letter calling on the National People's Congress Standing Committee to ratify the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and launching Charter 08, a declaration calling for political reforms and human rights. These activities formed part of campaigns across China to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December), and the Charter has now been signed by more than 7000 scholars, journalists, freelance writers and activists. International PEN is alarmed about an apparent crackdown on those who have endorsed the Charter, and urges that all signatories of Charter 08 are protected from further harassment.
International PEN considers Liu Xiaobo to be held solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to free expression, and therefore in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, as well as Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution. PEN demands the immediate and unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo and all those currently detained in the People's Republic of China for the peaceful expression of their opinions.
Edward Albee, American PEN
Homero Aridjis, President Emeritus of International PEN
Margaret Atwood, Vice President of International PEN
Paul Auster, American PEN
Alan Ayckbourn, CBE, International PEN Author Advocate
John le Carré, International PEN Author Advocate
Jung Chang, Independent Chinese PEN
J. M. Coetzee, Vice President of International PEN
Don DeLillo, American PEN
Carol Ann Duffy OBE, CBE, International PEN Author Advocate
Umberto Eco, American PEN
Ian McEwan CBE, International PEN Author Advocate
Moris Farhi MBE, Vice President of International PEN
Michael Frayn, English PEN
Sir David Hare, International PEN Author Advocate
Ronald Harwood CBE, Vice President of International PEN
Ha Jin, Independent Chinese PEN
Ma Jian, Independent Chinese PEN
Azar Nafisi, International PEN Author Advocate
Michael Ondaatje, Canadian PEN
Wole Soyinka, American PEN
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, International PEN Author Advocate
Salman Rushdie, CBE, American PEN
Per Wästberg, President Emeritus of International PEN
International PEN Board
Ji?í Gruša, International President
Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary
Eric Lax, International Treasurer
Karin Clark, Writers in Prison Committee Chair
Mike Butscher, Cecilia Balcázar, Yang Lian, Mohamed Magani, Kristin T. Schnider, Haroon Siddiqui, Hori Takeaki
Former International Secretary Terry Carlbom
Vice Presidents of International PEN Joanne Leedom-AckermanLucina, Kathmann, Boris A. Novak, Gloria Guardia ,
Adelaide PEN
Miriel Lenore, Dominique Wilson
American PEN
Siri Hustvedt ,Ron Chernow , K. Anthony Appiah, Francine Prose, Rick Moody
Austrian PEN
Wolfgang Kubin
Canadian PEN
Alison Gordon ,Marian Botsford Fraser , Camilla Gibb , Reza Beraheni ,Charles Foran , Sandra Martin , Martha Butterfield , Susan Coyne, Graeme Gibson ,Louise Dennys ,Katherine Govier ,Brenda Carr Vellino,Kathryn E Langley Hope,Kevin McLoughlin, Pamela Porter ,John Eerkes-Medrano, David Williams, Jack E.G. Dixon, Lola Tostevin, Mark Frutkin, Sheila Whyte, Joseph Simons , Talia Zajac, Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr, Maurice Breslow, Linda Spaulding, Bruce MacDougallDavid Bergen, Hank Bulmash, Phil Jenkins, Michael Helm, Jay Macpherson , Vera Frenkel , Oscar Goodman, Murray Melville, Dahlia Liwsze, Nino Ricci. Ellen Seligman, Ron Graham, John Ralston Saul
Catalan PEN
Carme Arenas , David Figueres Felip, Rosa Fabregat, Daniel Nomen i Recio , Valentí Gómez i Oliver, Carme Ramilo Martínez, Margarita Ballester Figueras, Joan Buades, Helena Porteros Liroz , Guillem-Jordi Graells, Assumpta Cantalozella, Tònia Passola , Gabriel de la S. T. Sampol, August Bover Font, Helena Vidal , Manel Ollé Rodríguez, Miquel Berga, Miquel Cardell Santandeu, Vicent Pitarch i Almela, Raffaella Salierno, Ramon N. Prats, Carme Riera, Jaume Cabré, Adrià Chavarria, Josep Maria Fonalleras, Joan Guasp Vidal, Antònia VicensPep Coll, Helena Pol, Miquel Desclot, Emili Olcina Aya, Carmen Borja, Iolanda Bonet ,Maria Teresa Pous, Josep-Ramon Bach, Ainara Munt Ojanguren, Joan Rendé i Masdéu, Teresa Colom Pich, Jordi Vintró, Assumpció Forcata, Antoni Puigverd, Ramon Pla i Arxé, Alex Broch, Mercè Otero Vidal, Ponç Pons, Josep Lozano, Bartomeu Fiol, Antoni Vidal Ferrando, Pilar Garriga, Patrícia Gabancho, Francesc Parcerisas Vázquez, Miquel M. Gibert, Maria Mercè Roca, Oriol IzquierdoJoaquim Carbó Masllorens, Sebastià Perelló, Quim Monzó ,Maria-Antònia OliverJordi Valls Pozo, Arnau Pons, Núria Cabré Castellví, Lluís Urpinell-i-Jovani, Maria Barbal Farré
Cuban Writers in Exile PEN
Luis Ignacio Larcada
English PEN
Julian Evans, Martin Goodman, Eric Clark, Rosemary Friedman, Christopher, Southgate, Wendy Mulford , Tom Cheesman, Carole Seymour-Jones, Marilyn Malin, Xandra Bingley, Barry Kernon, Paul Levy, Ros Schwartz, Amanda Craig, Liu Hongbin, Frances Spalding , Jonathan Prichard , Elizabeth Maslen , Lynne Reid Banks , Anne Louise Fisher ,Nicholas Murray, Cat Lucas, Ivan Jones, Ruth Fainlight , Miriam Moss, Penelope Bennett, Paul Griffiths, Nouritza Matossian
Independent Chinese PEN (ICPC)
JIANG Qisheng, ZHENG Yi , MENG Lang , JIANG Bo ,CAI Chu , YU Jie, Xiaogang ZHANG , QI Jia Zhen , Yu ZHANG , Emily WU, You You, Tienchi LIAO DING Xu , WANG Jianbo, Patrick POON , WANG Xiaoshan, Jimbut Jun FENG ,WEN Kejian , QI Yanchen , Han Xin, LU Wen, ZHANG Xianyang , Jin Wa, LIU Tao SUN Wenguang , LI Changyu , YEN Minju , CAI Yong Mei , ZHU Xinxin , Ah Zhong , GAO Yu ,Yongyi SONG , SHU Yang, LU Xuesong, LIAO Yiwu , XUAN Gui MA Lan , YU Zhangfa , Kuide CHEN , ZHAO Dagong , ZHANG Langlang, QIU Yueshou , LIU Jianyong , ZAN Aizong , ZOU Hongfu, JIANG Fuzhen, SUN LiyongLIU Jingsheng , TIAN Qizhuang , LIN Maochun, MO Jiangang, SHEN Youlian , Bin Lang , TENG Biao , YANG Guang , WANG Debang, LIU Ning , LIU Yiming , XU Wen-Li ,HE Xingtong , HU Ping, XU Xiang, WANG Ju, Ye Huo, LI Yuanlong, A Shen , HUANG Dachuan , LIU Di , AI Ge , YU Zhijian , GUAN Dangsheng, A Mu Lao David , WANG Yiliang , ZHANG Ci, Ye Du , Yi Ping , HUANG Heqing ,WU Yi Shan , Lisa LEE , Qing ZHOU , Pu ZHANG
Japan PEN
Wakamatsu Jotaro,Shokan Kondo, Tamiko Tanimoto, Hayakawa Kazuo, Kiyoko Iwabuti, Tatsuya Kusaba, Eiko Miyamoto, Hata Kouhei, Hiromi Ikeuchi, Sadanaga Washizuka, Akemi Kamiyama, Yasuhiko Simazaki, Naoe Wakita, Yusuke Hayashi,Randy.Taguchi, Kenichi Kawaguchi, Yukio Nagashima, Yukiko Chino, Fujii ShozoKikuchi-Michito, Bin Konno, Satoko Tamura, Motohiko Fuma, Takashi Yodono, Ayuko Izumi,Tomoko Funaki, Yotaro Konaka, Shinkai Hitoshi, Tendo TaijinMasuo Tasai
Liechtenstein PEN
Mathias Ospelt
Nepal PEN
Greta Rana
Norwegian PEN
Trine Kleven
Quebec PEN
Maya Khankhoje, Émile Martel, Roger Paul Gilbert, Gary Klang
Swiss German PEN
Egidius Aebli, Brigitta Klaas Meilier, Rafaël Newman
Swiss Italian PEN
Chiara Macconi
Suisse Romand PEN
Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt, Fawzia Assaad, Zeki Ergas
Scottish PEN
Iseabail Macleod, Zoë Strachan, Robin Lloyd-Jones, Drew Campbell, Bashabi Fraser
Sydney PEN
Gaby Naher, Margot Morris, Susan Sheridan, Virginia Lloyd, Carole Cogdon, Gaby Naher, Jane Camens, Sylvia Lawson, Annamaria Weldon, Caroline Lurie, Nicholas Jose , Chip Rolley, Barbara Brooks, Kyra Giorgi, Bridget McKern, Sylvia Petter, Gillian Rubinstein, Lian Hearn , Frank Moorhouse , Carol Dettmann ,Dr Carolyn van Langenberg , Joan Dugdale, Tony Brooks, Ray Tyndale, Julie Marcus
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And All-India PEN Center, ( West Bengal ) The members , everyone expresses their solidarity with Chinese Writers. We pray to Chinese Authority 'A complete and absolute freedom of expression'. We defend 'Charter of International PEN' and 'Article 19 of International Covenant of Human rights'.
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