Source: Amnesty International –
Responding to reports that Chinese authorities have barred the mothers of protesters killed in the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown from visiting their loved ones’ graves on this week’s anniversary of the atrocity, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks said:
“Banning the relatives of people killed in the Tiananmen crackdown from visiting their loved ones’ graves is a heartless act by the Chinese authorities.
“The Tiananmen Mothers were not previously blocked from cemetery visits on the 4 June anniversary, and it is deeply troubling that this year the suppression of Tiananmen commemoration appears to be escalating – reflecting the government’s deep-seated insecurity about people’s demands for accountability.
“For years the Chinese authorities have sought to erase the public’s collective memory of the bloody events of 4 June 1989, but this latest prohibition is an attempt to stamp out even the personal memories of the victims’ families.
“This suggests an approach that is increasingly hardline and devoid of compassion. To continually deny the truth about the Tiananmen crackdown is abhorrent; but to deny relatives the ability to mourn their dead shows another level of cruelty.
“The Chinese authorities must be held accountable for the grave human rights violations perpetrated on 4 June 1989, and families must be allowed to commemorate those killed 37 years ago simply for exercising their right to protest.”