China: Call for action for imprisoned Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo

On 10 December 2010 our colleague Liu Xiaobo, former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC), will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. The awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo is both a cause for celebration and a call to action. It is a reminder that he and more than 40 other writers remain in prison in China; three of them, like Liu, are also PEN members.

Since the announcement of the prize on 8 October 2010, Chinese authorities have tried to undercut the award in every way possible. They have branded Liu a criminal and blocked news reports about the prize; warned foreign governments not to send representatives to the award ceremony; harassed Liu’s supporters, friends, and family; and placed his wife, Liu Xia, under house arrest and prevented her and other family members from travelling to Oslo for the official award ceremony on 10 December 2010. Still, Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia, and our colleagues at ICPC are unbowed, and more and more Chinese citizens are seeking ways around the internet firewall to learn more about their Nobel laureate.

This only makes us more determined to celebrate this extraordinary occasion, and more committed to winning Liu’s s release. As the date of the Nobel award ceremony draws close, we are asking all members and friends of PEN to help us do both by taking part in at least one of the following actions over the next ten days. For further background, the American PEN website provides an excellent resource page – see here.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

1.    Send a card of congratulations to Liu Xiaobo in prison:

Liu Xiaobo
Jinzhou Prison
Nanshan Road 86
Taihe District, 121013
Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province
P.R. China

 2.  Send letters demanding the immediate and unconditional release of dissident writer Liu Xiaobo and all those detained in China in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory. Letters should be sent to the Chinese authorities in Beijing as well as to the Chinese embassy in the UK – see below for details.

3.  Stage a reading and/or write articles for publication in the press to celebrate Liu and his work. Samples of his writings are attached and on the American PEN website Please remember to let the English PEN office know, in advance if possible, about any press coverage or events by emailing cat@englishpen.org  

Send appeals to:

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China

Please note that there are no fax numbers for the Chinese authorities. We therefore recommend that you copy your appeal to the Chinese embassy in the UK asking them to forward it and welcoming any comments:

His Excellency Liu Xiaoming
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
49-51 Portland Place
London
W1B 4JL

For a full profile of Liu Xiaobo click here.