Thousands of people attended Amnesty International UK’s demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in London to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.

Amnesty recreated the iconic ‘tank man’ image from Tiananmen Square, with survivor Shao Jiang standing in front of a real, full-sized tank outside Amnesty’s headquarters. Over 10,000 people across the UK signed a petition which was sent to the Chinese authorities on behalf of those whose children were killed by Chinese troops who opened fire on the peaceful protesters in Beijing on 4 June 1989.

The Tiananmen Square incident killed hundreds of people, with dozens of protesters still languishing in prisons after unfair trials. Many more activists have been arrested for questioning since the Chinese government’s actions in 1989.

Demonstrators laid thousands of red roses outside the Chinese embassy in a sign of solidarity for the mothers of those killed who are not allowed to mourn their child’s death publicly for fear of reprisals from the Chinese authorities. Along with the roses, a minute’s silence was held as demonstrators held aloft red roses in mourning for not just the fallen victims of Tiananmen Square, but also for those killed in the recent Sichuan earthquake.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

“We appealed to the Chinese government to support the Tiananmen victims’ families’ simple demand   - the freedom to publicly mourn the deaths of their children without harassment and a full investigation into the events of June 1989. The Chinese authorities still deny their people the right to peacefully protest 19 years on from the Tiananmen Square crackdown. It’s never been more important for people here in the UK to stand up for human rights in China.”

Tiananmen Square survivor Shao Jiang said:

“Back in 1989 in Beijing I helped organise the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. I was arrested and held in prison for 18 months, followed by years of harassment and further detention. But I was still one of the lucky ones. Many of the participants were killed. I am here to commemorate the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown and to support the demands of the Tiananmen families”’

Amnesty International Australia are also getting involved with a campaign to make China’s broken promise to improve human rights become a reality for its people.

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> > click here to make a donation to Amnesty International Australia

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The WWF have given praise to police who prosecuted a man found trading in large amounts of illegal ivory. Mr. Michael Elliott, 57 of Gravesend, Kent was found guilty today at Southwark Crown Court and given a two year suspended sentence, plus ordered to pay £1480 in costs.

This was one of the largest seizures of ivory made to in the UK by the Wildlife Crime Unit. Their findings not only uncovered 24 whole ivory tusks, but also dozens of hand carved items made from elephant, hippo and sperm whale ivory.

Hippo, sperm whale and African Elephant are all listed as vulnerable, and Asian elephants are listed currently listed as endangered. It is now believed that just 470,000 to 690,000 African elephants survive today in the wild, whilst only 25,600 to 33,000 Asian elephants remain.

All of these species are protected from uncontrolled international trade by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The C.I.T.E.S. is an international agreement signed by 173 countries to ban the commercial trade in endangered species. Operation Charm was launched by the Met Police in 1995 and is the only current police initiative against the illegal ivory trade in the UK.

Elephant tusks can be carved into ornaments and jewellery, as can whale bones and hippo’s teeth. Whilst a small proportion of ivory is taken from animals that have naturally died, the demand for ivory often leads to elephants being poached. With an international ban in place on the trade of ivory since 1990, corruption and a lack of enforcement on the ivory markets in Africa and Asia fuel the illegal trade.

The WWF’s UK trade officer Heather Sohl said -
“We praise the successful prosecution of a man trying to break a law put in place to protect endangered species across the globe. On the face of it the sentence does appear lenient. Strict penalties are available and should be used to discourage future criminality of this nature. This case demonstrates the need for UK police forces to have officers dedicated to combating wildlife crime. By working in partnership with them we will bring an end to this illegal trade before it brings an end to some of the world’s most important species.”

Over 30,000 ivory items have been seized by the Wildlife Crime Unit in the last decade, with the group also serving as a model enforcement agency for officials in China, India and other countries who have problems with wildlife trafficking.

> > click here to make a donation to the WWF

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