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CAMPAIGNS : INFORMATION AND ACTION
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ACTION PACK JUL 2011 | SECTION 02.3
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Help free Liu Xiaobo
The anniversary of Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize is coming up on 8 October 2011. WRITE A LETTER You can help by writing a letter to the Chinese authorities calling for Liu Xiaobo’s release. Please make your letter polite and respectful.
University academic Dr Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize on 8 October 2010 for his human rights work in China. However, he was unable to attend the ceremony and accept this honour as he is currently serving 11 years in prison, simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
Address your letter to Wen Jiabao Premier of the People’s Republic of China.
Liu Xiaobo has a long history with pro-democracy movements. In 1989 he joined others to hunger strike in Tiananmen Square and following his arrest was held in prison until 1991. He has since published several articles questioning the Chinese Government’s conduct in Tiananmen Square. Because of this he was placed under house arrest in 1995, then sentenced to three years in a ‘re-education through labour’ camp.
Your letter can include points such as: • You would like Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo immediately and unconditionally. •
You would like them to lift surveillance and all restrictions on Liu Xia’s freedom of movement, freedom of expression and association.
On 9 December 2008, Liu Xiaobo co-authored a proposal for legal and political reform in China called Charter 08. More than 10,000 people added their names to the Charter after its release. On 25 December 2009, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” because of Charter 08 and other articles he had published.
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Why you feel it is important for the authorities to release Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia.
On top of this, Liu Xiaobo’s wife Liu Xia, a poet and artist, is under illegal house arrest in Beijing and has very limited contact with the outside world Amnesty International continues to campaign for Liu Xiaobo’s and Liu Xia’s release. They are two of thousands of individuals at risk, imprisoned or facing intimidation and violence solely for peacefully expressing their beliefs or for defending the rights of other people.
WRITE A POEM FOR LIU XIA While Liu Xia cannot receive visitors, she can receive mail. As she is a poet, we would like to send her poems, so she knows that we are thinking about her and working for her and Liu Xiaobo’s release. Your poem could be about her situation, her husband winning the Nobel Peace Prize or about the hundreds of people around the world working for their release. You are welcome to include a picture with your poem if you feel inspired. Please send your poems and letters to Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia c/- Youth Coordinator Amnesty International Australia Locked Bag 23 Broadway NSW 2007 We will collect your letters and poems and send them on.
i Liu Xiaobo is being held in Jinzhou Prison, in Liaoning province, northeast China. On completion of his sentence, he will also be deprived of political rights for two years.
Liu Xiaobo. © Private