Beijing, June 6 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation has condemned China for preventing the family members of the victims killed in Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown from visiting their loved ones’ graves during this week’s 37th anniversary, describing the move as a “heartless act”.
Amnesty International said that the Chinese authorities must be held accountable for the grave human rights violations committed during the June 4, 1989 crackdown. It further demanded that the families must be allowed to commemorate those killed 37 years ago while exercising their right to protest.
The events leading to the Tiananmen Massacre began in April 1989 when students, workers, and others gathered peacefully in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, calling for free expression, democratic reform, and an end to corruption. On June 3-4 that year, the Chinese army opened fire on protesters and bystanders in Beijing, killing several people.
According to the rights body, the Tiananmen Mothers group said it was notified by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on June 2, 2026 that they would not be allowed to visit Beijing’s Wan’an Cemetery to pay tribute to their loved ones. The notice also prohibited them from holding their customary June 4 commemorative activities marking the 37th anniversary of the atrocity.
The group said that it was the first time in more than three decades that authorities had barred family members from visiting the graves of their loved ones.
“Banning the relatives of people killed in the Tiananmen crackdown from visiting their loved ones’ graves is a heartless act by the Chinese authorities. The Tiananmen Mothers were not previously blocked from cemetery visits on the 4 June anniversary, and it is deeply troubling that this year the suppression of Tiananmen commemoration appears to be escalating – reflecting the government’s deep-seated insecurity about people’s demands for accountability,” said Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, Sarah Brooks.
“For years the Chinese authorities have sought to erase the public’s collective memory of the bloody events of 4 June 1989, but this latest prohibition is an attempt to stamp out even the personal memories of the victims’ families. This suggests an approach that is increasingly hardline and devoid of compassion. To continually deny the truth about the Tiananmen crackdown is abhorrent, but to deny relatives the ability to mourn their dead shows another level of cruelty,” she added.
The Tiananmen Mothers group is comprised of relatives of protesters killed during the 1989 crackdown. Every year on June 4, for more than three decades since the crackdown, the group has travelled to Wan’an Cemetery under police escort to mourn and to read memorial texts and eulogies in remembrance of their loved ones.
The group has repeatedly called on the Chinese government to reveal the truth about the Tiananmen crackdown and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.
Amnesty International noted that the members of the group have frequently been subjected to surveillance and other restrictions, particularly ahead of the 4 June anniversary date.
–IANS
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