Yuan Weijing, wife of a blind Chinese activist, was denied the right to accept her husband’s award at the Philippine humanitarian awards on Friday. Her husband, Chen, was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay award, which is the equal to the Nobel peace prize. Chen was helping farmers with grievances because he was a self trained lawyer. Chen was recognized for his AIDS Orphan Project which helped provide school fees for students that a parent infected with AIDS. She was trying to receive the award for her husband because her husband was sentenced to four years and three months in 2006. Yuan said that her husband received no special care for his eye sight and he was also denied the right to read, write, and listen to the radio and other basic rights. He was arrested on the charges of documented cases of forced abortions and other abuses by family planning officials. Yuan said that her husband was convicted “based on trumped-up charges and a flawed trail process.” She feels that villagers allegedly were kidnapped and tortured in order to testify against him. Yuan stated that “In China, our government is often the biggest violator of people’s rights.”
It is a shame that the wife, of a falsely imprisoned man can’t leave the country to receive a prestigious award for her husband. She also had to deal with the fact that her husband was also refused his basic rights. The Chinese government should never have denied this couple their basic rights. Even if the government felt that Chen deserved to be imprisoned they should not have deprived him of his basic human rights. They should not have denied Yuan her right to leave the country to receive her husband’s prestigious award.
http://www.foxnews/wires/2007Aug31/0,4670,BlindActivist,00.html
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