New York (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A group which campaigns for human rights in China has reported Yahoo! and its Chinese affiliates to American authorities, alleging they help communist authorities to uncover and arrest journalists and rights activists who use the Web to publish pro-democracy articles.  Now they are asking for damages and the companies commitment to actively secure the release of any detainees they helped arrest.

Among the signatories are Wang Xiaoning and his wife Yu Ling.  Wang has been condemned to 10 years in prison for having sent articles on democratic reform and a multiparty system via e-mail. The federal lawsuit WAS filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The World Organization for Human Rights USA, who is filing suit, accuses the multinational of having actively collaborated in the arrest of Wang, who is currently being held in prison.  

The lawsuit cites “plaintiffs were subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including arbitrary, prolonged and indefinite detention, for expressing their free-speech rights and for using the internet to communicate about democracy and human rights matters”.

Among those arrested is journalist Shi Tao, who was sentenced in 2005 to 10 years in jail, but who was reluctant to join the complaint for fear of harm to relatives China. The group explains: “Who works abroad must be aware of their responsibilities.  They should not be participating actively in promoting and encouraging major human rights abuses”.

Yahoo rivals Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. also have been accused of helping the Chinese government crush dissent in return for access to booming Internet markets. Google has offered a censored version of its popular search engine, while Microsoft shut down, at Beijing's request, a popular Chinese blog that touches on “sensitive” topics such as press freedoms.