As the 20th anniversary of the
Tiananmen Square Massacre falls on 4 June, the Asian Center for the Progress of
Peoples is calling on people to write letters to the Chinese government to
demand accountability for this tragedy. Below is their call. 
As the 20th anniversary of the
Tiananmen Square Massacre falls on 4 June, the Asian Center for the Progress of
Peoples is calling on people to write letters to the Chinese government to
demand accountability for this tragedy. Below is their call. 
 

Twenty years ago, the world was expecting democratic change in
China.  In the spring of 1989, over a million citizens in Beijing went
to the streets to support the justice cause of students to fight
against corruption and demand for political reform. Students and
citizens gathering at the Tiananmen Square requested to dialogue with
the government. Disregarding
the intention of the students, government designated the Pro-democracy
Movement as a riot and used tanks and guns to suppress the peaceful
protest on 4 June 1989.  Until now, the number of deaths and the name
list are still unavailable. 
 

Twenty years have passed, the Tiananmen Massacre is still a taboo
in China. The
government uses economic interest to justify the brutal crackdown on
one hand, and silent those who demand for accountability from the
government on the other hand. Due to the intense censorship, most of
the people in China only know that there was a "riot" in 1989 and army
entered Beijing to restore public order. To
defy the government's strategy to whitewash the bloody history, many
family members of victims and activists have been bravely struggling
for accountability for the Massacre, and they have paid a high price
for it.

 

As the Tiananmen Massacre marks its 20th anniversary this year, government started to step up harassment to dissidents. In
the past few months, Zhang Shijun, a former solider, who expressed his
regrets and sent an open letter to President Hu Jintao for vindication
of the "June Fourth Verdict", has been put under surveillance since
March. Meanwhile, the former participant of the 1989
Pro-democracy Movement Jiang Qisheng was interrogated and had his home
raided by the Beijing Public Security Bureau on 31 March. Another
dissent, Prof. Sun Wenguang, aged 75, was assaulted for mourning the
ousted Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and victims of the
Massacre on 4 April. A wounded victim of the Massacre, Qi Zhiyong, was put under house arrest since 14 April. Additionally,
members of the "Tiananmen Mothers", which is comprised of victims'
families, are subjected to surveillance and harassment.  Also,
it is estimated that there are more than 100 people held in prison for
their involvement in 1989 Pro-democracy Movement or actions concerning
the Movement. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of
Patriotic Democratic Movement in China states there are around 500
dissidents are barred from returning to China.

 

Twenty years is a long time, yet time cannot cure the wound of the history, only justice can! 

 

 

Please
write letters to make the government know that international community
has not forgotten the Tiananmen Massacre and will continue to support
the call to demand accountability. Please specifically request the Chinese authorities to:

• stop harassing the "Tiananmen Mothers" and the dissidents who speak out the truth;
• release all the prisoners of conscience who are jailed in relation to the Pro-democracy Movement;
• investigate the Tiananmen Massacre and publish the report;
• punish the perpetrators of the Massacre; and
• provide remedy to the victims of the Massacre and their families.

To read the complete call, please click here.