Human rights organizations to hold Capitol rally on 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Square

Flyer for a rally on the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. (Photo: courtesy of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation)

ChinaAid

(Washington, D.C.—May 26, 2019) 23 human rights organizations are commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4 with a rally in front of the United States Capitol building.

The event, which will take place on the United States Capitol West Lawn at 1:30 p.m., will memorialize victims of the massacre and premiere an exhibit of portraits of the Tiananmen Mothers, who are women who lost children to the slaughter. The co-hosting organizations are: Amnesty International, Bitter Winter, Campaign for Uyghurs, ChinaAid, Citizen Power Initiatives for China, Dialogue China, East Turkistan National Awakening Movement, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Humanitarian China, the International Campaign for Tibet, the International Uyghur Human Rights Foundation, Keep Taiwan Free, the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights & Justice, Students for a Free Tibet, The Chen Guangcheng Foundation, The Church of Almighty God, the Tibet Action Institute, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and the World Uyghur Congress.

All of the co-hosting organizations have been invited to have a representative speak at the event, and speakers will include U.S. Representatives Chris Smith and Jim McGovern, human rights advocates, survivors of Communist Party persecution, and people who experienced the Tiananmen Square Massacre firsthand.

The event is open to the press, and all those who plan to participate must RSVP here.

The Tiananmen Square Massacre took place on June 4, 1989, and is perhaps the most well-known Chinese crackdown on human rights. In the months leading up to the massacre, students from around the country gathered on Tiananmen Square, located in the heart of Beijing, just outside the ancient Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People, one of China’s most prominent government buildings. Demanding increased freedoms, many of them camped out there, sounding their messages and raising a statue called the Goddess of Democracy.

Tensions between the students and the government swelled, culminating when the Communist Party ordered martial law carried out against the protesters on May 20. On June 4, soldiers, some driving tanks, commandeered the square and Beijing’s primary streets, killing civilians.