Relatives demand inquiry into China's 1989 crackdown

May 28, 2009, 6:20 GMT

   Beijing - A group of victims' relatives Thursday urged the Chinese government to investigate the deaths of hundreds of people during the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protestors.

   The Tiananmen Mothers group wrote an open letter renewing its demand for an official investigation into the military action on June 3-4, 1989, and a public announcement of the death toll and the names of the dead.

   'The bloody 1989 Tiananmen tragedy was not a result of the government's inappropriate action, but the government's crime against the people,' said the group, which takes its name from Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where the 1989 protests began.

   'Consequently, the June 4 incident must be re-evaluated,' it said in the letter distributed by New York-based Human Rights in China.

   The group said its demands to the ruling Communist Party can be 'summarized in three words: truth, compensation, accountability.'

   The Tiananmen Mothers is an informal group of relatives and supporters of victims of the 1989 crackdown that has campaigned since 1995 for an inquiry and for the government to offer an apology and compensation to the families of victims.

   It is led by retired university professor Ding Zilin, whose 17-year-old son was killed by a soldier's bullet, and includes dozens of other parents and supporters of victims.

   Ding told the German Press Agency dpa last week that she welcomed the recent publication of a book of secret memoirs recorded by former party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was purged for sympathizing with the 1989 democracy protestors.

   'Zhao Ziyang's memoirs have a very crucial role in finding the truth,' she said.

   Ding said Zhao, whose memoirs were published four years after his death, had answered a 'series of key questions' such as how the party saw corruption in 1989 and how China should pursue democratic reform.

   Ding's group has confirmed the death of some 200 people in Beijing overnight on June 3-4, 1989, but she still believes the total number of casualties is much higher.

   On Thursday, the Tiananmen Mothers said the 20 years since the 1989 crackdown were 'very long and challenging for those of us who have suffered the loss of loved ones.'

   'Utilitarianism and pragmatism have replaced the idealism and passion of former days,' their letter said.

   'China is not getting closer to freedom, democracy, and human rights, but rather drifting further away,' it said.

   'We deeply regret that the Chinese people have once again missed a historical opportunity for peaceful transformation in the course towards democracy.'