From New Statesman:
The Tiananmen Square killings of 3-4 June 1989 remain the most sensitive political issue in China and the Chinese government never lets the population forget it. According to Amnesty International, at least 200 Tiananmen demonstrators detained in June 1989 remain behind bars, and even to mention the name “Tiananmen” on China’s tightly censored internet can bring a knock on the door from the police.
The Tiananmen Mothers are, therefore, among the bravest and most tenacious women in China. Formed immediately after the 1989 killings and the uprisings in 400 other Chinese cities, the 126 surviving members of this campaigning group are regularly detained and threatened, and are removed from Beijing whenever foreign statesmen concerned with human rights are visiting. [Full Text]
See also Tiananmen Mothers Roundtable Calls for Official Accountability by Human Rights in China:
… The roundtable discussion explored several main themes organized in five sections of the transcript:
1. “The intolerable injustice of denying the June 4th Massacre,” in which members of the group relate their personal experiences and eyewitness accounts of the crackdown, and refute the claims of Hong Kong-based pro-Beijing political leader Ma Lik that “no one was killed at the Square.” Members of the group describe how troops shot down their children or spouses in cold blood.
2. “The Communist Party treats us as enemies,” in which members of the group, including one who is physically handicapped, describe ongoing harassment and monitoring over the years. Members of the group observe, “The Communist authorities are unwilling to renounce class struggle tactics; in their eyes, the Tiananmen Mothers is a hostile organization. But because they don’t dare to punish us outright, they instead carry out this constant infringement of our personal freedom.” [Full Text]
The full transcript is available here.
