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CHINA: Internet is collateral victim of crackdown on Inner Mongolia protests
Reporters Without Borders 无国界记者 | 31 May 2011
Reporters Without Borders condemns the Chinese government’s decision to rein in Internet service in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, which has been experiencing a growing wave of protests since 10 May.
“Yet again, the Chinese authorities have not hesitated to obstruct Internet access in a bid to suppress unrest,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Like Tibet and Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia is a special target for censorship. Suspending or slowing Internet service violates freedom of expression and information. But far from restoring calm, blocking the flow of information just encourages the spread of rumours and falsehoods. It is counter-productive.”
In the city of Tongliao, bloggers and Internet users have been summoned to the Public Security Bureau. Two Reuters journalists were harassed. Police pulled them out of their car and gave them express orders not to conduct interviews.
In the regional capital of Hohhot, Internet cafés have closed because of bad Internet connections and mobile phone access to the Internet is completely blocked. Chat rooms, the instant messaging service QQ and other online social networks are also blocked. Content relating to the protests has been removed from micro-blogging platforms such as Weibo and Sina. Even very general key-words linked to the protests, such as Hohhot (呼和浩特) and Ujimqin (西乌旗), are now censored on the Chinese Internet.
The current wave of protests in Inner Mongolia, which usually has little unrest, were sparked by the death of a herdsman, who was knocked down by a truck while opposing the frequent truck traffic across his pastures. Hundreds of people took to the streets to demand justice and an end to discrimination against the region’s ethnic Mongolian minority. Martial law has since been imposed in some areas and dozens of arrests have been made.
Among the demands circulating online have been many calls for the release of journalists and cyber-dissidents who are in prison or missing. They include the Mongolian rights activist Hada and several of his close relatives, who are being held for refusing to abandon their cause. Hada should have been freed on completing a 15-year jail sentence on 10 December.
The writer Govruud Huuchinhuu has been missing http://en.rsf.org/authorities-urged-to-resolve-16-12-2010,39045.html since 27 January, when she was discharged from a hospital in Tongliao. Until her hospitalization, she had been under house arrest since November for urging fellow Mongolians to get ready for Hada’s release. Reporters Without Borders is without any news of her and is worried about her state of health.
Among the journalists who have been detained isHu Jianlong, a reporter for the independent business magazine Caijing, who was arrested and interrogated for six hours. He had to call a senior Innner Mongolian official in order to be freed.
Reporters Without Borders urges the Chinese authorities to restore Internet connections, unblock the censored websites and refrain from any harassment of bloggers who refer to the ongoing protests. The organization also calls for light to be shed on the cases of detained journalists and cyber-dissidents, and for them to be freed at once.
Sensitive provinces that are prone to unrest receive special treatment from the Chinese authorities. The autonomous region of Xinjiang was cut off from the rest of the world following unrest in July 2009. Its Internet was completely disconnected for nearly 10 months, from August 2009 to May 2010, while netizens were given long jail sentences.
Repression in Tibet has never really stopped since the March 2008 uprising. Dozens of Tibetans have been arrested http://en.rsf.org/china-at-least-50-tibetans-convicted-for-22-03-2010,36801.html for sending reports, photos or videos abroad and some have been given long jail terms.
China is on the list of “Enemies of the Internet http://en.rsf.org/internet-enemie-china,39741.html which Reporters Without Borders released on 12 March.
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Reporters Without Borders 无国界记者 | 2011年5月31日
网络成为镇压内蒙古游行的间接受害者
5月10日开始的内蒙古地区游行抗议活动规模扩大，中国当局决定限制该地区的因特网连接，无国界记者揭发并谴责这一决定。
无国界记者表示：“中国当局又一次毫不犹豫地限制网络连接，以求遏制抗议活动。和西藏、新疆一样，内蒙古也是审查封锁的重点地区。切断网络、网络连接迟缓都是对言论自由、传播信息自由权利的侵犯。禁止信息公开的结果只能适得其反，不但难以让事态平息，反而有利于各种与事实相反的谣言大肆传播。采取这种做法极不明智。”
在通辽市，公安局传唤了一些博客作者和网民。两名路透社记者也在传唤名单之中。警察强制两人下车，明确命令他们不得采访。
在自治区首府呼和浩特，各个网络咖啡屋由于网速不够而关闭，移动电话网络也完全被封锁。网络聊天工具QQ和其他的社会网络程序都被切断。微博、新浪等迷你博客里有关游行活动的内容全部被删除。一些涉及游行地点的普通词汇，比如“呼和浩特”、“西乌旗”都成了被中国网络封杀的关键词。
游行活动在内蒙古举行，演化成动乱的可能性不大，事件起因是一名牧民反对卡车在自己的牧场上通过被撞身亡。数百人走上街头游行要求公正处理该案件、停止对当地少数民族---蒙古族的歧视。当局在一些地区立刻执行了戒严令，数十人被捕。
在网络上流传的抗议诉求中，很多要求释放被关押、失踪的记者、网络异见者，比如记者、维权人士、蒙古文化捍卫者哈达和他的几名亲属，他们因为拒绝放弃自己的信念被投入监狱。哈达已经服满15年徒刑，应该在2010年12月10日获释。
作家呼群特古斯自从2011年1月27日从通辽医院出院后就处于失踪状态。以前，她由于号召庆祝哈达获释被软禁在家。无国界记者自从她失踪后再没有任何消息，并对她的健康状况担忧。
独立经济杂志《财经》记者胡建龙被逮捕并被审讯了6个小时，他通过电话求助于一位内蒙古高官才得以获释。
无国界记者呼吁中国当局恢复网络连接，停止封锁网络，不要再向报道该事件的网民施压。无国界记者还要求公开所有被囚记者和网络异见者的案件并立即释放他们。
中国当局对爆发抗议的敏感省份实施特殊“待遇”。2009年7月新疆自治区暴乱后，当局切断该地区与外界的联系，从2009年8月到2010年5月，在超过半年的时间里完全封锁当地因特网，并对网民判以重罪。
在西藏，自从2008年3月骚乱以来，镇压活动一直没有停止过。数十名藏人被捕，有些人因为向境外发送游行示威的信息、照片、视频而被判处重刑监禁。
2011年3月12日，无国界记者发布了“网络敌人”名单，中国正是其中一员
Asia-Pacific Desk
Reporters Without Borders
Paris - France
33 1 44 83 84 70
