A bitter conclusion: Society for Threatened Peoples criticizes that Mao’s terror is still alive today

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution in China (May 16), the latest issue of the magazine “Bedrohte Völker – pogrom” – which is published by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) – focuses on Mao Zedong’s reign of terror. He died 40 years ago. The STP’s magazine focuses especially on the serious human rights violations against the Mongols, the Uyghurs, and the Tibetans. There aren’t many sources that account for the fate of these communities in connection with the Cultural Revolution. In the period from 1966 to 1976, about three million people got killed, and hundreds of millions of people were tortured and humiliated. The total number of victims under Mao’s regime from 1949 to 1976 is estimated at 35 million to 80 million.

In the magazine’s 75 pages, experts on human rights and minority issues draw a bitter conclusion concerning the members of the minority groups, hundreds of thousands of which became genocide victims during Mao’s reign. The articles also account for the cruel crimes of the Red Guards – mostly young people who were fanaticized by the Central Committee of the Communist Party under Mao’s leadership – who, during the Cultural Revolution, marched against teachers, intellectuals, artists, businessmen, clergymen, landowners, unpopular politicians, as well as against family members and friends, and destroyed valuable cultural assets and sacred sites.

Furthermore, the authors refer to China today, noting that Xi Jinping’s regime is increasingly relying on methods of intimidation and harassment from the time of the Cultural Revolution in order to secure its power. Thus, there are mass trials in front of spectators in stadiums, and coerced confessions are shown on state TV – and there are campaigns against “Western ideas” as well as severe restrictions of the freedom of religion.

However, there are also rare attempts to come to terms with the dark chapters of China’s recent history: for example, the underground magazine “Remembrance” – a digital publication – a few critical books and articles that were published in Hong Kong, and the only museum in China that is operated by a private person. It documents the horrors and tries to give the victims a voice.

ATTENTION EDITORS: We will gladly send you a copy of the special issue of our magazine “Bedrohte Völker – pogrom”, which focuses on the 50th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the impact it has until today (# 292, 1/2016.). Alternatively, we can send you a pdf-version. Contact: presse@gfbv.de or redaktion@gfbv.de

Here, you can find selected sample reports taken from the latest issue of our magazine (in German). 

Header Photo: James Vaughan via Flickr