12 December 2008

China’s Acts Against Human Rights Advocates Raise U.S. Concern

More than 300 Chinese sign Charter ’08 document calling for greater freedom

A Chinese woman clutches justice and human rights complaint letters after being taken away from Beijing protests.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, more than 300 Chinese citizens signed a declaration known as Charter ’08, which calls on their government to show greater respect for human rights and political freedom.

Since Charter ’08 became public on December 9, Chinese human rights activists have come under government pressure and dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, who signed the document, has been detained by Chinese authorities.

These actions prompted a December 11 statement from State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who called for Liu Xiaobo’s release and for China to “cease harassment of all Chinese citizens who peacefully express their desire for internationally-recognized fundamental freedoms.”

 

The Charter ’08 document and protests in Beijing commemorated International Human Rights Day.

The Charter ’08 document and protests in Beijing commemorated International Human Rights Day.

McCormack said the Bush administration is “deeply concerned” by reports that Chinese citizens have been “detained, interrogated and harassed” in their efforts to mark International Human Rights Day, and he expressed particular concern over “the well being of Liu Xiaobo … who remains in the custody of authorities.”

Charter ’08 was signed by a wide range of Chinese citizens, including academics, members of the business community and those living in rural areas, who urge the Chinese government to take specific actions to improve democracy and human rights in the country.

Reportedly inspired by “Charter 77,” a similar document directed at the government of the former Czechoslovakia that was signed in 1977 by Czech and Slovak intellectuals, including former President Vaclav Havel, Charter ’08 makes 19 recommendations to the Chinese government, including a call for a new Chinese constitution, separation of political powers, direct elections, judicial independence, the freedom to form political parties, free speech and the release and compensation of political prisoners.

More information, including an English translation of Charter '08 is available on the Chinese Human Rights Defenders Web site.

The text of Sean McCormack’s statement on the harassment of Chinese signatories to Charter ’08 is available on the State Department Web site.