\n
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission:<\/p>\n
Thank you for holding this timely hearing about conditions of political prisoners in China.\u00a0 It is a truly humbling opportunity to testify about one of the most courageous individuals, not only in China, but also in the world:\u00a0 blind, self-taught lawyer, Chen Guangcheng.\u00a0 I begin by commending the Chairman, Congressman Chris Smith, for his recent attempt to go to China to visit Chen.\u00a0 Mr. Chairman, your tireless efforts to raise the visibility of Chen\u2019s case are having an impact.<\/p>\n
\n
Chen Guangcheng was arrested in 2006 for helping to expose the Chinese government\u2019s use of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization to enforce its \u201cOne Child Policy.\u201d\u00a0 He amassed\u00a0 evidence of the extensive use of forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations performed on women in Linyi City, Shandong Province in 2005.\u00a0 Time Magazine named him one of \u201c2006\u2019s Top 100 People Who Shape Our World\u201d and he was given the 2007 Magsaysay award, known as Asia\u2019s Nobel Prize.<\/p>\n
\n
Simultaneous with this testimony, I am submitting a report from Chen Guangcheng\u2019s 2005 investigation into coercive family planning in Linyi County, Shandong Province. A member of Chen\u2019s team, human rights attorney Teng Biao, drafted the report.\u00a0 This report contains extensive witness statements from cases Chen and his team were investigating before Chen was jailed.\u00a0 In this report are detailed accounts regarding:<\/p>\n
\n
\n
The Chen Guangcheng report makes clear:\u00a0 the spirit of the Cultural Revolution lives on in China\u2019s Family Planning death machine.\u00a0 WRWF has chosen to release the names of the perpetrators of these crimes against humanity, so that they can be held accountable before the world.<\/p>\n
\n
Conditions may not have improved in Linyi since 2005.\u00a0 Earlier this year, Family Planning Officials stabbed a man to death. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=147<\/a><\/p>\n A woman, six months pregnant, recently died during a forced abortion in Lijing County, also in Shandong Province. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=429<\/a><\/p>\n \n For exposing and opposing coercive family planning in China, Chen spent four years, three months in prison.\u00a0 His defense lawyers were detained on the eve of trial. Since his September 2010 release, he has continued to serve a sentence of home detention.\u00a0 Both in prison and under house arrest, Chen has experienced mistreatment and beatings.\u00a0\u00a0 He suffers from a chronic, debilitating intestinal illness for which he has not been allowed treatment.<\/p>\n \n According to a February, 2011 video, which Chen and his supporters managed to smuggle out of China, sixty-six security police surround his home constantly. \u00a0 He and his wife are not allowed sufficient food and are isolated from all outside contact.\u00a0 No one can enter or leave their home, except officials, who can enter at any time, without notice.<\/p>\n We received evidence that blind activist Chen Guangcheng\u2019s health was in serious jeopardy because of repeated beatings and the malnutrition he suffers in house detention.\u00a0 According to a June 15, 2011 letter written by Chen\u2019s wife, and smuggled out of China, Chen has faced constant physical and psychological abuse, does not get sufficient food or nourishment,\u00a0 and is denied proper medical treatment. http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=yuan-weijing<\/a><\/p>\n \n Foreign journalists have been forcibly denied access to him, and lawyers who tried to help Chen were beaten and detained in February 2011, including Jiang Tianyong and Teng Biao, who were detained for two months or more.<\/p>\n \n In September and October 2011, human rights campaigners and visitors seeking to see Chen were beaten and detained. \u00a0\u201cChen Supporters Attacked,\u201d 9\/19\/11<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/attacked-09192011123000.html<\/a>;<\/p>\n HRIC Testimony at CECC Hearing on Chen Guangcheng, 11\/1\/11<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.hrichina.org\/content\/5611<\/a><\/p>\n \n Also in September, police detained Chen\u2019s brother, who was meeting with activists.<\/p>\n \u201cPolice Detain Nanjing Activists,\u201d 9\/8\/11<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/activists-09082011152203.html?searchterm=None<\/a><\/p>\n \n Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers and the China Aid Association are spearheading an international effort to free Chen Guangcheng.\u00a0 Thus far, we have collected 6463 signatures from 28 countries.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=sign_our_petition<\/a><\/p>\n \n WRWF congratulates Rep. Chris Smith on his successful sponsorship last July of an amendment to the State Department Appropriation Bill, in support of Chen Guangcheng and his family.\u00a0 This amendment, which passed unanimously, urges the Chinese government to stop harassing the Chen family, to release them from house arrest, and to arrange for immediate medical treatment. It further urges the Obama administration to arrange diplomatic visits to the Chen family. Beyond this, it highlights the tragedy of forced abortion and coercive family planning in China. \u201cAmendment for Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng Passes Today,\u201d 7\/22\/11 http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=316<\/a><\/p>\n \n In early October, we received an unconfirmed report through Voice of America that villagers had said that Chen had died.\u00a0 All efforts to confirm that report failed, as it was impossible to gain access to Dongshigu Village in Linyi to verify it.<\/p>\n \n Relativity Media, however, was able to gain access to Linyi, in order to film the feature-length comedy, \u201c21 and Over.\u201d\u00a0 When challenged on its choice of Linyi out of the thousands of possible locations in China, and urged to apologize for its lack of sensitivity to Chen Guangcheng and human rights, Relativity Media issued a statement defending its action.\u00a0 Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers has called for a international boycott of \u201c21 and Over.\u201d<\/p>\n \n November 12, 2011 was Chen\u2019s 40th<\/sup> birthday.\u00a0 Although no one knew for sure whether Chen was dead or alive, brave citizens from many areas of China attempted to visit Chen\u2019s village to wish him a happy birthday. All of them were turned back from the village, some violently, by thugs and plain-clothes police.<\/p>\n \n Finally, just this weekend, Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers received a credible report that Chen is indeed alive.\u00a0 In fact, according to a key activist in China, the conditions of Chen\u2019s detention have improved slightly.<\/p>\n \n According to this source, who requested anonymity, \u201cNow his mother is allowed to go outside to buy food although escorted by three guards, and his health also is getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The source attributed the improved treatment of Chen to the fact that \u201cChen\u2019s situation was exposed and got huge public attention.\u201d\u00a0 One campaign that brought considerable visibility to Chen\u2019s plight was the flow of concerned citizens attempting to visit him, leading up to his 40th birthday on November 12.<\/p>\n \n In addition, the Chen Sunglasses Campaigns inside and outside of China have raised the visibility of his case.\u00a0\u00a0 These campaigns post photos of people wearing sunglasses in support of Chen.\u00a0 The source stated, \u201cI think it\u2019s very helpful for people all over the world to show they care about Chen through the Sunglasses Campaigns.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s very important to show support inside and outside the country \u2013 we can work together.\u201d Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers is collaborating with the Dark Glasses Portrait Campaign headed by a courageous Chinese political satirist and cartoonist, whose pen name is Crazy Crab. These campaigns, spearheaded by Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers and Dark Glasses Portrait, can be found at<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=chen-sunglasses <\/a>and\u00a0 http:\/\/ichenguangcheng.blogspot.com\/.<\/a><\/p>\n \n \n The source continued, \u201cChen\u2019s situation has indeed improved.\u00a0 I have just sent him some medicine and covered the expenses for his family in the market . . . Some relatives can visit his mother and deliver some items under surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n \n The source cautioned, however, that the slightly improved condition of Chen\u2019s house arrest is not a reason to relax the campaign to free him.\u00a0 Most relatives of Chen and his wife are not allowed to visit, including their son and his wife\u2019s parents.\u00a0 We do not know what his medical condition is.\u00a0 Moreover, the source indicated, the fact that Chen is now allowed food and medicine \u201cis still far away from our basic request, that is, Chen should be freed right away, according to China\u2019s own law.\u201d<\/p>\n \n According to the source, the persecution of Chen supporters continues. An activist who announced that she would wear sunglasses in Linyi\u2019s central square this past weekend was detained on December 1.\u00a0\u00a0 That same day, another activist from Yantai and a writer from Beijing, were arrested in Shandong attempting to distribute plastic bags and balloons bearing Chen\u2019s image, in honor of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated December 3.<\/p>\n \n Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers is thrilled and relieved to receive a credible report that Chen is alive and his health is improving.\u00a0\u00a0 This improved treatment demonstrates the power of the collaborative effort inside and outside China to raise the visibility of his case.\u00a0 We greatly admire the brave citizens inside China, who are risking their safety to stand up for Chen.<\/p>\n \n We commend the courageous and persistent efforts of Rep. Chris Smith to visit Chen and urge the Chinese government to grant him a visa.\u00a0 We also urge U.S. Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, to visit Chen directly. We demand the immediate, unqualified release of Chen Guangcheng and his family. Chen\u2019s ongoing house arrest is illegal and his medical condition remains weak.<\/p>\n \n The Chinese Communist Party has attempted to silence Chen, but they cannot silence the voices of millions in China crying for his freedom. \u00a0The report that Chen is alive and in improved condition should not be a reason to relax efforts on his behalf.\u00a0 To the contrary, these efforts are having an impact and should intensify until Chen is free.<\/p>\n \n Recommendations<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng: The Price Paid for Exposing and Opposing Forced Abortion and Involuntary Sterilization Under China\u2019s One Child Policy Testimony of Reggie Littlejohn, President Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers Congressional-Executive Commission on China Hearing of December 6, 2011 \u201cOne … Continue reading \n
\n
\n