Zeng Jinyan bedankt Amnesty activisten

De mensenrechtenactivist Hu Jia is één van de stichters van de Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education. Hij voert actie voor mensen met HIV/AIDS. Begin april 2008 werd hij veroordeeld tot drieënhalf jaar cel voor 'aanstichting tot staatsondermijning'.

Zijn vrouw Zeng Jinyan, een bekende blogger, staat sinds Hu's aanhouding onder huisarrest met hun baby. Ze mag haar appartement niet verlaten en haar telefoonlijn en internetverbinding zijn afgesloten. Brieven schrijven kan ze evenwel nog :

Dear Friends in Amnesty International,

Dear Christine Morag, Anne Elder, Elisabeth Flett, James Mel, Anna Ferretti...and many, many friends. I am not able to list all your names here.

Thank you very much for your letters to me and to my family!

After three weeks away in Fujian at my parent's home, last night I returned home to Beijing. The atmosphere in my parent's home town was a bit relaxed, now I return to the "prison" in the Freedom City. There are many police surrounding my house. This morning I saw three police cars and many plain clothes police arrive at my building. I was a bit uncomfortable to see within the three cars, two are new numbers and the police surrounding me also have many new faces. This is adding not a few pressures to me. Being put under house arrest is nothing to be happy about; however, at times I still prefer to deal with the police who have already been here for years, rather than new ones. I feel a bit depressed. With a little hope, I tried to open my mail box, and found nearly a hundred letters and post cards.

I held them in my arms and took them home, and opened them one by one slowly and preciously. I saw rock mountains, icebergs, castles, beaches, yolks, birds, churches, streets in somewhere of the world, puppets and different kind of flowers, and hand drawings of very bright orange coloured trees and sun and rings of mobiles children made......All these colourful wonder worlds, bounder-less nature never leaves us even during the political darkness, or when human rights abuses happen. On these cards carried your messages in English and Chinese and other languages: "You are not alone and we think of you. Could this flower bring you hope and support", "We lobby for Hu Jia and wish him released soon. ", "Please take care of your child and yourself ", "The whole world is helping you", "Don't worry, freedom is with you","Stay hopeful","Happiness will always work, even when darkness works", "Sorrow, sorrow, everywhere, make that sorrow into happy cheers", "Please accept our best wishes, and keep courage ", "Stay in justice, think of freedom, you won't go wrong, because that's the way","Be strong","we fully support you"?"Everything to be all right, so stay positive"?"I send bundles of love". Dear Amnesty International, thank you so much for the courage and love and blessing, thus me and my family are no more alone!

Among those letters, I also received one sent from my husband in prison; it brings me lots of comfort. In the letter, Hu Jia mentioned our daughter, born on 13 November last year, Qianci, he said, ".....she has been to Beijing city police detention centre, she has been to the First Beijing Intermediate People's Court, she has been to Chaobai prison, at such a young age, she has seen the world a lot. When she grows up, she may be confused why such abuses happened in her past, just as our generation could not understand and could not imagine the time from 1957 to 1978, when our people went through a tragic, dark era when people were forced to torture themselves or each other. But I believe children at that time, just as we do now, at least understood that civil society is continuously progressing, although during this process, there are tragic incidents, conflicts and contrast, that conscious citizen always pay more to build a better world for future generations. I believe when it is up to my daughter's generation, Article 105 (2) of criminal law (incitement of subversion) will already have been abolished. That civil society could fully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, to criticise government's wrong practice, and monitor their government's behaviour and policy. In our society, nothing more than the government needs to be monitored, nothing more then power needs to be put under control..." I would like to share these words from Hu Jia, to those children who wrote us letters.

Tonight I pray, and send you, Dear friends, in my prayers flowers and love!

Wishing you peace and all the good luck!

From a friend far away, Zeng Jinyan
Sunday 29 June 2008