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Human Rights Commissioner Löning on Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng’s departure for the US
Commenting on the departure for the US of Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, Markus Löning, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, issued the following statement in Berlin today (19 May):
I’m delighted that Cheng Guangcheng is on his way to the US with his family. Hopefully, the ordeal to which he and his family were subjected for many has now come to an end and they will have the chance to recover. Despite great personal risk, the human rights lawyer Cheng Guangcheng worked for many years in support of people in China who had been deprived of their rights.
My thoughts are also with his courageous friends and supporters in China. I expect the Chinese authorities to guarantee their personal safety and their civil rights and to refrain from hindering their human rights work.
The German Government has been appealing on behalf of Chen Guangcheng for a long time. During the past few years, his case was regularly brought up during talks with the Chinese side.