Ding Zilin
CCS wrote a letter to Chinese authorities concerning Ding Zilin, her husband Jiang Peikun, as well as for Liu Xia.
Associates of Ding Zilin, a former professor of philosophy, a spokesperson for the Tiananmen Mothers and a supporter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, state that they have been unable to contact her or her husband by phone or email since October 8, 2010. Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, has been under house arrest since October 10 and her close associates have not been able to contact her since that time.
A number of other Chinese activists and signers of Charter 08 have been placed under house arrest, restricted in their movements or communications, or warned not to discuss the award to Liu Xiaobo, according to Human Rights in China. Most recently, two legal scholars and rights advocates, Mo Shaopins and He Weifang, were blocked from leaving China for an international conference in London, according to the New York Times, presumably because Liu Xia had suggested that they attend Liu’s Nobel Prize award ceremony in Oslo.
None of these individuals have been charged with any crime or even accused of a crime. There seems to be no reason for these restrictions except to prevent them from exercising their human rights to peacefully express their opinions, to associate with others and to move about in their community or travel. Such intimidation is in violation of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. Article 12 of the Convention specifically protects individuals’ right of movement.
CCS urged Chinese authorities to immediately suspend the house arrest of all individuals that followed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo and to allow them to exercise their human rights. They also urged them to immediately and publicly explain the whereabouts of Ding Zilin and of Jiang Peikun.