US and EU Call on China for Human Rights on International Human Rights Day

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day and in light of the deteriorating human rights situation in China, the United States and the European Union have called for the release of dozens of political and civil prisoners in the country. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the EU's statement highlighted that 'the worsening conditions regarding freedom of expression and assembly over the past year have been a significant cause for concern.' The United States and the EU made this call on December 10, corresponding to Azar 20, a day designated by the United Nations to commemorate the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since Xi Jinping took office as President of China in 2012, media reports have consistently documented the widespread suppression of freedom of expression and the detention of human rights activists and civil and religious activists in China. Since July of last year, around 250 lawyers and civil activists have been detained by police in China. This wave of arrests has been referred to in the media as a 'war on the law.' The ruling Communist Party of China tightly controls all newspapers, websites, radios, and publications and has a severe crackdown on domestic dissent. Both the United States and the EU, in their statements, have called for the release of Liu Xiaobo, Tashi Wangchung, and Ilham Tohti. Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese political dissident, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for 'subversion' and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. Tashi Wangchung is a defender of Tibetan language rights who is currently imprisoned, and Ilham Tohti is a Uyghur Muslim academic who has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Chinese government. Additionally, according to Agence France-Presse, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, over a hundred writers from around the world signed a letter addressed to Xi Jinping, the President of China, demanding an immediate end to the 'increasing repression' of human rights in China. This letter was organized by the International PEN, based in London, emphasizing that accepting diverse views and voices would bring added value to China and the rest of the world. Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and JM Coetzee, the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, are among the signatories of this letter, which also references Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate.