*FRONT LINE* *URGENT APPEAL – 02/04/2010*
*China: Attack on Chinese Human Rights Defenders' website* The Chinese-language website of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) has been hacked into and rendered inaccessible by a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. CHRD is a China-based non-governmental network of grassroots and international human rights defenders dedicated to promoting human rights and empowering grassroots activism in China. CHRD’s website is hosted outside the country by the US-based company Go Daddy. Dear Friends, Thank you for signing up to take action on behalf of human rights defenders at risk. Every day Front Line receives information about human rights defenders in danger and each week we ask the members of the urgent appeal network to take action on behalf of one defender. Action by members of the network is a very simple and effective way of sending a message to governments that they have an obligation to respect the rights of human rights defenders. If you would like information on other cases you can log onto the Front Line web site at * http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/act* *Your action on behalf of human rights defenders at risk can make a real difference.* *Take Action * *Please copy the enclosed letter and send it to the address provided.* *The text of the letter is attached separately so you can just print it out and send it off.* *Please put your own name and address on the letter. and if you receive a reply, please forward it to Front Line.* President Hu Jintao, Office of the President, State Council Secretariat, Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing, China. Your Excellency The Chinese-language website of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) has been hacked into and rendered inaccessible by a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. CHRD is a China-based non-governmental network of grassroots and international human rights defenders dedicated to promoting human rights and empowering grassroots activism in China. CHRD’s website is hosted outside the country by the US-based company Go Daddy. On 25 March 2010, hackers reportedly started attacks against the servers which host CHRD's website. As a result of these ongoing DDoS attacks, the Chinese-language CHRD website (http://www.crd-net.org) has now been rendered inaccessible for five days. CHRD has not yet been able to identify the source of the attacks. This is the second time this year that CHRD's website has been targeted. On 23 January 2010, the website was out of service for approximately 16 hours following a similar attack. Other websites run by Chinese human rights defenders, including Independent Chinese PEN, New Century News, Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch and Canyu were also targeted at the same time. DDoS attacks are being increasingly used to target websites operated by Chinese human rights defenders. Go Daddy has reported a recent increase in the number of DDoS attacks on its systems, many of which appear to originate in China. On 24 March 2010, Go Daddy’s executive vice-president and general counsel Ms Christine N. Jones announced that Go Daddy will discontinue registering new Chinese (.cn) domain names following the introduction of the new Chinese government guidelines in December 2009 which require that individuals provide detailed identification before registering. These attacks take place in the context of Google’s recent decision to stop filtering results on its Chinese-language search engine in protest against China's censorship laws and recent attacks by hackers in China. I believe that the attacks on CHRD's website are directly related to CHRD's human rights activities and constitute an attempt to prevent human rights defenders in China from disseminating information online. I urge the authorities in China to: 1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the attacks on CHRD's website, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards; 2. Ensure that all human rights defenders in China, carrying out their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, are able to operate free of restrictions and reprisals. Yours sincerely Name .............................................. address ............................................... address ............................................... address ............................................... Thank you for taking action on behalf of human rights defenders in China *If you want to be removed from the list simply send an email to*[email protected], and write 'unsubscribe' in thesubject and text of the e-mail. -- W A Laskar Freelance Reporter and Human Rights Activist with Barak Human Rights Protection Committee, http://bhrpc.net.googlepages.com 15, Panjabari Road, Darandha, Six Mile, Guwahati-781037, Assam, India Cell: +919401134314 Visit my blog at www.rightspeaks.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
Urgent Appeal Letter only 02 April 2010.doc
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