The
House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed Rep. Chris Smith’s
amendment to the State Department 2012 appropriation bill, which
amendment supports Guangcheng and his wife.
“We thank Rep. Chris Smith for his leadership in
sponsoring this far-reaching amendment, which urges the Chinese
government to stop harassing the Chen family, to release them from house
arrest and to arrange for immediate medical treatment,” says Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without
Frontiers.
“It further
urges the Obama administration to arrange diplomatic visits to the Chen
family. Beyond this, it highlights the issue of forced abortion and
coercive family planning in China.”
China Aid and Women’s Rights Without Frontiers are
spearheading a campaign to free blind activist Guangcheng, whose
health is in serious jeopardy because of repeated beatings and
malnutrition. Chen exposed the fact that
there were 130,000 forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations in
Linyi County in 2005.
The Chinese Communist Party imprisoned Guangcheng for
four years and three months and has kept him and his family under strict
house arrest since September. His health is declining because of
malnutrition, intestinal illness, repeated torture and the denial of
medical treatment. In a letter recently smuggled out of China, Guangcheng’s
wife, Yuan Weijing, said she was worried about his survival. Yuan has
also been tortured and denied medical treatment.
“This historic
amendment also raises the issue of the harassment, arrest, disappearance
and disbarment of Chinese human rights lawyers and defenders,” says Bob Fu, president of China Aid. “We hope
to see the Obama administration take effective action on behalf of Chen
and other human rights defenders who are suffering incalculable harm as a
result of their courage to stand up for human rights in China. This
amendment comes just in time, as Chen’s health is frail and
deteriorating rapidly. We look forward to the day when Chen Guangcheng,
Gao Zhisheng, and other Chinese human rights heroes are free.”
Click here to sign a petition to free Guangcheng.
