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Mothers urge China to probe Tiananmen crackdown
2008-02-28
Relatives of those killed in the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy movement urged China's parliament Thursday to open an investigation into the crackdown as the Beijing Olympics approach. The "Tiananmen Mothers" handed a petition to the National People's Congress, calling on lawmakers to open a dialogue with victims' families. "Is it really possible that, as the host of the 2008 Olympic Games, the government can be at ease allowing athletes from all over the world to tread on this piece of blood-stained soil and participate in the Olympics?" said the petition, released by the New York-based Human Rights In China. "How can (the government) face the whole world?" The petition called for public apologies and compensation, and for those responsible to be held accountable, as well as an independent investigation into the crackdown and a name list of those killed. The annual session of the congress is set to open next Wednesday. The Tiananmen Mothers, led by Ding Zilin whose 17-year-old son was shot in the back and killed by soldiers in the early hours of June 4, 1989, has handed in 11 petitions to the congress, none of which has received a response. The petition pointed out that while the Chinese government advocates dialogue to resolve differences at the international level "we are disappointed that our requests (for dialogue), year after year, have come to nothing." Hundreds, if not thousands, of peaceful protesters and citizens were gunned down in the streets of Beijing as the People's Liberation Army stormed the city ending six weeks of unprecedented democracy protests. "Past human rights violations like the crackdown on June 4, 1989, are not erased by the passage of time," said Human Rights in China director Sharon Hom. "Only when demands for justice by its own people are addressed can China truly move forward as a responsible member of the international community."
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