Citizens' Square

In his letter, the exiled dissident Chinese writer Liao Yiwu raises questions about the character, as well as writings, of Mo Yan, the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature.

This signature campaign (Chinese Original) to appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia begins circulating as the second anniversary of the Prize approaches. Liu is serving the fourth year of his 11-year prison term and is the only Nobel Peace Prize laureate in prison. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under unlawful to house arrest for more than two years, with two female police officers monitoring her around-the-clock.

Fujianese petitioner Ye Mingfeng (叶明锋) appeals (Chinese only) for international attention as he fears retaliation from Chinese authorities after being extradited from Thailand to China. Ye had fled to to Thailand to escape Reeducation-Through-Labor, but was arrested about three months ago. He agreed to be sent back to China because he did not want to suffer a prolonged detention in Thailand.

Shanghainese rights defender Feng Zhenghu (冯正虎) has been confined to his home by 24 guards since February 27, 2012. He estimates that by October 30, those guards had cost the authorities some 2.4 million yuan [about $600,000]. Feng’s house arrest began in advance of the “Two Sessions” of the National People’s Congress and National People’s Political Consultative Conference in March this year and is now continuing into the period of the Party’s 18th National Congress.

Dozens of former police officers from many provinces who are victims of miscarriage of justices arrived in Beijing in recent days for a planned protest in the capital. By October 23, nearly 20 of them were detained and sent back to their home cities. Among them were He Zuhua, from Henan Province, Tian Lan, from Hebei, Song Xiuling, from Helonggiang, Jiang Fuyou, from Hubei, and Liu Guoqiang, from Henan. Previously, in August and September, the former police officers jointly issued two open letters on the Internet requesting the CPC leadership and the delegates to the upcoming 18th Party Congress to address the serious corruption in the judicial system, correct the miscarriage of justice in their individual cases, and restore their former positions and all the privileges.

In this appeal (Chinese only), Cai Ying (蔡瑛) states that he is being held in a place that the Yuanjiang Municipal Commission for Discipline and Inspection of Hunan Province uses to detain and interrogate people in the name of “residential surveillance.” Cai, a lawyer with the Xiangjun Law Firm in Hunan, has been in custody since July 30, 2012. He writes in his appeal that he has suffered various types of inhumane treatment and is in a situation he describes “worse than death.”

[International Constitutional Court] The open letter supports Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki’s proposal—which he articulated in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2012—to establish an International Constitutional Court to examine whether constitutions of various governments adhere to the principles set out in the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On September 30, 2012, Shanghainese rights defender and petitioner Mao Hengfeng (毛恒凤) was intercepted and returned to Shanghai. She was subsequently criminally detained on suspicion of "gathering a crowd to disturb public order." She is currently held at the Yangpu District Detention Center.

In the afternoon of September 14, Lü Gengsong and other democracy activists in Hangzhou were warned by the police that they will not be allowed to leave their homes beginning on September 15. Earlier, 10 Hanzhou citizens, including Zou Wei, submitted an application to the Hangzhou Public Security Bureau for a permit to march to protest Japan and defend Diaoyu Island.

The Special Prize of AUD$3,000 ($3,068) was awarded to Mr. Dhondup Wangchen, cinematogpher and producer of the documentary film “Leaving Fear Behind,” on September 2 on the occasion of the Tibetan Democracy Day in Dharamsala. Nominated by the Tibetan writer Woeser, Mr. Dhondup is currently serving a 6-year prison term for making the documentary. The award announcement said that “as a Chinese civil society organization, QCFA feels shamed and wants to use this opportunity to express our true guilt to several million of our Tibetan brothers and sisters.” Dhonduo Wangchen’s wife Lhamo Tso said in the acceptance speech which she wrote on her husband’s behalf that the award “would bring better understanding between Han Chinese and Tibetans.” At the award ceremony, the speech was read by their 11-year-old daughter, Lhamo Dolma, who also accepted the prize on behalf of her father.

On August 17, 2012, domestic security police disrupted a gathering of the Beijing Christian house church Divine Love Group of the Beijing Christian House Church. Xu Yonghai (徐永海), the head of Divine Love Group, was taken into a police vehicle for questioning, and an elder sister was prevented from attending the gathering. Xu writes of their experience in this article (Chinese only).

In his letter (Chinese only) to the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Justice, lawyer Chen Wuquan (陈武权) explains why he wanted to defend Chen Kegui, the nephew of blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng who is facing charges of intentional homicide as a result of defending himself against intruders who broke into his home. Chen Wuquan also details how the Bureau of Justice forced him to quit the case, and then how his law firm fired him.