New York: March 14, 2011
The World Youth Alliance, a global coalition of young people promoting the dignity of the human person in policy and culture, calls for the release of Chinese lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who has been put under house arrest by the Chinese government for accusing it of carrying out forced abortions.Guancheng is a well-known human rights activist in China, and spent four years in a Chinese prison before his release this past September.
Freedom of speech and freedom of conscience are fundamental human rights. The violation of these rights constitutes a violation of human dignity. The guarantee of these fundamental freedoms is necessary in order to have peaceful societies where human being flourish and the common good is realized.
“Chen Guangcheng has made an accusation, and in doing so has exercised his rights of conscience,” says World Youth Alliance Director of Advocacy, Rebecca Marchinda. “By placing him under house arrest, the Chinese government violates his dignity as person. If he is right, then China is also violating the rights of mothers and unborn children, and if he is wrong, China still acts in a manner not in keeping with international human rights standards.”
China’s government-managed “one-child” policy is well-known, but less known are the methods employed for enforcing this policy in the rural areas. Cheng Guangcheng accused the government of carrying out thousands of forced abortions in his province.
For more information about the World Youth Alliance please contact WYA Director of Advocacy, Rebecca Marchinda.