PEN-Club supports GfbV appeal to Mayor Meyer: Speak out for the release of the writer Yang Tongyan!

With a campaign day for the writer Yang Tongyan, who is in prison, the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) drew attention on Friday to the difficult human rights situation in the future twin-town of Göttingen in China. The human rights organisation handed to the Mayor, Wolfgang Meyer, an appeal started by the GfbV shortly before his departure for Nanjing for him to speak out for the release of the release of the poet and human rights worker Yang Tongyan, who is in prison. The appeal was jointly signed by International PEN in London, the German PEN Centre in Darmstadt and by Reporters Without Borders in Paris/Berlin.

The GfbV provided information with banners, posters and an info.tent on the fate of the 47-year old persecuted writer. „Yang Tongyan is the most prominent political prisoner in Nanjing”, said the GfbV Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius. „His case is an example of the persecution of many civil rights workers in the Chinese town. He has had to spend twelve of the past 18 years in prison because he has been working for democratic change in China.” His only „weapon” is the internet, through which he has always in spite of the state censure tried to distribute his critical writings. He will have to spend a further ten years in Nanjing prison following his unjust conviction in May 2006 for „activities hostile to the state”. The GfbV published in June 2008 a report on the human rights situation in Nanjing.

Apart from Göttingen, which is working for the conclusion of an agreement on partnership with Nanjing, five other Lower Saxon towns have partnerships with Chinese towns. Hanover is twinned with Changde, Osnabrück with Hefei, Oldenburg with Tianjin and Wilhelmsvaven and Lüneburg with Qingdao. The Prime Minister Christian Wulff appealed in the year 2007 to Lower Saxon towns to work for partnerships with Chinese towns. „The furthering of human rights in China unfortunately does not play any part”, criticised Delius. So violations of human rights in the twin towns have not been talked about in meetings with the party officials. „The aim of the twinning is above all the encouragement of economic exchange”, said Delius. „However the extension of trade has not so far encouraged democratic change in China.”