Dear willing letter writers, thank you for your interest in writing to your Canadian Member of Parliament. This is the way to raise the international profile, so that the Chinese sentencing body take notice and consider this BEFORE metting out a random/maximum sentence. Please adapt the letter to fit your relationship with Wu Yuren and/or Karen Patterson:
July 14, 2010
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ottawa, Ontario
Prime Minister Harper. My brother in law, Wu Yuren, has been in Chinese prison for over six weeks now. He was formally arrested after one month. Five policemen assaulted him soon after he was detained. His wife, my sister, has not been communicated to adequately by the officials at the detention centre. Wu himself, as you’ll see in the Calgary Herald article below, has been a visiting artist at the University of Calgary and given lectures at the Alberta College of Art and Design.
We’re all fearful for his safety right now. We’re calling on your government to quickly intercede on his behalf to ensure that he is treated fairly. Wu Yuren is not a criminal – he’s a husband, father, son, uncle to my children and an artist. Please help him.
We’d appreciate hearing what steps you will take to arrange his freedom.
Sincerely,
Diane Patterson & Peter Abramowicz and family
News Articles from Canadian Media:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/515986
Letters to be sent to:
Stephen Harper, Canadian Prime Minister
pm@pm.gc.ca
Lawrence Cannon – Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
cannon.l@parl.gc.ca
David Mulroney, Canadian Ambassador to China, Beijing
david.mulroney@international.gc.ca
plus your own Member of Parliament!!
I am a former student of Dawu; I took his Contemporary Chinese Art summer class (University of Saskatchewan) six years ago. He made each of us a stone seal with which to imprint our art; I was very moved by his presence and his voice as an artist. It was so interesting to discover his practice and his amazing personality through his interpreter,his wife, Karen.
I was devastated when I heard about this situation and realized that this is not the only instance of such abuse of power. I have been following on facebook and was ecstatic about Dawu’s release.
I hope that authorities in China will see reason. I hope that justice and peace will outweigh the greed and oppression of the authorities.