2016\u2019s G20 Summit will take place during a period in which the host, the government of the People\u2019s Republic of China, is undertaking an extreme crackdown on human and civil rights across all areas under its rule.<\/p>\n
2016\u2019s G20 Summit will take place during a period in which the host, the government of the People\u2019s Republic of China, is undertaking an extreme crackdown on human and civil rights across all areas under its rule.<\/p>\n
Since 2013, when President Xi Jinping assumed power, the authorities have systematically crushed a vast range of civil and religious society. In recent months hundreds of human rights lawyers, legal assistants and rights activists \u2013 such as Li Heping, Hu Shigen and Wu Gan \u2013 have been detained for simply exercising their fundamental rights. New laws, emanating from President Xi\u2019s National Security Commission, now tightly control the work of overseas NGOs and harsh policies on media and the internet have been implemented. Intolerance for all forms of protest by Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians has grown, with a large rise in detentions, prosecutions and convictions, and highly intrusive religious controls on Uyghurs and Tibetans. In 2015, respected Tibetan buddhist leader Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died in custody after serving 13 years in prison on trumped-up criminal charges. There is no sign of clemency for Liu Xiaobo or Ilham Tohti. Uyghurs are being \u201cfenced-in\u201d in their communities and individuals from Hong Kong have been arbitrarily detained and new alarming and excessive restrictions to fundamental rights for Hong Kongers have been implemented. In January 2016 Tibet was ranked as the second worst place in the world for freedom and human rights by US-based NGO Freedom House. Only Syria had a worse ranking.<\/p>\n
Further still there is evidence of heightened state control over the daily life of citizens. This is particularly evident in Hangzhou itself, where disproportionate measures have created a de facto \u201cmartial law\u201d, introduced in the name of G20 security: including shutting down all churches and prohibiting any religious gatherings; delaying students returning to schools; ordering non-local permanent residents and those critical of official misdeeds, whom the regime deems \u201cpolitical dissidents\u201d, to leave; prohibiting passengers without national ID cards to take the subway; halting production of hundreds factories within 300 km radius of the city to provide clean air. In a blatant display of discrimination, notices recently posted in Hangzhou invite locals to report any Uyghurs to the police and claim a reward.<\/p>\n
In recent years parallel Civil Society events (C20) have highlighted important issues and enabled independent NGOs to substantively engage with the G20 process. However China was only very belatedly persuaded to organise a C20, and the host\u2019s belligerence towards civil society and human rights produced a pale travesty of meaningful engagement with G20. Convened by Chinese Government-organised NGOs, under the mantle of the new draconian NGO legislation and ferocious suppression of civil society, the legitimacy of China\u2019s C20 was undermined entirely. We urge that you do not accept China\u2019s C20 Communiqu\u00e9 as a true reflection of open and independent participation from civil society under China\u2019s rule.<\/p>\n
Considering the G20 host\u2019s ongoing actions we believe the common vision of the Summit has been severely compromised and the shared aspirations of G20 nations have been undermined. We therefore call on you as G20 members to jointly and individually:<\/p>\n
Signed<\/p>\n
Ms Dhardon Sharling<\/strong>: Co-Chair of International Tibet Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr. Teng Biao<\/strong>: Chinese human rights activist and lawyer, and the co-founder of Gongmeng or the Open Constitution Initiative.<\/p>\n Mr. Alex Chow Yong-Kang<\/strong>: former Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Federation of Students<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ms Rebiya Kadeer<\/strong>: leader of the Uyghur Democracy Movement and President of the World Uyghur Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mr Yang Jianli<\/strong>, Tiananmen veteran and President of Citizen Power for China\/Initiatives for China<\/a>.<\/p>\n