MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) — Nine leading advocacy groups have addressed a letter to US President Barack Obama, urging him to press the Chinese government during his visit to Beijing next month to release “baselessly” imprisoned human rights activists, the letter published on the website of Human Rights Watch said.
“We appreciate your and other senior officials’ recent statements voicing strong support for the role of civil society globally as well as grave concerns about 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and Uighur economist Ilham Tohti, two prominent human rights defenders baselessly imprisoned by the Chinese government,” the letter released Thursday said.
“We urge that while in Beijing you again publicly call for the release of these two individuals, as well as the release of Liu’s wife Liu Xia; human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who is not free despite having been released from prison; and Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist leader whose health is reportedly deteriorating after a decade in prison,” the letter added.
The letter was signed by nine human rights organizations — Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, the International Campaign for Tibet, Freedom Now, Human Rights in China, Human Rights First, the Uyghur American Association and Project 2049 Institute – and comes ahead of Obama’s visit to Beijing in November in a bid to bolster bilateral relations.
“The deteriorating human rights environment and the extraordinary damage done to China’s civil society should be given greater prominence in the bilateral relationship generally and your upcoming trip in particular,” the advocacy groups urged.
According to the letter, hostility towards human rights activists in China has significantly increased compared to a decade ago upon Xi Jinping assuming the country’s presidency.
