Germany: Calling for Release of Xiong Wei on International Human Rights Day

On International Human Rights day, practitioners gathered together, with several other groups, to express their concerns over human rights in China and more specifically, to call for the release of Ms. Xiong Wei. The activities included a two-day rally at the Berlin Industrial University.

The groups included the German based International Human Rights Association, the Association for Threatened People and several student clubs from the Berlin Industrial University, where Xiong Wei was studying before she was arrested in China.

The rally had a letter signing campaign to protest against the proposed anti-subversion law in Hong Kong and also a postcard campaign to call for Xiong Wei’s release from a forced labour camp in China.

Practitioners also attended a seminar on human rights in China on the evening of December 9. There, they reported on Jiang’s persecution against Falun Gong over the last 3-years. The president of the International Human Rights Association, Mr. Mueller, hosted the seminar. When talking about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the president of the International Human Rights Association condemned the Chinese government as a “dictatorship without morals,” and the persecution as a “vicious circle of violence.” He thought the persecution of Falun Gong in China could not be accepted or tolerated by anyone with rationality and morality. It was commented that “violence and a totalitarian regime without morality” could not tolerate the noble moral standard of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” upheld by Falun Gong. This served as reason why Jiang cracked down on Falun Gong.

Mr. Mueller introduced the human rights conditions in Hong Kong after the territory’s handover to Chinese rule. Mr. Mueller in particular reminded Europeans to express their concern over Article 23 legislation in Hong Kong. Under the proposed law, not only are Hong Kong’s fundamental freedoms of thought, the press, religion, peaceful assembly and association at risk, but also the economy of Hong Kong. Two weeks ago during China’s Foreign Minister Tang’s trip to Germany, International Human Rights Organisation had openly called on the German government to exercise its international influence to stop Article 23 and to help to rescue Xiong Wei.

Translated from
http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200212/15322.html