Who is Chen Guangcheng?
Blind activist Chen Guangcheng is a hero fighting for women’s rights in China – including the right to bear a child. He has exposed the systematic use of forced abortion and involuntary sterilization within China’s One Child Policy, with Time Magazine naming him in its list of “2006 Top 100 People Who Shape Our World,” in the category of “Heroes and Pioneers.”
In 2007, he was also awarded the Magsaysay award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.
China Aid and Women’s Rights Without Frontiers have obtained information that Chen’s health is in danger from torture, illness and malnutrition.
For standing up for the rights of Chinese women, Chen was handed a four year jail sentence, was tortured and denied medical treatment, and is now languishing under house arrest.
In a letter released on June 15, 2011, Chen’s wife, Yuan Weijing, tells the story of their torture under house arrest, with an excerpt saying that:
They beat and tortured my husband Chen Guangcheng and me for more than 2 hours . . . More than 10 men covered me totally with a blanket and kicked my ribs and all over my body . . . I saw more than ten men surrounded Chen Guangcheng, torturing him. Some of them twisted his arms forcefully while the others were pushing his head down and lifting his collar up tightly.
To read the full text of her letter, click here.
Join the campaign to free Chen
Women’s Rights Without Frontiers condemns the house arrest of Chen and his family, and Voice for Life supports the call to demand his immediate release and access to medical attention.
You can also support Chen by taking part in the Chen Sunglasses Freedom Campaign at the Women’s Rights Without Frontiers stall at Parachute ’12 or by visiting the WRWF website.
www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org