FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2017
Washington, DC — U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) today delivered a statement on the House floor demanding Chinese authorities stop their unjust detention and inhumane treatment of political prisoner Zhu Yufu, and support fundamental human
Rep. Hultgren “adopted” Zhu Yufu to highlight his plight and the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world in collaboration with the Defending Freedoms Project, a joint effort by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and Amnesty International USA. Valuable information about the plight of Zhu Yufu and thousands of other political prisoners in China is available via the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s Political Prisoner Database.
Following are Rep. Hultgren’s prepared remarks:
Mr. Speaker, it is a bitter reality that universal human rights are under daily assault around the world.
I rise today joining in celebration and in mourning with Chinese democracy activist Zhu Yufu.
This past week, he turned 64—but he marked the occasion in prison.
Zhu Yufu has devoted his life to promoting democracy and human rights, to the ire of Chinese authorities.
In 2012 he was condemned to seven years imprisonment on unjust charges.
Since then his health has deteriorated, made worse by denial of medical care and inhumane treatment.
His family fears for his life.
The poem that led to Yufu’s imprisonment is called, “It’s time.”
I completely agree. It is time.
It’s time for the Chinese government to provide Zhu Yufu with proper medical treatment and humane care.
More than that, it’s time for the Chinese government to release Zhu Yufu and political prisoners like him who are unjustly detained.
It’s time for the Chinese government to recognize and support freedom of speech, and assembly, and thought, and belief.
Rep. Hultgren is Co-Chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) and a commissioner on both the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) and the Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe).
