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Asia-Pacific
Initiative’s letter to Chinese President Jiang Zemin regarding
Dr. Yang Jianli
On
February 24, 2003, the American Foreign Policy Council’s
Asia-Pacific Initiative sent a letter to Chinese President Jiang
Zemin, requesting the release of democracy activist, Dr. Yang
Jianli. Since April 26, 2002, Dr. Yang has been in detention
without legal counsel or contact with his family. A veteran
of the Tiananmen democracy movement, Dr. Yang moved to the United
States, earned two PhDs, and then founded the Foundation for
China in the 21st Century. His wife, Christina Fu, and their
two children live in Massachusetts. The AFPC-API intervention
on behalf of Dr. Yang is part of our mission to defend persecuted
democracy and human rights advocates. The letter is included
below. For more information on Dr. Yang click
here.
February
24, 2003
President Jiang Zemin
C/o Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20018
Dear President
Jiang:
I am writing
to express my concern about the detention of Dr. Jianli Yang,
a Ph.D. from Harvard University, who has been detained in China
since April 26, 2002. The American Foreign Policy Council’s
Asia-Pacific Initiative supports numerous requests by the U.S.
Government and a number of international human rights and educational
institutions for the release of Dr. Yang and his return to his
wife and small children in Massachusetts. Dr. Yang’s elderly
parents also live in the United States.
Dr. Yang
was held for months without any detention notice being issued,
without any details of his status being made available to his
family, without any details being given of formal charges, without
access to legal counsel, and is still being held without contact
with his own family in China or abroad. While Chinese procedural
law requires that the family or an employer of a person detained
be contacted within 24 hours of detention, the Chinese government
has yet to present Dr. Yang’s family or employers with
a formal detention notice. According to Harvard Law School,
the Chinese government has also violated its own law both through
the prolonged detention as well as by denying access to an attorney
or visits by family members.
In addition,
although China has not ratified the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, as a signatory, your government
is obligated to abide by treaty provisions. In this regard,
the treaty provides that a detainee cannot be denied the right
to communicate with family “for more than a matter of
days.” The ICCPR also states that anyone detained, “shall
be entitled to be brought promptly before a judge and shall
be entitled to a trial within a reasonable time or to release.”
The Press
Desk of the State Council has written to the media that Dr.
Yang faces charges for being in China on “another person’s
passport.” We do not dispute that claim. However, he has
already served ten months in detention. The Asia Pacific Initiative
joins numerous other international humanitarian agencies in
requesting an expedited release for Dr. Yang, so that he can
return to his family in the United States. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely,
Albert
Santoli
Director,
AFPC Asia-Pacific Initiative
Development for Peace in Sulu
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