Peter Darling (@Peterinexile), head of the human rights group Defenders, tweeted on April 13 that more than a dozen victims of forced TV admissions by China’s global TV channels CGTN and CCTV-4 have written directly to TV providers in various countries in the past few weeks, asking them to review and carefully consider the tacit admission of these channels to viewers.
The letter reads: “Many of us have suffered from forced television confessions simply because we work to defend basic human rights, values that are taken for granted in your country.
In their letter, the victims recount the torture and threats they suffered at the hands of the Chinese police. “When torture did not work, the police used threats against loved ones to extract recorded confessions. One of us, before she was forced into submission, was shown video of her teenage son being beaten by police.”
The article points out that the staff of China’s global television stations CGTN and CCTV often actively cooperate with the police for the sole purpose of broadcasting false news and instilling fear in Chinese rights groups that defend the rule of law and democratic values.
“While television regulators around the world have begun to take decisive action or investigate the practices that Defenders has formally condemned, the signatories of the open letter argue that until Chinese media commit to stop The signatories of the open letter believe that broadcast networks are directly responsible for choosing to curb these human rights abuses until Chinese media commit to stop airing television confessions. They therefore implore network providers in all countries to stop rebroadcasting programs from China Global Television’s CGTN and CCTV-4, as allowing such egregious programs to be broadcast amounts to facilitating gross human rights abusive practices.
Defenders said the open letter was sent to television providers in Europe, the United States and Australia: France (Eutelsat), Germany (Vodafone), Italy (TivuSat), Norway (Telia), Switzerland (UPC), Canada (Rogers), Australia (FoxTel and FetchTV), in addition to the fact that, as a result of an earlier complaint by Defenders SBS has taken off air CGTN and CGTN-4 pending investigation due to an earlier complaint from the Protector), New Zealand (Sky, Vodafone), the US (Dish, DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, Comcast) and India (Dish TV). In the coming weeks, open letters will be filed with additional broadcasters.
The organization also appealed to the European Commission and the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services.
The letter was also sent to British TV providers (Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media) that had cut off China’s Global TV network, asking them not to (re)broadcast CGTN after it obtained a de facto trans-European broadcasting license in France. Ofcom officially revoked China’s broadcast license on February 10 of this year.
“Defenders said that Telia Norway, in line with its corporate social responsibility, in particular principles 1 and 2 of the UN Global Compact (business should support and respect the protection of internationally recognized human rights; and ensure that they do not engage in human rights abuses), announced an immediate halt to broadcasting after receiving an open letter from the victims of the television confession. Sweden’s Telia quietly stopped broadcasting CGTN and CCTV-4 earlier in the day following direct appeals in local media by two Swedish victims.
Last month, Australian public broadcaster SBS suspended broadcasting of CGTN and CCTV-4 pending an investigation in response to a written complaint filed by the Protector’s Guardian about forced TV admissions. In the U.K., television regulators have imposed large fines on CGTN for broadcasting forced TV admissions and related privacy violations. France’s television regulator, the CSA, has issued a warning, while regulators in Canada and the United States are investigating the channels.
On April 5, Mr. Abdurehim Mamutjan and Mr. Adrian Zenz, representatives of Defenders, filed two formal complaints with the French regulator CSA and the U.S. regulator FCC, accusing the Chinese global television network CGTN of gross misrepresentation and fabrication of lies, including the broadcast of a forced statement by a 10-year-old child.
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