Twelve still missing 14 years after bloody Tiananmen crackdown

Twelve people remain unaccounted for 14 years after China brutally cracked down on democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, family members said in an open letter to the government pleading for information.

The letter, copies of which were seen by AFP, calls on the Chinese government to give a full accounting of the fates of these people, and if found to be dead, that their remains be turned over to their families.

Some 115 family members of a group called the "Tiananmen Mothers" signed the petition handed to the National People's Congress, which opens a new five-year term this week, the US-based Human Rights In China said.

The petition revealed there were at least 12 people who went missing in Beijing on or around June 4, 1989 who have not been accounted for 14 years later.

The government should "provide a full report to each family of those killed and offer appropriate legal and financial remedies," the letter said.

It also called on the government to conduct an independent inquiry into the massacre and publicize its findings, including a comprehensive list of those killed.

Members of the leadership responsible for the crackdown should also be investigated and held legally accountable for the "tragedy," it added.

Parliamentary head Li Peng, who called in the military in 1989 when he served as China's prime minister, is expected to step down during the coming session of parliament, which gets underway on Wednesday.
Hundreds, if not thousands, were believed to have been killed during the military assault on the city center which followed nearly six weeks of protests on Tiananmen Square in central Beijing.

The petition group was led by Ding Zilin, a retired Beijing professor, whose 17-year-old son was shot in the back and killed when the People's Liberation Army entered the city on the night of June 3, 1989.

Ding's group has petitioned the government and parliament incessantly since the crackdown, but has "not received a formal response" from either of the bodies, the petition said.

"We are awaiting a sincere response from the next congress, the representatives to the congress and the new congressional standing committee," the petition said.