- BEIJING (AP) -- Amnesty International
has called for the release of 54 people imprisoned in China for expressing
opinions on the internet.
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- In a report released today, the human rights organisation
says it has documented cases of 54 people jailed for using the internet,
but said the figure was likely to be "a fraction" of the real
number.
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- It adds: "There has been a dramatic rise in the
number of people detained or sentenced for internet-related offences. China
is said to have the most extensive censorship of the internet of any country
in the world."
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- The report says prisoners include people who signed online
petitions for reform, published non-official news about the Sars virus,
communicated with dissident groups overseas, or called for a review of
the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Detainees also include followers
of the banned Falun Gong movement, it says.
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- The Chinese foreign ministry could not immediately be
reached for comment. In the past, it has denounced Amnesty's claims as
biased and baseless.
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- As internet use surges in China, so do government efforts
to control it, Amnesty says. Officials try to control all online communication
by blocking access to sites that discuss sensitive issues.
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- Amnesty said the 54 detainees - all "prisoners of
conscience" - had received sentences of between two years and 12 years.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1132657,00.html
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