Ahead of the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, families of victims have reportedly been barred from visiting a Beijing cemetery to mourn their loved ones, making the first time in more than three decades that such commemorations have been blocked.
According to Radio Free Asia, members of the Tiananmen Mothers group said they had received notice from the Beijing Public Security Bureau that they would be barred from entering Wan’an Cemetery on 4 June to commemorate family members killed during the crackdown.
The families have strongly condemned the decision, describing it as a violation of China’s Constitution, the law and basic human dignity. They have called on the authorities to lift the restrictions.
In a protest statement issued on 1 June, the group said families of victims had been informed that they would not be allowed to hold either individual or collective acts of remembrance at Wan’an Cemetery on 4 June. They were also reportedly forbidden from reading memorial tributes or publishing photographs related to commemorative activities.
The statement denounced the Beijing authorities of imposing unreasonable infringement on the families’ right to mourn their deceased family members, arguing that the restrictions violate basic legal and humanitarian principles. It urged the authorities to reverse what it described as an unprecedented curtailment of remembrance activities.
Zhang Xianling, an 88-year-old member of the Tiananmen Mothers, whose son had been killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown i told Radio Free Asia that the restrictions marked an unprecedented development.
“They are no longer allowing us to go to Wan’an Cemetery, nor are we permitted to read memorial texts or tributes. These were things we had routinely done in previous years,” she said.
“Now they are not even allowing us to go there at all. This has never happened before.”