Letter writing campaign for Hao Wu

来源: Free Hao Wu

Many people have been asking what they can do to help speed Hao Wu’s release. We were hoping that the Chinese government might release Hao before Chinese President Hu Jintao’s U.S. trip next week. However it’s becoming clear that won’t happen, and thus we are asking you to help call attention to Hao’s plight by writing letters calling for his release. Please note the following:

• Hao Wu (surname Wu) was detained on February 22^nd
• Hao has not been charged with any crime.
• He has not been formally arrested.
• He has not been given access to a lawyer.
• Authorities will not give any information about his location to the family.
• According to China’s own Code of Criminal Procedure, a person cannot be held without charge or arrest for more than 37 days. His detention has well exceeded that period of time.
• Please note in communications to U.S. media and politicians that Hao is a U.S. permanent resident.
• Despite China’s economic progress which has improved the lives of millions of Chinese, Hao’s detention illustrates the continued disregard of the Chinese government for the rights of its citizens. See this recent letter by Human Rights Watch for details.
• For more background:click here for list of recent press articles and blog posts about Hao’s case. Click here for exceprts of many of those articles as published on this site.

Who to send letters to:

1. If you are a U.S. citizen, write your congressional representative and senators, pointing out that Hao Wu’s continued detention without charge will be a black mark on the upcoming summit between President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Use this tool to find your representative:

2. Write Op-Eds and send letters to the editor to your local newspapers. Call in to radio and TV shows. Use this tool to find your local media organizations:

3. f you are a U.S. citizen, please write U.S. President Bush and urge him to raise Hao’s case:

Web Site: www.whitehouse.gov
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
Washington Office:
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2461

4. Write the Chinese Embassy in your country demanding Hao’s release. (Click here for a list of Chinese embassies around the world.) In the U.S. you can write:

Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
in the United States of America
2300 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
FAX: (202) 745-7473

5. Write Chinese President Hu Jintao

President Hu Jintao
Chinese Communist Party
Yongdingmenjie
Beijing 100032, PRC
(202) 745-7473

Original letters are the most effective. Please see Amnesty International’s letter writing guide for help with writing an effective, original letter on a human rights cause.