Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A921-W601
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A921-W601
Release
Date: February 20, 2016
发布日：2016年2月20日
Topic:
Robert L. Bernstein Acceptance Speech of the "Human Rights and Freedom
Defender" by the Wei Jingsheng Foundation
标题：罗伯特·L·伯恩斯坦先生接受魏京生基金会“人权自由捍卫者”奖的感言
Original
Language Version: English (Chinese version at the end)
此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
Note:
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http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2016/report2016-02/BernsteinRspeech160220WJSprizeA921-W601.htm which
contains identical information.
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Robert
L. Bernstein Acceptance Speech of the "Human Rights and Freedom
Defender" by the Wei Jingsheng Foundation
February 11, 2016
I
want to thank Wei Jingsheng for presenting me with this award. If ever a
situation should be reversed, it is this one. I and all of us should be giving
Wei an award. He is the world's symbol of a human being dedicating his entire
life-not just a piece of it-trying, with amazing skill and perseverance to bring
the advantages of free speech, perhaps the most important human right, to his
beloved China.
One
of the high points of my life was when I went to meet with Wei in Beijing in
1994 when he was in between prison sentences. Shortly thereafter, he made me
his literary agent and told me I would receive his prison letters. He was
confident that the prison authorities, who had confiscated his writings, would
give them back to him. Why should they do that? Because when they were ready to
release him, he simply told them he wouldn't leave the prison without his
writing!
He
made me feel so important as we rode through Beijing in a taxi as he looked
back and said, "You must be important. I usually have one car following
me, now there are two, you must have your own!"
Here
is one line from these amazing letters. Try to imagine a man serving a 14-year
prison sentence, a lot of it in solitary confinement, handing a letter to the
prison authorities to be delivered to the paramount leader of China right after
the Tiananmen Square military crackdown in 1989. The letter starts as follows:
"Dear Deng Xiaoping, So, now that
you've successfully carried out a military coup to deal with a group of unarmed
and politically inexperienced students and citizens, how do you feel?"
That
was later followed by:
"Going down in infamy for carrying
out a military coup doesn't sound too good to you, does it?"
While
it is always a good feeling to be thought well of for trying to help a brave
man like Wei achieve his goals, one can hardly feel good as a human rights
advocate in having made a difference in the human rights progress in China. We
have made little difference in trying to end the long and cruel sentences of
Chinese trying to bring free speech and rule of law to their country.
As
of today, February 11, 2016, Liu Xiaobo, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in
2010, is in his 8th year in prison, for "inciting subversion of state
power." His wife is under very strict house arrest for no apparent reason
except that she is his wife; his brother-in-law has also been sentenced to 11
years in prison. Since Liu's sentencing, a veritable tsunami of sentences has
followed. First against writers and intellectuals whose families were then
persecuted, next came the assault on the legal profession that started in July
of last year. Over 300 lawyers and activists have been harassed, many have been
charged with "incitement" or "subversion," some were simply
disappeared.
I
remember when several years ago I was in the office of Human Rights in China
when Sharon Hom, its longtime remarkable Executive Director, introduced me to
the wife and 2 young children of Gao Zhisheng, one of China's leading right
defense lawyers who was imprisoned, disappeared, and tortured multiple times
for taking on the wrong cases. They had just arrived in the United States. I
said to his son, "You must learn English! I'm a book publisher and I'll
send you some books." He said, "I have to remember Chinese so that I
can speak to my father." The years have passed. Gao was released from
prison in August 2014 but has been under virtual house arrest ever since. In
other words, he is far from being free. Torture and other abuses have taken
great physical toll on him-and he has lost many teeth. It is a sobering
thought, wondering when his young son will see his father again.
It
is well known that human rights advocates always feel businesses are not
vigilant enough in pushing for rule of law. Two weeks ago, on January 29, 2016,
I received an article written by Michael Posner, longtime director of Human
Rights First, now a Professor and co-director of the Center for Business and
Human Rights at the NYU Stern School of Business. It was headlined:
"China's disappearing billionaire effect is an alarming trend." Its
opening lines were: "The recent and dramatic upheaval in the Chinese
economy has shaken many Western investors and signaled greater business risks
in the Middle Kingdom. Though it has received far less attention, another more
ominous sign of trouble is the 'disappearance' of senior executives from at
least 34 Chinese companies over the last year." In the article, it goes on
to describe the government's new wave of repression on businesses.
As
a book publisher, the final act for me was the disappearance of a publisher and
several booksellers, not in Beijing, but in Hong Kong. The message is loud and
clear: First the writers and intellectuals, then the lawyers, now the business
leaders and booksellers. The Chinese government has united us all. China,
without the rule of law, is a very dangerous world power. Wei Jingsheng has
been warning us for years. I thank him for the award he is giving to Nancy
Pelosi and myself today. Nancy Pelosi has perhaps been the most important voice
in the House of Representatives calling attention to China's persecution of Wei
and others like him. I take it as a reminder and I'm sure many others do too.
We must do more for the Chinese and ourselves to try and help bring rule of law
to this huge nation.
But
the picture is not all dark. We should also remember that there is a spark that
cannot be extinguished: a rising civil society in China. It consists of rights
activists, lawyers, and all those who believe in universal values, fundamental
rights, and human dignity. They need our unflagging support in their hard
struggle to preserve and expand this precious space.
Related
video of Mr. Robert L. Bernstein of this speech:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2016/BernsteinRspeech160211WJSprize.mp4
And:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOwKhM9lOA
Related
audio of Mr. Robert L. Bernstein of this speech:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2016/BernsteinRspeech160211WJSprize.mp3
Photo
of Mr. Robert L. Bernstein:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2016/newsletters2016-1/BernsteinRphoto.jpg
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中文版
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A921-W601
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号：A921-W601
Release
Date: February 20, 2016
发布日：2016年2月20日
Topic:
Robert L. Bernstein Acceptance Speech of the "Human Rights and Freedom
Defender" by the Wei Jingsheng Foundation
标题：罗伯特·L·伯恩斯坦先生接受魏京生基金会“人权自由捍卫者”奖的感言
Original
Language Version: English (Chinese version at the end)
此号以英文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2016/report2016-02/BernsteinRspeech160220WJSprizeA921-W601.htm
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罗伯特·L·伯恩斯坦先生接受魏京生基金会“人权自由捍卫者”奖的感言
2016年2月11日
我要感谢魏京生先生给我颁发这个奖。刚好相反，在我认为，我和我们所有的人都应该给魏京生发奖。他是人类奋斗的象征，他用惊人的技巧和毅力，为他所热爱的中国实现言论自由这个可以算是世界上最重要的人权，奉献了不仅仅是一段时间，而是整个一生。
我人生的一个最闪光的时刻，是1994年专程去北京与魏京生会面的时刻。那时他正处于两次服刑之间。那次会面不久，他让我成为他的作品经纪人，并说我会收到他的监狱书简。他确信，监狱主管会把没收了的书信归还给他。为什么会？因为当他们准备释放魏京生时，魏京生说，除非还他所有被没收的书信，他不会离开监狱！
当我们坐出租车穿越北京的时候，魏京生说了一句话让我觉得自己也很重要的话。他回头探看然后对我说：“你一定是个大人物。一般来说，只有一辆车跟着我，现在是两辆。就是说有一辆车是专门跟踪你的！”
下面是魏京生精彩的狱中书简里的一段话。试想，在1989年天安门广场军事镇压之后，他已服刑14年，而其中相当长的时期是被单独关押。他让监狱首领转交了这封给中国最高领导人的信。这封信是这样开头的：
“尊敬的邓小平先生：成功地用一场军事政变，对付了一帮手无寸铁、又没有什么政治经验的学生和市民之后，感觉如何？”
接下来，他又写道：
“因为这次军事镇压你将臭名昭著，总是不大好听，对不对？”
能够帮助像魏京生这样的勇士来实现他的理想，总让我感觉良好。但作为一个人权倡导者，面对中国人权进展艰难的局面，我又很难感觉良好。促进自己国家的言论自由并完善法治的中国人受到了长期而残酷的徒刑，而我们为终止这个局面所作的努力见效甚微。
２０１６年２月１１日的今天，是２０１０年诺贝尔和平奖获得者刘晓波入狱的第八年。刘晓波的罪名是“煽动颠覆国家政权”。而仅仅因为是刘晓波的妻子，没有明显的原因，他的妻子就遭到严厉软禁。他的妻弟也被判刑１１年。在刘晓波被判刑之后，是一系列政治犯被判刑的恶浪。先是针对作家和知识分子及其家庭的迫害以及随后的监禁，接下来则是去年七月开始的对法律界人士的迫害。已有３００多名律师和活跃者遭到骚扰，许多人被指控为“煽动罪”或“颠覆罪”，有些人干脆就被“失踪”了。
记得几年前我在“中国人权”的办公室里，其长期的卓越的执行主任谭竞嫦向我介绍了高智晟的妻子和两个年幼的孩子。高智晟是被监禁的中国维权律师的领先人物之一，他因承担了一些冤案的辩护，而遭受折磨、被失踪多次，并被投入监牢。他的家属当时刚刚抵达美国。我对他的儿子说：“你一定要学会英语！我是一个出版商，我会送你一些书。”他却说：“我必须记住中文，这样我才能和我父亲交谈。”多年以后，高智晟于２０１４年8月获释，但之后一直被软禁。也就是说，他还远远没有自由。酷刑和其它虐待已经摧残了他的健康，他的很多牙齿都脱落了。这让人深思，什么时候他年幼的儿子才能和父亲相会？
众所周知，人权倡导者总感到企业家们没有以足够的意识来推动法治。两星期前，２０１６年元月２６日，我收到迈克尔·波斯纳写的一篇文章。他曾在“人权第一”当过多年的主任，现任纽约大学斯特恩商学院人权和商业中心的教授和共同主任。他的文章标题是：“中国亿万富翁的失踪是一个惊人的趋势”。文章开头写道：“中国近日巨大的经济动荡已让许多西方投资者动摇，并暗示着这个中央帝国里更大的商业风险。在这个风险尚未受到应有的注意的同时，出现了一个更不详的麻烦征兆：过去一年里至少有３４家中国公司的高层管理者们‘失踪’。”这篇文章还描述了政府对企业的新一波压制。
作为一名图书出版商所注意到的最近的情况是不是在北京，而是在香港的一个出版商以及几个书商的失踪。这个信息响亮而明确地说明：首先，作家和知识份子遭到镇压，接下来是律师，现在则是商界领袖和书商。中国政府让我们所有人都团结起来了。没有法治的中国是一个非常危险的世界强国。魏京生多年来一直在警告我们这一点。我感谢他今天把这个奖颁给了南希·佩洛西和我。南希·佩洛西可以算是在美国众议院里呼吁关注魏京生和其他像他那样的人所受的迫害的最重要的声音。我把这个奖励当作一个提醒，我相信很多人也都把这个颁奖当作一个提醒，即我们必须为中国做更多的事情，以推动这个大国走向法治。
但是前景并非一片灰暗。我们应该记住，民主的火花是不会被扑灭的，这就是中国正在崛起的公民社会。它由人权活动家、维权律师、以及所有那些相信普世价值、基本人权和人类尊严的人们组成。他们需要我们坚定不移地支持他们的拼搏奋斗，以便保持和扩大这个宝贵的空间。
以上讲话的录像：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2016/BernsteinRspeech160211WJSprize.mp4
或
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOwKhM9lOA
以上讲话的录音：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/interviews/interviews2016/BernsteinRspeech160211WJSprize.mp3
罗伯特·L·伯恩斯坦先生的照片：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/pic/newsletters/newsletters2016/newsletters2016-1/BernsteinRphoto.jpg
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阁下之所以收到本信，是因为阁下以前曾表示有兴趣了解魏京生先生和中国民主运动。
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