China prisoner releases could come early
activist | 17.02.2006 17:49
China could grant early releases to some political prisoners within the next few months, a human rights activist said on Thursday, adding he was "cautiously optimistic" about the chances for sentence reductions.
Beijing has in past freed political prisoners ahead of major state visits, but John Kamm, whose Dui Hua Foundation works to free Chinese political prisoners, said it was unclear if releases would be connected to President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the United States.
"I'd say there is about a 50-50 chance that some prisoners will win early release in the next few months," he told the Foreign Correspondents' Club.
"Whether or not that's tied to the Hu Jintao visit, I don't know," he said.
Hu is expected to visit the United States in April.
The human rights record in China, where residents can be jailed for critical Internet postings, religious worship and opposition to the ruling Communist Party, has long been a source of friction between Washington and Beijing.
But Kamm, who works to compile lists of political prisoners and then raises their cases with Chinese authorities, said Hu's administration was less given to using releases to build goodwill or gain bargaining power.
"I have for a long time heard...that he (Hu) looked somewhat askance at what we in United States disparagingly refer to as 'hostage diplomacy'," Kamm said.
"He has authorized some releases, but not at all at the level or the frequency of the Jiang Zemin administration," he said, referring to Hu's predecessor.
Kamm declined to comment on who might win early release.
But Yu Dongyue, jailed in 1989 for throwing ink on the portrait of Mao Zedong that hangs over Tiananmen Square, is due to be released before the end of this month.
Yu lost his sanity after being locked in a prison toilet for six months but authorities refused to free him on medical parole, the Hong Kong based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China has said.
Other prisoners high on Washington's list include Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher arrested in September 2004 and charged with exposing state secrets, and Yang Jianli, a Boston-based democracy campaigner arrested in 2002.
But Kamm also cautioned that political prisoners are frequently kept under careful watch long after they have served out their sentences.
"It's a cruel life that they lead, even after they are released," he said.
"I'd say there is about a 50-50 chance that some prisoners will win early release in the next few months," he told the Foreign Correspondents' Club.
"Whether or not that's tied to the Hu Jintao visit, I don't know," he said.
Hu is expected to visit the United States in April.
The human rights record in China, where residents can be jailed for critical Internet postings, religious worship and opposition to the ruling Communist Party, has long been a source of friction between Washington and Beijing.
But Kamm, who works to compile lists of political prisoners and then raises their cases with Chinese authorities, said Hu's administration was less given to using releases to build goodwill or gain bargaining power.
"I have for a long time heard...that he (Hu) looked somewhat askance at what we in United States disparagingly refer to as 'hostage diplomacy'," Kamm said.
"He has authorized some releases, but not at all at the level or the frequency of the Jiang Zemin administration," he said, referring to Hu's predecessor.
Kamm declined to comment on who might win early release.
But Yu Dongyue, jailed in 1989 for throwing ink on the portrait of Mao Zedong that hangs over Tiananmen Square, is due to be released before the end of this month.
Yu lost his sanity after being locked in a prison toilet for six months but authorities refused to free him on medical parole, the Hong Kong based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China has said.
Other prisoners high on Washington's list include Zhao Yan, a New York Times researcher arrested in September 2004 and charged with exposing state secrets, and Yang Jianli, a Boston-based democracy campaigner arrested in 2002.
But Kamm also cautioned that political prisoners are frequently kept under careful watch long after they have served out their sentences.
"It's a cruel life that they lead, even after they are released," he said.
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