Published by: World Tibet Network News, Thursday, Apr 18, 1996

Submitted by: M.Sisani@agora.stm.it

UN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

FIFTY-SECOND SESSION

ITEM 10 OF THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA

16/04/1996

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Wei Shan Shan. Wei Jing Sheng is my eldest brother.

On 13 December 1995, in a trial which lasted for only four hours and twenty minutes, the Beijing Intermediate People's Court sentenced my brother to fourteen years' imprisonment for "conspiracy to subvert the Governement."

Mr. Chairman, my brother is totally innocent of any such crime. He is innocent not because he is my brother; but he is innocent because any just and impartial body would have found him so. Let me lay the law, the charges, and the material evidence against my brother to you, just as they have been presented by the Chinese Public Prosecutor, before this Commission; and let me have its distinguished representatives decide for themselves.

The Official Commentary to Article 92 of the Chinese Criminal Code requires the prosecution to show that a person who is guilty of "conspiring to subvert the Government of the People's republic of China," has: (1) engaged in violent activities, and (2) taken part in a secret organization. The judgement against my brother, Wei Jinsheng, charged him with neither of these acts. The charges against him where that he: publicly proposed the purchase of national and regional newspapers to promote democracy in China; openly published articles critical of China's human rights practices in the Hong Khong press; planned the creation of a non-profit corporation to organize indipendent artistic and cultural events; and finally, providing financial assistance to the victims of the 1989 Beijing Massacre. The evidence which the Prosecutor produced in support of these charges comprised a personal computer with a printer, private bank statements, and a formal application for a Sino-Japanese-Korean modern art exhibit. None of

the acts of which my brother was found accused were "violent activities"; none of the material evidence against him, proof of clandestine action.

Mr. Chairman, violence and secrecy have always been anathema to my brother. Ever since 1978, Wei Jinsheng has emphasized the importance of breaking the vicious cycle of violence and secrecy that for centuries has characterized Chinese history. To quote my brother's own words: "The Democracy Movement must not follow along the path of the Communist Party, for its path is that of secret organization and transition of power by military force. Instead, the Democracy Movement must realize the principles of openness, reason and non-violence."

It was for advocating human rights, democracy, and peace in China that my brother was sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment. The Chinese Government made no other case against him.

I repeat, Mr. Chairman, my brother, Wei Jing Sheng, is not guilty of any crime. His is the voice of China's conscience - democracy, human rights, dignity, tolerance, and reason - the most important of all voices in all civil societies.

Mr. Chairman, China has the highest number of prisoners in the world. How many of these prisoners are like my brother prisoners of conscience - persons who have merely exercised their right to freedom of expression and spoken out against the Chinese Government's practices of injustice, intolerance, and corruption?

Mr. Chairman, my brother was also sentenced for making a purely factual statement. I quote: "Historically, Tibet was no doubt an indipendent country." However, this historical fact was interpreted by the Chinese Government to be the crime of "splitting the motherland."

In 1979, when my brothr first spoke out against China's lack of democratic freedom and was imprisoned for fifteen years, he was a wealthy young man. But those years of imprisonment took a heavy toll on his health. He suffers from a serious heart condition. Mr. Chairman, his heart condition is so serious that his 13 December 1995 trial had to be adjourned for forty minutes. We, his family, are afraid that althuugh Wei Jinsheng has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, this sentence will in fact be a death sentence. His fragile health cannot survive another fourteen years of harsh Chinese prison treatment.

Mr. Chairman, I appeal to all the members of this Commission to adopt the Draft Resolution on China; to condemn China's human rights abuses, and to save my brother and thousands of prisoners of conscience like Wei Jingsheng. Only when the Chinese Government stops persecuting persons like my brother who are exercising their universally recognized civil and political rights through peaceful means can China avoid the disasters which have been visited upon her in the past: only then can China be the true friend of developement, human rights, peace, and democracy.

Mr. Chairman, I address my appeal particularly to those members of the Commission who have suffered the repression of totalitarianism and authoritarianism but have since made the transition to freedom and democracy. It is to the conscience of your countries, for the China of tomorrow, and for the cause of human rights and democracy I appeal. I, therefore, call on this Commission to adopt the Draft resolution on China. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.