CHINA: Dissident writer’s health declining.
6 May 2010
Update #3 to RAN 01/08
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously concerned about the deteriorating health of imprisoned activist and dissident writer Hu Jia, who was hospitalised for tests in late March 2010. Requests for medical parole have been denied. Hu Jia is serving a three-and-a-half year sentence for ‘inciting subversion of state power' for his critical writings and dissident activities. International PEN considers Hu Jia to be held solely for peacefully exercising his right to free expression which is protected under Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution and Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which China is a signatory. It continues to call for his immediate and unconditional release, and seeks assurances that Hu Jia is receiving all necessary medical care as a matter of urgency.
According to PEN's information, on 30 March 2010 Hu Jia was admitted to the Beijing Municipal Prison Hospital for tests following a sharp deterioration in his health. There were fears he may have liver cancer, but an application for medical parole by Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, was refused when the tests proved to be negative. Neither Hu nor his family has yet received a full written report of the results of these medical tests. Hu was returned to prison in mid-April, and was reported by his wife who visited him on 19 April to be ‘very thin' but ‘in fairly good spirits'.
Hu Jia has been suffering from long-term health problems including cirrhosis of the liver, and his condition appears to be deteriorating in prison.
Background
On 3 April 2008, Hu Jia was convicted of ‘inciting subversion of state power' for his critical online writings and dissident activities, after being tried on 18 March 2008 at the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. According to his lawyer, evidence presented against him in court included five articles published on banned overseas Chinese websites and two interviews given to the foreign media. He is also believed to be targeted for an open letter he signed, "The Real China Before the Olympics," which demanded an end to human rights abuses in the run-up to the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in August 2008.
For the earlier Writers in Prison Committee alert on Hu Jia's case, please see
http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/index.cfm?objectid=009E7295-E0C4-ED84-0936F6C7249D8AE2
Please send appeals:
Expressing serious concerns for Hu Jia's deteriorating health and calling for him to be given all necessary medical care as a matter of urgency;Demanding Hu Jia's immediate and unconditional release on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution and Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which China is a signatory.
Send appeals to:
His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China
Please note that fax numbers are no longer available for the Chinese authorities, so you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for China in your country to forward your appeals.
Please copy appeals to the diplomatic representative for China in your country if possible.
**Please contact the PEN WiPC office in London if sending appeals after 15 June 2010**
For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk