Event Date: June 3, 2014 - 12:30 pm
Location: Desmarais 12102
Presented by Amnesty International, the Human Rights Research and Education Centre and CIPS.
Free. In English. Registration is not required. Seating is limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
Twenty-five years ago, on the night of June 4th, 1989, the student-led movement for democracy in China ended with a brutal massacre at Tiananmen Square. The movement was condemned as a counter-revolutionary rebellion aimed at overthrowing the People’s Republic of China. Ever since then, the Chinese Communist Party has maintained this position and prohibited public discussion of both the movement and its violent suppression.
On the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, commemorations are being held around the world. The goal is to tell the story of the Tiananmen protests and to commemorate the bravery of ordinary citizens who challenged a repressive regime. The panel will reignite discussion of the meaning of the 1989 reform movement in China and the as of yet unfulfilled promise of genuine political reform which its participants sought. The commemoration at the University of Ottawa will tell the story through the authentic voices of eyewitnesses.
Panelists: ALEX NEVE, Secretary-General, Amnesty International Canada; CHEUK KWAN, Chair, Toronto Association for Democracy in China; LIANE LEE and CHEN YUGUO, Eyewitnesses to the events in Tiananmen on June 4, 1989.
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Alex Neve is the Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada. Amnesty International Canada is advocating for the immediate release of all people detained by Chinese authorities for trying to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Cheuk Kwan represents the Toronto Association for Democracy in China founded in May 1989 to support the student protest in Tiananmen Square. It has since worked with like-minded NGOs to advocate human rights and democracy in China.
Liane Lee belonged to a delegation of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, who made two trips to Beijing to provide tents and medical supplies to the demonstrators. She was rescued from the Square by local citizens on June 4 and left the city on an evacuation flight on June 5.
Chen Yuguo was a lecturer in political science at Beijing University in 1989. Mr. Chen joined his students in Tiananmen Square for many days, sleeping on the concrete ground. He was present when the square was finally cleared by the army on the night of June 4.