Rights group urges China to free last 30 Tiananmen prisoners

Rights group urges China to free last 30 Tiananmen prisoners Beijing - A US-based rights group on Wednesday urged China to release the estimated 30 people still imprisoned for their role in a democracy movement that was crushed by troops 20 years ago.

The Dui Hua Foundation said it had reduced its estimate of prisoners held on charges linked to the 1989 democracy movement from 60 to 30, after concluding that about two dozen others were released over recent months.

"Dui Hua hopes the Chinese government will commute the sentences of these last remaining 'June 4th' prisoners," the group said, referring to the military crackdown on protesters on June 4, 1989.

"Today, most of these prisoners are middle-aged men who have benefited from several sentence reductions as testimony to their good behaviour," John Kamm, Dui Hua's executive director, said in a statement.

"Releasing them would be broadly welcomed in China and around the world," Kamm said.

"Dui Hua looks forward to the day when the Chinese government will provide a full accounting of those detained for offenses committed during the 1989 protests," he said.

The group said most of those believed to be still imprisoned in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an were young workers in 1989.

Kamm, a US citizen, is a former businessman who for the past 18 years has used his connections in China to lobby officials to reduce sentences or release prisoners.

The 1989 protests ended when troops with tanks and live ammunition moved through Beijing overnight on June 3-4, 1989, reportedly killing hundreds of unarmed civilians who allegedly blocked their route.

Demonstrators, who congregated in Tiananmen Square, had urged the government to end corruption and allow democracy and other political and social rights.

The Tiananmen Mothers, a group of victims' relatives, has repeatedly demanded an official investigation into the military action and a public announcement of the death toll and the names of the dead.