Public Statement: Unlawful detention of Dr Henry Hengjun Yang by the PRC government

Australian Values Alliance

Public Statement: Unlawful detention of Dr Henry Hengjun Yang by the PRC government

The Australian Values Alliance (AVA) is issuing this statement to protest the unlawful detention of Dr Henry Hengjun Yang, an Australian citizen, in the People’s Republic China. We hope to draw Australia’s attention to China’s lamentable human rights record and its manifest contempt for judicial due process. We call on our Australian government to publicly demand that China releases Dr Yang immediately. We are also inviting the people of Australia to join us in our call for an end to Henry’s detention.

Henry Yang, an Australian citizen, is now under secret detention in an undisclosed location with no access to a lawyer and no contact with his family. This “disappearance” style treatment resembling Nazi Germany’s Gestapo method called “Nacht und Nebel” or “Night and Fog” as per its use of concealment to increase the effect of state terror, is often used against civil rights activists in China.

The AVA are concerned that Henry’s right, as an Australian citizen, to proper consular assistance has been intentionally and aggressively violated. We therefore urge the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade to intercede to guarantee Henry is treated fairly and transparently by the relevant Chinese authorities:

•    Disclosing his physical location and the conditions in which he is held;

•    Making public all factual and legal details of the alleged legal case against him;

•    Allowing him regular access to consular assistance and legal advice;

•    Granting permission for his lawyer to access documents pertaining to the allegations; and

•    Allowing him regular contact with his family.

The AVA, as a community group for ethnically Chinese Australians, shall continue unreservedly to advocate individual freedom for those who are living under authoritarian one-party rule in China.  To that end we further solicit and invite the interest and collaboration of all our fellow Australians with whom we share our common national interest in defending the rule of law within our own nation and for all of our nationals abroad.

——Australian Values Alliance（AVA）