Ai Weiwei

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Release Ai Weiwei: Action in Berlin

Street poetry

Release Ai Weiwei: Action in Berlin

Photos Anton K. Berlin 2011

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Groninger Museum voert actie voor vrijlating Ai Weiwei

Groninger Museum voert actie voor vrijlating

Ai Weiwei

Zondag 3 april is kunstenaar Ai Weiwei op weg naar Hong Kong op het vliegveld van Beijing gearresteerd. Sindsdien heeft niemand meer iets van hem vernomen.

Het Groninger Museum organiseerde in 2008 een solotentoonstelling van Ai Weiwei. De staf van het Groninger Museum is zeer ongerust over zijn lot en vraagt aandacht voor deze urgente situatie.Voor steunbetuigingen om Ai Weiwei vrij te krijgen kunt u de petitie tekenen die werd geïnitieerd door Museum Guggenheim op › Website Free Ai Weiwei

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Museums call for the Release of Ai Weiwei

Photo courtesy the Tate Modern, London

Artworld calls for the Release of

Ai Weiwei

In response to the recent arrest and detainment of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Beijing, the Guggenheim has launched an online petition to express concern for Ai’s freedom and call for his release. Leading museums around the world have joined and launched the online petition through their Web sites, Twitter, and Facebook sites, including the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD); Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate, London; Gwangju Biennale, Korea; and the Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle, Paris. We sincerely hope that our collective action using Ai Weiwei’s favored medium of social sculpture will promote Ai’s liberty and the principle of free creative expression.

See the Guggenheim’s online petition calling for Ai Weiwei’s release

► Website Guggenheim

Share this petition on Twitter and Facebook.

PETITION LETTER

To the Honorable Minister Mr. Cai Wu

Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China

CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF AI WEIWEI

Our museums are members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the International Committee of ICOM for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM), a non-governmental organization with formal relations with UNESCO. On April 6, CIMAM sent a communiqué calling for the release of Ai Weiwei. Our museums, foundations, and communities of Facebook followers and Twitter fans support CIMAM’s statement:

“The detention of artists and activists is not only inconsistent with China’s commitment to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in China’s own constitution, it is also inconsistent with the Chinese government’s pledge, through the Ministry of Culture, to promote all artistic disciplines and to advance artistic ideas. As organisations that represent modern and contemporary art around the world, such actions and the obscurity surrounding them are diametrically opposed to our values. They are of grave concern and consequence for the well-being of Ai Weiwei and for the artistic community at large, and hinder future collaboration with the Chinese colleagues we welcomed at our recent annual meeting in Shanghai.”

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Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei detained by government

Ai Weiwei

Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei

detained by government

4 april 2011 The detention of China’s most famous artist and political critic Ai Weiwei is a troubling development in a widening crackdown on dissent which has seen dozens of activists detained over the last few months, Amnesty International said today.

Police detained Ai Weiwei at Beijing airport on 3 April. His wife and several members of his studio staff were also briefly detained on the weekend.

“Ai Weiwei was not even involved in any call for ‘Jasmine’ protests. There seems to be no reason whatsoever for his detention, other than that the authorities are trying to broadcast the message that China’s time for open dissent has come to an end” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific.

Since online calls for Chinese ‘Jasmine Revolution’ protests inspired by people’s movements in the Middle East and North Africa began circulating in late February, the Chinese authorities have rounded up dozens of activists, lawyers and bloggers.

“We’ve already seen the chilling effect the ‘Jasmine Revolution’-related arrests have had on Chinese activists and netizens over the past month. Holding Ai Weiwei takes this to another level” said Sam Zarifi.

“If the authorities are so bold as to grab this world-renowned artist in broad daylight at Beijing airport, it’s frightening to think how they might treat other, lesser known dissidents.”

‘Sunflower Seeds’ by Ai Weiwei,Tate Modern London Turbine Hall

Chinese government wages campaign of

harassment against lawyers

05-04-2011 The Chinese government is waging a campaign of harassment and intimidation of lawyers, to stop them defending the dozens of activists and political critics rounded up by the authorities in the last two months.

Since an anonymous online call on 17 February to stage a ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China, a group of high profile human rights lawyers have been detained, and at least a dozen more lawyers say they have been briefly detained, pressured by the authorities, and even told by police to stop tweeting about detained people.

“China is abandoning the rule of law,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific. “The government is trying to systematically break the will of the country’s lawyers.”

“It is giving its security forces free rein to pervert the course of justice and deny activists and critics the right to a legal defense. The most disturbing thing is that there is no sign of the government relaxing its grip this time around. We fear that this is just a taste of things to come.”

Most recently, Beijing lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan was briefly detained on 2 April under suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, and berated by police for posting messages on Twitter about a missing Shanghai lawyer Li Tiantian. He was detained after making a request to visit his client Wang Lihong, a prominent female activist detained in Beijing in relation to the ‘Jasmine’ protests.

Guangdong lawyer Liu Zhengqing has not been heard from since he was detained by police on 25 March. He had been attempting to represent fellow lawyer, Tang Jingling, who was detained 22 February. Amnesty International has grave fears for the safety of both lawyers.

Other lawyers have had their computers confiscated, and have been visited every few days by the police, who warned them against representing fellow lawyers or lobbying on their behalf.

Three of China’s most high profile advocates Teng Biao, Tang Jitian and Jiang Tianyong were detained in late February and have been denied access to lawyers. Teng Biao and Jiang Tianyong are still in incommunicado detention, while Tang Jitian is under house arrest.

“It seems China not only wants to silence potential critics, but also to render them utterly defenseless,” Sam Zarifi said. “This is not behaviour we should accept from a modern world power.”

February’s call for a

‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China

did not result in any significant protests or unrest

6 april 2011 Oproepen voor een Chinese ‘Jasmijn Revolutie’ hebben de afgelopen twee maanden tot een golf van arrestaties geleid. Sinds eind februari zijn meer dan 100 activisten opgepakt, geïntimideerd, of vermist.

Deze week nam de intimidatie verder toe door de arrestatie van China’s bekendste kunstenaar, Ai Weiwei. Hij was een van de ontwerpers van het Olympisch stadion het Vogelnest in Peking. Ai Weiwei werd op 3 april gearresteerd op het vliegveld van Beijing. Zijn arrestatie past in een patroon van repressie dat schrijvers, bloggers, advocaten, journalisten en activisten treft.

Intimidatiecampagnes

Advocaten die deze mensen willen verdedigen worden zelf ook getroffen door een intimidatiecampagne van de Chinese autoriteiten. Sinds de internetoproep van 17 februari voor een ‘Jasmijnrevolutie’ is een gerenommeerde groep mensenrechtenadvocaten gevangengezet en onder huisarrest geplaatst, en hebben tal van advocaten te maken gekregen met korte detentie, druk van de overheid en zelfs politiewaarschuwingen om niet meer te twitteren over gedetineerde activisten.

Op 2 april werd de advocaat Liu Xiaoyan kort gearresteerd op verdenking van “het veroorzaken van ruzie en problemen”. Hij werd gearresteerd na een aanvraag om zijn client Wang Lihong, een prominente activist gearresteerd in verband met de “Jasmijn” protesten, te bezoeken.

“Dit gedrag mogen we niet accepteren van een moderne wereldmacht”, aldus Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s directeur voor Azië en de Pacific. “De regering probeert op systematische wijze de spirit van advocaten te breken en hen in hun mensenrechtenwerk te belemmeren. Het geeft de veiligheidsdiensten de vrije teugel om te voorkomen dat recht wordt gedaan, en ontneemt activisten en critici hun recht op juridische verdediging. Het meest alarmerende is dat de regering zijn greep niet lijkt te verminderen. We vrezen dat dit aleen nog maar erger wordt.’

Ai Weiwei was op geen enkele wijze betrokken bij oproepen die gedaan zijn tot ‘Jasmijn protesten’. Wel is hij één van de ondertekenaars van Charta 08.

Source: ► Amnesty International

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