Free Liu Xia Global Signature Campaign

Free Liu Xia Global Signature Campaign
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Liu Xia, poet, photographer and painter. Although she is not guilty of any crime, she is under arbitrary house arrest because of another identity--as the wife of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo.

Since her husband Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010, Liu Xia has been under house arrest at her home in conditions akin to a convict serving her sentence outside of prison. She is under tight and strict surveillance and is followed closely by public security personnel even when she visits her parents and her husband in prison. Her contact with anyone outside of her family has almost been cut off. Friends who visit her have been manhandled. Her telephone at home has been cut and she cannot go online. Recently, she is prohibited from even going out for a stroll.

Liu Xia is innocent, but her human rights have been unlawfully deprived and even her family has been persecuted by association simply because she is Liu Xiaobo’s wife. On June 9, 2013, Liu Xia’s younger brother Liu Hui was sentenced harshly by the authorities to 11 years in prison on trumped-up charge of “fraud.”

Liu Xiao already has to endure the pain of her husband Liu Xiaobo’s long imprisonment, but her physical and mental state of health is in tatters after years of arbitrary detention and forced isolation from the outside world imposed on her by the authorities. Liu Xia reportedly suffers from serious insomnia, heart problems, depression, and slurred speech. Recently, under pressure by the international community, the authorities allowed last month a few of Liu Xia’s friends to talk to her on the phone. However, the Concern Group sees these as limited communication rather than freedom, and they are wholly insufficient to improve Liu Xia’s physical and mental health which has been wrecked by deprivation of liberty.

For participating in the drafting of Charter 08 and expressing aspirations for democracy, freedom, constitutional government, rule of law and a society based on equality, Liu Xiaobo was criminalized for his speech and harshly sentenced on December 25, 2009, to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of State power.” Liu Xiaobo’s expression of his views is consistent with the basic rights enshrined in China’s Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which China signed. The Chinese government’s oppression of Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia is unlawful and seriously tramples upon human rights.

Human rights are without borders and everyone has a responsibility to defend and safeguard them. China is a major power whose significance to the world is growing day by day. China’s progress on human rights, rule of law, and openness affects the development of world peace and civilization. What Liu Xiaobo advocated for are universal, civilized values. We believe that these values benefit the world and are helpful to China’s move towards a more civilized and healthier model of development. Therefore, we, groups and individuals from all regions of the world, seriously urge the Chinese government to:

1. End Liu Xia’s house arrest and restore her personal liberty and all basic rights;

2. Immediately and unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo and Liu Hui;

3. Release all rights defenders and political dissidents arbitrarily detained.

Initiating organization: Liu Xia Concern Group*

* Liu Xia Concern Group consists of many Hong Kong and international groups working on freedom of expression, as well as on human rights, democracy, and social justice in China, including: the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Amnesty International Hong Kong, Independent Chinese PEN Centre, International Federation of Journalists, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, and Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese.

More information at http://saveliuxiaobo.wordpress.com

Chinese version follows:
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還劉霞自由

全球聯署

劉霞，詩人、攝影師及畫家。但卻因另一個身份──諾貝爾和平獎得主劉曉波的妻子，無罪的她一直被無理軟禁。

劉霞自丈夫劉曉波於2010年10月獲得諾貝爾和平獎後，便被軟禁在家，遭遇形同囚犯，只是監外執行：人身自由遭嚴密監視，連探望父母和在獄中的丈夫，都有公安人員緊緊相隨；幾乎被斷絕與家人以外任何人士接觸，來訪朋友都受到粗暴攔阻；家中電話被切斷，也不能上網；近期甚至連類似「放風」的外出散步，也被禁止。

劉霞本無罪，只因她是劉曉波的妻子，便被非法剝奪人權，甚至其家人亦被株連。劉霞的弟弟劉暉，在2013年6月9日遭當局羅織「詐騙罪」，重判11年。

本已承受丈夫劉曉波長期監禁之苦的劉霞，在當局經年累月的無理軟禁和被迫與外界隔絕的情況下，身心已被弄垮。據瞭解，劉霞嚴重失眠，心臟出現問題，情緒抑鬱，說話不流利。近來，當局在國際社會施壓下，在上月容許少數朋友與劉霞通電話，但「關注組」認為，這有限的連系，不是自由，亦難以改善劉霞因被剝奪自由而備受摧殘的身心。

劉曉波因參與起草《零八憲章》，提出對民主、自由、憲政、法治及平等社會的追求，被以言入罪，在2009年12月25日以「煽動顛覆國家政權罪」，重判11年。劉曉波的言論，符合中國《憲法》及中國所簽署的《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》賦予的基本權利。中國政府打壓劉曉波及劉霞，是違法及嚴重踐踏人權的行為。

人權無分國界，每人都有責任捍衛及守護。中國是世界上愈來愈重要的大國，其人權、法治和開明進步，影響著世界的和平及文明發展。劉曉波所提倡的，是普世文明價值。我們相信，這些價值有助中國步向更文明及健康發展，對世界有益處。因此，我們來自世界不同地區的團體及人士，嚴正促請中國政府：

1.停止軟禁劉霞，恢復劉霞的人身自由及所有基本的權利；

2.立即無條件釋放劉曉波及劉暉；

3.釋放所有被無理囚禁的維權人士及政治異見人士。

發起團體：劉霞關注組＊

＊「劉霞關注組」是由多個關注言論自由，以及中國人權、民主、社會公義的香港和國際團體組成，包括：香港市民支援愛國民主運動聯合會、國際特赦組織香港分會、獨立中文筆會、國際記者聯會、中國維權律師關注組、香港天主教正義和平委員會

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