A complete accounting of the number of persons who were sent to prison or labour camps for activities associated with the 1989 demonstrations in Guangdong province could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.

However, attached please find an excerpt from a 1991 report by a Hong-Kong based human rights activist which provides information on the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Guangdong and its aftermath. According to this report, all the leaders of the Guangzhou Patriotic Student Federation were detained in Guangzhou in July 1989 for activities related to the pro-democracy movement (Kamm, 7). Of 13 student leaders detained, two were released (ibid.). The same source also reported that 8 leaders of the Guangzhou Autonomous Workers Union were detained (ibid.). According to the government, these workers were released soon after (ibid.). Concerning sentencing of the activists, this source related that in 1989, Guangdong courts heard ten cases involving twelve people who were associated with the pro-democracy movement (Kamm, 8). Four were convicted on charges of counterrevolution and the others of charges of jeopardizing public security, robbery and hooliganism (ibid.).

For information on specific cases of persons known by human rights organizations to be currently detained for activities related to the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Guangdong province, please refer to the attached reports from Amnesty International and Asia Watch.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find attached the list of sources consulted in researching this information request.

Kamm, John. May 1991. Human Rights in Guangdong Province.

Amnesty International. April 1991. The People's Republic of China: Trials and Punishments Since 1989. (AI Index: ASA 17/34/91). London: Amnesty International, pp. 24-25.

. May 1990. People's Republic of China: List of People Detained For Activities Related To The 1989 Pro-Democracy Movement. (AI Index: ASA 17/24/90). London Amnesty International, pp. 5, 10, 14, 27, 31, 38, 57 and 72.

Asia Watch. February 1994. Detained in China and Tibet: A Directory of Political and Religious Prisoners. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 11-13, 74-75, 95-96 and 151.

. July 1991. Two Years After Tiananmen: Political Prisoners in China Cumulative Data. New York: Human Rights Warch, pp. 21-22, 47, 62-63, 79, 95 and 185-86.

Kamm, John. May 1991. Human Rights in Guangdong Province, pp. 1-10 and Appendix 2 (pp. 1-2).

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