Human Rights: April 2006 Archives

By Human Rights In China
April 11, 2006

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that imprisoned dissident Zhao Changqing has again been placed in solitary confinement after refusing to participate in military drills in prison.

HRIC previously reported that last December Zhao had been placed in solitary confinement for more than 40 days after he refused to sing a socialist anthem during the prison’s flag-raising ceremony. Sources in China told HRIC that more recently, Zhao’s elder brother went to visit him in the Shaanxi Province No. 2 Prison, but was refused access on the grounds that Zhao had been placed in solitary confinement again on February 18. Prison guards reportedly said that Zhao was “stubbornly maintaining his incorrect attitude” and had argued with a corrections officer, and for that reason had been placed in solitary confinement for three months.

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By Mike Steketee | NEWS.com.au (Australia)
(from: The Australian)

April 4, 2006

THE Falun Gong movement has won two victories against moves by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to curb their activities.

In response to court action against him, Mr Downer has agreed to stop signing certificates which ban Falun Gong protesters outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra from displaying fixed banners and making excessive noise, actions he claimed impaired the dignity of the embassy.

In a separate action, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has recommended that Mr Downer apologise in writing for breaching the rights to freedom of expression of Falun Gong representative Daniel Clark after he and a colleague were excluded from human rights talks with Australian government officials.

The outcomes are embarrassing for Mr Downer, who was criticised by Falun Gong for going further than any other Western country in bowing to Chinese demands to act against the group.

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