The Internet under
surveillance
4 October 2004
Reporters Without Borders today deplored the continued
imprisonment of Chinese cyber-dissident He Depu, arrested at his
Beijing home two years ago today (on 4 November 2002) for signing an
open letter to the ruling Communist Party congress (which was posted
on the Internet) calling for democratic reforms. Six other
signatories were jailed in the weeks that followed.
"Since this crackdown the regime has steadily increased its
censorship of the Internet and stepped up pressure on Internet users,"
the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
The seven arrested cyber-dissidents – who also included Zhao
Changqing, Sang Jiancheng, Dai Xuezhong, Han Lifa, Jiang Lijun and
Ouyang Yi – were among 192 dissidents who signed the letter on the
eve of the 16th party congress. The activists regularly posted
their ideas and opinions online.
Their letter appealed for six reforms, among them political
rehabilitation of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the right of
political exiles to return from abroad, the release of jailed
political prisoners including Zhao Ziyang, ratification by the
National People’s Congress (parliament) of the International
Covenant on Political and Civil Rights and the holding of free
elections.
He Depu, a member of the banned China Democracy Party and author of
many online articles, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment on 6
November 2003. He reportedly suffers from high blood pressure
which gives him headaches and dizziness. He is only allowed to
exercise twice a week in the prison courtyard. His wife, Jia
Jiangying, was able to visit him on 9 October 2004.
Ouyang Yi, who set up a pro-democracy website in July 2002, was
arrested on 4 December that year for the fifth time in six years and
sentenced to two years in prison on 16 March 2004 for "inciting
subversion." He is due for release this December.
Jiang Lijun, an energetic online democracy activist, was arrested on 6
November 2002 and given a four-year prison sentence on 4 November
2003.
Sang Jiancheng, a retired manual worker, was arrested on 10 November
2002 for writing an online article denouncing corruption in the
Communist Party and was jailed for three years on 6 January 2004.
Zhao Changqing was arrested on 4 November 2002 for signing the letter
to the party congress. He was elected to parliament in 1997 but
was then arrested and jailed for three years for supposedly
threatening national security. He was not released until
2001.
Dai Xuezhong was arrested in mid-November 2002 for signing the
letter. A member of the banned Shanghai Human Rights
Association, he had previously been jailed for three years for his
political activities.
Han Lifa, a mechanic and longtime political activist, was arrested on
26 December 2002 for the same reason. He had previously been
sentenced three times, twice to three years of "community work"
and once to nine months in prison. He was freed in July
2001.
62 people are in prison in China for setting up independent websites
or for posting material online criticising the regime.
For more information on Internet freedom in China, see:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10749
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 