Contact: Katherine Cason, 267-210-8278, Katherine@ChinaAid.org; Washington contact, Jenny McCloy, 202-213-0506, Jenny@ChinaAid.org; www.ChinaAid.org, www.MonitorChina.org
MEDIA ADVISORY, Jan. 13 /Christian Newswire/ -- ChinaAid received a letter from the family of Peng Ming, on January 6, 2009 expressing their sincere appreciation for the international support regarding Peng Ming's case and an update on his condition. Peng Ming was kidnapped at gunpoint by eight Chinese special agents in May 2004, then taken to China where he was sentenced to life in prison in October 2005, charged with engaging in terrorism activities. He is in a heavily guarded prison cell in Han Yang where he suffers from serious medical conditions that have been ignored by prison officials.
The letter from Peng Ming's family to ChinaAid read in part:
"On behalf of the entire family of Peng Ming, we would like to express our sincere appreciation of yours and your organization's work on, and support of Peng Ming's case. We appreciate your every effort on this matter.
At the same time, we would like to give you an update on Peng Ming's current health condition in the PRC prison. Peng Ming has multiple illnesses, of which the following three illnesses are what we are most concerned about:
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Life-threatening, late-stage kidney stones problem, resulting in blood in urine and ultimately poisonous to his body
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Long-term heart condition worsened by the bad environment in prison (no heat in winter)
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Severely painful arthritis condition in his ankles, causing him great difficulty in walking- lately he is just able to limp
We are extremely worried about Peng Ming's health at this moment., We are most grateful for everything you have done for him, and we hope the support of the China Aid will result in some relief to Peng Ming in his difficult situation in the near future.
Sincerely,
On behalf of Peng Ming's family: Peng Xing (sister), Peng Yan (sister), Peng HuiChang (father), Fan JinLan (mother), Dawen Peng (daughter), Andy Peng (son) and Lisa Peng (daughter)
Since his imprisonment, Peng Ming has developed a severe case of kidney stones and has suffered a massive heart attack. He received no medical treatment from prison staff. These and other health issues are compounded by prison officials who continue to afflict Mr. Peng with sleep deprivation and malnourishment. To date, Peng Ming has been without proper medical attention for more than 4 years.
In June of 2007, an urgent appeal was sent to Chinese officials from the United Nations Human Rights Council; Working Group for Arbitrary Detention. The Working Group established that Mr. Peng Ming is an official UN Refugee and would be granted permanent alien resident status from the USA.
Furthermore, the UN Council declared that the deprivation of his liberty is arbitrary and in direct contravention of articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that the government should take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Peng Ming. In addition to the UN effort for this case, U.S. Congressional leaders and senior Bush administration officials have urged the Chinese government to release Peng Ming. Congressional leaders are deeply concerned for this case. Despite the efforts of the United Nations Human Rights Council, as well as efforts from members of the United States government, Mr. Peng remains in detention without medical assistance.
ChinaAid along with its supporters urges the international community to pressure the Chinese government for the unconditional release of Peng Ming based on emergency medical need and fundamental humanitarian grounds. ChinaAid urges Christians around the world to pray for Peng Ming's health conditions to improve.
ChinaAid is encouraging the public to write a letter of encouragement to Peng Ming in prison at:
No. 4 Prison Branch,
Hubei Provincial Han Yang Prison
Cai Dian District, Wuhan City
Hubei Province
CHINA
Click here to download a printable letter you can send to Peng Ming in prison.
Contact Xiang Peng (sister of Peng Ming) at 510-962-0907 (Mandarin Chinese only).
