【新唐人2011年11月18日訊】英國《每日電訊報》11月16號獨家刊登了一張照片，這張照片是一對退休英國夫婦，上個月到北京旅行時拍攝的。照片揭露的是當時在北京天安門廣場金水橋南側，一名中國老百姓自焚的過程。英國夫婦不理解的是，直到照片曝光為止，中國的微博和中共媒體，對於這起自焚事件完全沒有任何報導。中國律師與維權人士表示，在中共體制下，所謂負面信息，報導出來的機率相當低。
英國《每日電訊報》，在頭版刊出這張駭人的照片。這張照片是由英國皇家空軍退休工程師布朗提供的。布朗對《每日電訊報》表示，這起天安門前自焚事件發生在10月21號，自焚的人就在他面前2、3百公尺，他在放火自焚前曾高聲喊話。當時在場的有數百人，其中不少人還拿著相機拍攝，可令人感到震驚的是，這一極為罕見的悲劇性事件，卻沒有被任何媒體提起，也沒有在互聯網論壇、博客、微博等出現過，似乎根本就沒發生過。
為了核實這件事情，英國《每日電訊報》出示照片查證，北京公安部門的新聞辦才表示，這是一起不滿法庭裁決自焚事件。點火自焚的人姓王，來自中國湖北省黃岡市。
中國天網人權事務中心義工、成都維權人士浦飛表示，這種自焚慘劇在大陸甚至每一天都在發生。
浦飛：「中國媒體長期屬於一黨控制之下，它媒體沒有任何採訪和報導自由度。它每一篇報導都會經過中宣部、新聞局還有各地各省新聞處嚴格的審核，所以，任何負面報導你想出來，機率是相當低的。」
浦飛認為，現行法律體系下，中國民眾缺乏自救渠道，也缺少法律救助。北京律師唐吉田分析說，因為中共政府官員不是由民眾選舉產生，官員只對上負責，不對下負責，因此，對現實存在的問題能推就推，能拖就拖，甚至是掩蓋。
唐吉田：「類似的自焚事件、或者其他的自傷、自殘的一些事件，實際上它在某種程度上折射了現在一些官員違法行政，司法不公，導致的這種社會矛盾非常突出，以至於一些民眾不惜以生命為代價，來維護自己的權利，換取人們的關注。（中共當局）長期以來對新聞媒體的這種非法的管制，使得一些社會問題，一些突發事件也好，或者是有影響社會的一些動態，不能夠及時的得到有效的披露，讓民眾的知情權，受到了相當大的這種影響。」
雲南省昭陽區一位祖居被強拆的居民崔昆，給昭陽區政府，區委書記馬吉林寫了一封求助信。信中表示，如果省委、省政府領導不為他一家老小申冤做主，他們家如果得不到政府的公道對待，他和母親只有到昭陽區政府門口自焚。
雲南崔昆：「因為我們家的祖籍被強拆了，然後，我們找政府，一直在找政府，一直在要求他們公平、公正的解決，可是，他們一直不解決。母親和我現在一身重病，在這種絕望的心情下，我們現在只有選擇自焚。來維護我們的合法產權。」
而英國《每日電訊報》則表示，雖然布朗提供的圖片被帶到北京市公安局求證，公安局也沒有否認撒謊，但顯然這個事件被精心掩蓋了起來。報導說：如果沒有這張圖片的話，這位王姓男子自焚事件肯定又會被當局當作「謠言」，而中國面臨的最大問題就是：缺乏真相。
新唐人記者陳漢，唐睿，王明宇採訪報導。
CCP Self-immolation Cover-up
On Nov. 16, the U.K. newspaper, the Daily Telegraph,
published an exclusive photograph on its front page,
which was taken by a retired British couple
when they traveled to China last month.
The photo shows the self-immolation of a Chinese man
at the south end of Golden Water Bridge in Tiananmen Square.
What confused the British couple is the fact that,
until the photo was published,
there was not a single mention of the event on Weibo
or on China』s state-run media.
Some Chinese lawyers and human rights activists commented
that in China not every bit of negative news can be published.
The shocking photograph on the front page of
the Daily Telegraph was provided by Mr. Brown,
a retired engineer from the Royal Air Force.
Brown told the Daily Telegraph that the photo was taken on Oct. 21.
He was around two or three hundred yards away
from the man when the man lit himself on fire.
Brown said the man yelled something in a loud voice
before he lit himself on fire.
Hundreds of people witnessed the event and many of them
had been taking photographs, as well.
However, what』s amazing is that such an uncommon tragedy
was not reported by any Chinese media,
nor mentioned on any Internet forums, blogs,
or Weibo websites. It』s like the event never happened.
To confirm the incident, the Daily Telegraph showed the
photograph to the Beijing Public Security Bureau.
Its press department then acknowledged that the man in the
photo is Wang from Huanggang City, Hubei Province.
He took this extreme action because he could not accept the
outcome of a local civil litigation court decision."
Pu Fei, a volunteer of China Tianwang Human Rights
Information Center and human rights activist from Chengdu,
said that a tragedy like this probably happens every day
in mainland China.
Pu Fei: “The media in China has been under
the CCP』s control for many years.
People don』t have any real freedom to interview
who they want to or report the news as it happens.
For any article to go to press, it has to pass all the
censorship rules of the CCP』s Publicity Department,
General Administration of Press and Publication,
and many local administration agencies.
Therefore it』s not that easy to publish negative news.”
Pu Fei said, under the CCP』s legal system, Chinese people
have few ways to protect themselves from unfair treatment.
Beijing lawyer, Tang Jitian, said that since CCP officials
are not elected by the public,
they only care about satisfying their superiors rather than
their inferiors.
Thus, they try their best to dodge real problems,
or just cover them up from the public view.
Tang Jitian: “This self-immolation incident,
or other forms of self-mutilation,
tell us that social conflicts caused by unrestricted illegal
administration and miscarriages of justice from the different levels of the CCP』s regime,
have become so serious that some Chinese choose to
sacrifice their lives in order to protect their legal rights and attract social attention.
The CCP』s media censorship has always prevented
many existing problems,
social changes, or unexpected events from being reported
on time. This greatly infringes upon the Chinese people』s right to know.”
Cui Kun, a resident of Zhaoyang District, Yunnan Province,
had his home demolished.
He wrote a letter to the local officials of the Zhaoyang District
and its party chief, Ma Jilin.
The letter threatened that if the provincial leaders
would not redress the situation for his family,
he and his mother would self-immolate in front of the
Zhaoyang District government biding.
Cui Kun: “Our family』s former residence was demolished.
We turned to the local government many times and asked them come up with a fair solution.
However, they didn』t take any action at all.
My mother and I both have serious illnesses.
Under such desperate conditions, we have no choice
but to immolate to protect our legal rights.”
The Daily Telegraph』s article mentioned that although the
Beijing Public Security Bureau did not deny that they had lied,
after being shown the photograph taken by Brown,
obviously the event had been covered up in a very elaborate way.
The article speculated that the self-immolation of Wang
would definitely be officially announced as a “rumor” without evidence of the photograph.
The article said that the biggest problem in China today,
is the lack of truth.
NTD reporters Chen Han, Tang Rui and Wang Mingyu