p2pnet - rss feed: Yahoo in new China dissident lawsuit
p2pnet.net news:- Chinese journalist Shi Tao, jailed for 10 years for sending an email to a US pro-democracy group, has joined Yu Ling, wife of Wang Xiaoning, another imprisoned cyber dissident, in suing Yahoo for its part “facilitating the arrest, imprisonment, and torture of Chinese internet users”.
“The 2004 Chinese court verdict that sentenced Shi Tao to jail specifically cited Yahoo! as having provided Chinese authorities with information identifying Shi Tao as the owner of the e-mail account and the source of the communications,” says World Organization for Human Rights USA’s Colleen M. Costello in a Boing Boing post, going on:
Yahoo! acknowledges that it provided Chinese officials with identifying information leading to Shi Tao’s arbitrary arrest and long-term imprisonment.
The lawsuit that Shi Tao joins was filed in San Francisco on April 18th by Wang Xiaoning and his wife, Yu Ling. Wang used Yahoo! e-mail accounts and Yahoo! online discussion groups to publish essays on democratic reforms. Similar to Shi Tao’s case, a Chinese court cited evidence provided by Yahoo! in sentencing Wang to ten years in a forced labor prison. The lawsuit seeks an end to the practice of divulging internet user information when major human rights abuses would result.
The suit also seeks to effect serious efforts by Yahoo! to obtain the release of those who it helped to put in jail, and a court finding that Yahoo! is liable for contributing to torture and other major human rights abuses. At least four known individuals have been prosecuted and placed in jail in China as a direct result of Yahoo!’s actions, though it is suspected that many more have been similarly affected.
Amnesty International will host a conference on human rights abuses and internet repression in London, England, on June 6, says Costello.
Featuring a panel discussion on the Yahoo case. It’ll also be webcast.
Meanwhile, two resolutions pertaining to Yahoo’s involvement in the arrests of journalists and human rights advocates in China and the misuse of internet user identification information are before Yahoo shareholders.
“The resolutions would, first, require the corporation to maintain minimum business standards that serve to protect freedom of speech and safe access to the internet, and, second, create a Board Committee on Human Rights, which would review corporate policy and its implications for international human rights standards,” says Costello.
Shareholders will vote on those resolutions at the June 12th shareholders’ meeting.
Contact Morton Sklar or Theresa Harris at (202) 296-5702, or msklar@humanrightsusa.org, for more information about Wang Xiaoning, Yu Ling, and Shi Tao, and their lawsuit against Yahoo.
Click here for media reports collected by World Organization for Human Rights USA.
Also See:
jailed for 10 years - Yahoo Shi Tao scandal, March 31, 2006
Boing Boing - Jailed Chinese journo Shi Tao joins lawsuit against Yahoo, May 30, 2007
Yu Ling - Jailed dissident’s wife sues Yahoo, April 20, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
May 31st, 2007 at 7:49 pm
First, before I get flamed by people who don’t bother reading what I am writing, I am an avid believer in Human rights.
With that said, when will people realize that companies are bound by the governing laws of the country that they are working in, whether they feel it suits their belief or not.
Each country has their own laws, whether it be fair or not, and thus people who break the law, or do not comply with the governing body can and often are punished.
In this case, as long as Yahoo! has a business presence within China, they are required to comply with the coverning party. And I am sure that the two imprisoned, understood the risks of what they were doing, but felt that it was worth the risks to be found out.
Yahoo! or any corperation should not be held resonsible for their overseas companies did, in compliance with the the local governments. If so, it would be like trying to sue an non-US Walmart for the death of a child who was shot by a gun leagly sold in a US Walmart. (I am not sure if Walmart still sells guns, but I am sure you can understand the analagy).
Again, while I feel that these arrests were unjust, and do not confine with what I believe to be “fair”, I still feel that Yahoo! should not be punished for following the law in the respective country.
Just my two cents..