Mothers of Tiananmen Square victims banned from mourning at their loved ones’ graves
On the eve of the anniversary of the 1989 massacre, local authorities have told families that Wanan Cemetery, the resting place of many victims of the 4 June massacre, is off-limits. This is one of the latest acts of cruelty to erase the memory of the events of 37 years ago. Zhang Xianling, 89, told Radio Free Asia that in an unprecedented move, police are at her home.
Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) – On the eve of the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the relatives of several victims of the repression learnt that they will not be able to visit their loved ones' graves tomorrow, 4 June.
Speaking to Radio Free Asia, members of the group called Mothers of Tiananmen reported that the Beijing Municipal Security Bureau informed them that, for the first time in more than 30 years, they will not be allowed to access the Wanan Cemetery, the burial site of many of the victims, nor hold their annual memorial services.
“These actions, which used to be routine, are no longer permitted. Now we aren’t even allowed to go there, which is something that has never happened before,” said Zhang Xianling, 89, one of the Tiananmen Mothers, speaking to Radio Free Asia.
The group wrote a protest letter urging the authorities to lift the ban, calling it “unreasonable”.
Hundreds of people died on 4 June 1989 in a crackdown on pro-democracy protests, an event that Chinese authorities have erased from official public memory.
For decades, members of the Tiananmen Mothers group travelled to Wanan Cemetery every 4 June under police escort to pay their respects to their loved ones. Zhang had planned to do the same this year, but law enforcement agents, she said, have been deployed near her home since 28 May.
“There are two security guards at the community entrance, two police officers downstairs, and two cars – one police car and one civilian police car,” said Zhang, 89. “The precautions are so strict, not to mention phone calls from foreign journalists.”
Zhang’s son, Wang Nan, was a 19-year-old student at Beijing's Yuetan High School. After troops were ordered in under martial law in the early hours of 4 June, he was shot dead at an intersection north of the Grand Palace, according to a casualty registry maintained by the non-governmental organisation Human Rights in China. The bullet entered the left side of his forehead and exited behind his left ear, leaving a hole in the back of his motorcycle helmet.
Soldiers buried Wang Nan's body along with others in a shallow grave west of Tiananmen Gate, but heavy rains washed the soil away a few days later. His body was later taken to a hospital morgue and initially mistaken for that of a soldier, as he had just returned from military training and was wearing an old army uniform. His family was able to recover his body only several days later, and his ashes were interred in the Wanan Cemetery.
The Tiananmen Mothers group has consistently called for disclosure of the truth about 4 June, accountability, and compensation for the families of the victims. Each year, as 4 June approaches, members of the group are subjected to varying degrees of surveillance and restricted in their contact with the outside world and travel.
Banning the Tiananmen Mothers from holding their annual post-funerary rites is especially cruel. “It has been over 30 years,” a Beijing dissident identified only by the surname Wu told RFA, “and now even their right to go to the cemetery has been stripped away. This is all so sudden.”
Photo: Tiananmen Mothers - Radio Free Asia
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29/05/2006
31/05/2016 18:51
