China: Christmas crackdown against activists continues

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
28 December 2011

China: Christmas crackdown against activists continues

The Chinese authorities must immediately release prominent women’s rights activist Ni Yulan, who faces several years in jail when her trial starts on 29 December, Amnesty International said today.

Ni Yulan is the third activist that Amnesty International is aware of to be tried over the past few weeks, as the Chinese authorities crack down on individuals they perceive to be a threat.

For more than a decade, Ni Yulan has campaigned against forced evictions and other rights violations in China. She has been charged, along with her husband, Dong Jiqin, with “picking quarrels and making trouble” and “fraud.”

“The Chinese government seems to be doing its best to put anyone they deem a threat behind bars over the holiday season, when many people around the world are distracted by festivities,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director.

“The authorities are using vague charges and unfair trials to quickly do away with so-called troublemakers before the unprecedented leadership transition in 2012, that will see the majority of members of China’s most powerful decision-making bodies replaced with a new generation of leaders.”

On 23 December, a court sentenced another prominent activist, Chen Wei, to nine years in prison for writing and distributing essays critical of the Communist Party. On 26 December, activist Chen Xi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for forming a human rights discussion group.

Over the past 10 years the authorities have continued to subject Ni Yulan to harassment, detention and torture. When she was detained in 2002, her knee caps and feet were broken. Her injuries were so severe that she remains in a wheel chair.

“The Chinese authorities have made Ni Yulan’s life unbearable, subjecting her to detention and beatings that have left her unable to walk,” said Sam Zarifi. ” The Chinese government must immediately release Ni Yulan, and her husband, and bring an end to their persecution.”

According to her lawyer, Ni Yulan is to stand trial at Beijing Xicheng North District People’s Court. She faces charges of “fraud” for allegedly providing legal advice without a lawyer’s license to people across China who faced forced eviction and other housing rights violations.

Ni Yulan’s husband, Dong Jiqin, who has consistently supported his wife’s work on human rights, will also be put on trial for “picking quarrels and making trouble.”

The couple were detained on 7 April 2011 and formally arrested on 13 and 15 April. They have only been allowed to meet with their lawyers two or three times since their detention.

Ni Yulan’s health has deteriorated during this time. She suffers from injuries sustained while being tortured during previous detentions as well as other health issues.

Ni Yulan’s daughter, Dong Xuan, told Amnesty International, “The authorities can destroy my mother’s record of education and question her lawyer’s license, but they cannot destroy the work my mother has done for people or ignore the torture, detention and imprisonment she has suffered over the years for that work.”

Background

Ni Yulan is herself a victim of forced eviction. Since 2001, she has defended people’s housing rights in China and has been detained three times at length for her work.

In 2002, as Ni Yulan was filming the demolition of a Beijing home, authorities took her to a nearby police station and tortured her for several days, breaking her feet and kneecaps. Her injuries were so severe that she remains in a wheel chair.

When Ni Yulan attempted to petition the authorities over the beatings, she was arrested, convicted of “obstructing official business,” and sentenced to one year in prison. Her husband, Dong Jiqin, was barred from attending her trial.

After her release in 2003, Ni Yulan continued fighting for the rights of people facing eviction ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She was arrested and imprisoned for two years in 2008 just before the Olympics while trying to stop the demolition of her own home. She was tortured and suffered from other ill-treatment during the prison time and was denied adequate medical care.

Gao Zhisheng violated probation and will be sent back to prison

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
NEWS FLASH
16 December 2011

English-language state media reports that Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng violated probation and will be sent back to prison are ‘shocking’ Amnesty International said today:

“This is truly shocking news. We have not heard from Gao Zhisheng in 20 months – his family has not known if he is dead or alive and now the authorities send out a cryptic announcement that his so-called probation has been revoked,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director.

“There is nothing lawful about the way the authorities have handled Gao Zhisheng’s case. The authorities have tortured Gao Zhisheng, subjected him to 20 months enforced disappearance, held him captive and separated him from his family, causing unbelieveable stress to his loved ones. This inhumane treatment must stop. He has suffered enough. His family has suffered enough. He must be freed.

“The authorities’ belated attempt to cast a veneer of legality over their treatment of Gao Zhisheng is truly shameful. Through a combination of illegal house arrest followed by enforced disappearance, Gao Zhisheng has already been captive for nearly double his original “suspended” sentence.

“The international community, diplomats, politicians and others have made Gao Zhisheng a high priority case in meetings with Chinese officials. But this has not been enough. We urge the international community to continue to press the Chinese government for Gao’s release.

“The international community must not let up in their condemnation of this travesty of justice,” she said.

Background

Gao Zhisheng is a prisoner of conscience. Since 2006, he has been repeatedly tortured. He remains at high risk of further torture and other ill-treatment.

In December 2006 Gao Zhisheng received a suspended three-year prison sentence for “inciting subversion.” The authorities’ tight control over him went far beyond the restrictions that may lawfully be placed on those under a suspended sentence. Initially he was held under illegal house arrest, then, following publication of an account of his torture, police took Gao Zhiseng away from his family home on 4 February 2009.

Fourteen months later in late March 2010, Gao Zhisheng briefly appeared in Beijing after the authorities came under domestic and international pressure to disclose information about him. At the time, rumours about his possible death at the hands of the authorities had begun to circulate. He gave a televised interview to the Associated Press on 7 April 2010 at a Beijing teahouse. In the interview, Gao Zhisheng said that “I don’t have the capacity to persevere. On the one hand, it’s my past experiences. It’s also that these experiences greatly hurt my loved ones. This ultimate choice of mine, after a process of deep and careful thought, is to seek the goal of peace and calm.”

Two weeks later, sometime between 9-12 April 2010, Gao Zhisheng was seen leaving his Beijing home and getting into a vehicle parked outside his building. He was carrying just a backpack when he left. This was last time he was seen or heard from. From then on, Gao was subjected to enforced disappearance, with spokespersons for the government denying all knowledge of his detention.

For further comment or information please contact:

• Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Director on + 44 7961 421 612 (in Hong Kong)
• Katya Nasim, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Press Officer on +44 7904 398 103 (in London)

China must address causes of Tibet self-immolations

Amnesty International
7 November 2011

China must address causes of Tibet self-immolations

The Chinese government must address the underlying causes of protests that have led 11 Tibetans to set themselves on fire since March, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.

In a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao on November 3, 2011, the human rights organizations called on the Chinese government to carry out a comprehensive review of the human rights situation across the Tibetan plateau and to end legal and policy restrictions that breach human rights in the region.

“The Chinese government must put an end to repressive policies that infringe on the fundamental freedoms of ethnic Tibetans,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general. “The Chinese authorities have not heeded the demands of Tibetans, but have instead resorted to heavy-handed tactics that can only deepen and further fuel resentments. They must respect the right of Tibetans to practice their religion and to enjoy their culture.”

The self-immolations have appeared to be in protest against restrictions on basic freedoms and punitive security measures imposed on a number of monasteries in the area, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. Tibetans have continued to set themselves on fire despite a crackdown by the authorities.

The Chinese government has responded to the protests with mass arrests, imprisonment, and possible killings by the security forces. Those arrested included 300 monks from Kirti monastery, who the authorities said were taken away for “patriotic education”.

“Years of restrictions on Tibetans’ rights have led to further unrest and acts of desperation,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “It is clearly time for the Chinese government to fundamentally rethink its approach by listening to and addressing Tibetans’ grievances.”

Nine Tibetan monks or former monks and two Tibetan nuns in Sichuan Province have set themselves on fire since March, and six of them are believed to have died. In the most recent case, on November 3, Palden Choetso, a 35-year old nun from Tawu nunnery, died after she set herself on fire.

The Chinese government should reveal the whereabouts of everyone who has been detained, including those who set themselves on fire in protests and were then taken away, the groups said.

The Chinese government should also end the compulsory political indoctrination that Tibetan monks and nuns undergo as part of government-enforced “patriotic” and “legal education,” Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. Many Tibetans have particularly complained about this practice as intrusive on their rights to free expression and free exercise of their religion.

The organizations also called on the government to reduce the heavy security presence that continues in and around religious institutions.

One year anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel announcement

Amnesty International
5 October 2011

China should release jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo and wife

The Chinese authorities must immediately release prisoners of conscience Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia, Amnesty International said today, a year after the jailed activist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and his wife placed under illegal house arrest.

Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power” following an unfair trial. Contrary to China’s own laws, he had been held in incommunicado detention since December 2008. Liu Xia, an artist and poet, has been living in enforced isolation at her Beijing home since 8 October last year.

“Within hours of the announcement that her husband had been awarded the Nobel peace prize, the police made Liu Xia a virtual prisoner in her own home,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Asia Pacific.

“Without being charged with any crime, without trial or any other judicial procedure, and without any means to challenge her detention, Liu Xia was placed under illegal house arrest and since then has all but disappeared, simply for being the wife of a renowned government critic.

“Liu Xiabo must be released immediately and unconditionally and all restrictions on Liu Xia must be lifted,” she added.

Liu Xia was last heard from in February 2011 when she briefly managed to be in touch with a friend

During their short online chat, Liu Xia said that she was feeling miserable, was unable to go out and that her whole family was being held hostage.

Only Liu Xia’s mother, who lives in the same housing complex, is occasionally allowed to see her but she and other family members are pressured by the police not to divulge any details of Liu Xia’s situation. Media reports indicate that her brother in law was permitted to see her for the first time last week.

According to unofficial reports, Liu Xia and Liu Xiaobo have been allowed to meet twice since January this year.

“In depriving Liu Xia of her liberty, the government makes no pretence at legality.” Catherine Baber said.

In March 2011, the authorities told the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which is investigating her case, that “no legal enforcement measure” had been taken against her.

Before he was formally arrested, the authorities claimed that Liu Xiaobo was held under “residential surveillance”, a form of house arrest for criminal suspects and defendants stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law.

However, contrary to that law, the authorities moved him from his home and family and kept him in isolation at an unknown location.

Amnesty International is extremely concerned about recently published draft versions of China’s Criminal Procedure Law that would enable the police to hold suspects under a form of “residential surveillance” for up to six months – but not in their own home.

Family members would not be informed of either the reasons for or the location of their detention when the case is alleged to involve crimes of “endangering state security”, “terrorism”, or when notification would “damage the investigation”.

“The Chinese authorities seem intent on silencing any form of dissent. This unlawful and seemingly relentless crackdown on activists must end, “said Catherine Baber

This year, Chinese authorities have shown similar disregard of national laws and regulations through the detentions of more than 130 activists, bloggers and lawyers in the so-called “Jasmine crackdown”, an attempt to prevent demonstrations inspired by events in the Middle East from happening in China.

The majority of the activists, bloggers and lawyers were detained incommunicado at unknown locations without any formal notification of their arrest ever being issued.

Many of those now released have remained silent about their experiences out of fear of further repercussions. However, friends have been able to describe some of the consequences of their ordeal: weight loss, loss of memory, insomnia, and other signs of trauma.

Those who have spoken out about their detention – including internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, Jiang Tianyong and Liu Shihui, both human rights lawyers – have revealed how they were beaten and kicked, repeatedly interrogated, kept under constant watch and deprived of sleep, made to sit motionless for up to 15 hours.

Others, including blogger Wang Lihong and human rights activist Ding Mao, have been tried and imprisoned or are still in detention awaiting trial for alleged crimes such as “inciting subversion of state power”.

More Tibetan monks set themselves on fire to protest repression

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
28 September 2011

China: More Tibetan monks set themselves on fire to protest repression

Monday’s reported self-immolation attempt by two young Tibetan monks in Sichuan province is the third such incident since March this year.

According to the official Chinese news agency, the two were promptly taken to a hospital. However, the Tibetan exiled sources say that their exact whereabouts are unknown and that it is possible that one of them died on the spot.

These recent immolations have reportedly been protests against the Chinese government’s repression of freedom of religion and cultural rights in Tibetan areas. Amnesty International urges the Chinese government to end these repressive practices immediately and respect the right of Tibetans to practice their culture and religion.

The Chinese government has clamped down on the monasteries at the centre of these incidents: Kirti monastery in Ngaba county, Sichuan Province, and Nyitse monastery in Kardze country, also in Sichuan.

The latest attempt at Kirti this week has taken place only six weeks after the death of a Nyitse monk Tsewang Norbu, who self-immolated on 15 August, calling for freedom and for the Dalai Lama’s return.

Tsewang Norbu’s fatal act was reportedly motivated by the Chinese authorities’ heavy-handed tactics since the Kirti Monastery monk Phuntsok’s self-immolation in March.

One of the monks who self-immolated this week is reported to be Phuntsok’s brother. Six months ago, Phuntsok is said to have shouted slogans such as “Long live the Dalai Lama” as he set himself on fire.

Phuntsok’s act recalled the 2009 protest by another Kirti monastery monk Tapey, who burned himself while raising a self-made Tibetan flag with a picture of the Dalai Lama at its centre.

Phuntsok’s suicide this March was followed by protests, mass arrests of people including around 300 Kirti monastery monks, enforced disappearances and possible killings by the security forces. High schools where students expressed solidarity with the Kirti monastery monks were reportedly blockaded and raided, and books burned by security forces.

Two elderly Tibetans – a 65-year old woman called Sherkyi and a 60-year old man Dongkho – died after local residents clashed with security forces whilst trying to stop the mass arrest of Kirti monastery monks. Another Tibetan, Chukpel, 24 died in hospital soon after police reportedly beat him. He had been staging a protest for self-governance for Tibetans outside a local police station in Ngaba.

Three of the monks arrested, one of them Phuntsok’s uncle, have recently been sentenced to 10 and 13 years imprisonment for encouraging the self-immolation or for “intentional homicide”.

Among the some 300 monks detained in Marchwere children, whom the Chinese authorities say were taken away for “patriotic education”, which consists of denunciation of the Dalai Lama and inculcation in the Chinese government’s version of Tibetan history.

Most of the monks have since been released, but Amnesty International knows of least five more people who have each been sentenced to three years imprisonment in ongoing criminal proceedings. Their names are Lobsang Khedup, Lobsand Gyatso, Dhonyoe Dorjee, Lobsang Dhargay and Kunchok Tsultrim. The exact charges and other details of their trials are unknown, but Amnesty International has frequently documented violations of the right to fair trial in Tibet and elsewhere in China. At least three others have been assigned to Re-education Through Labour.

According to Tibetan exile sources, the security forces took control in Kardze after the Nyitse monastery immolation last month. There were reports that the security forces cut off water, electricity and food supplies to the monastery. Internet and mobile phone text messaging services are reportedly unavailable in Ngaba county.

And in Kirti monastery, the “patriotic education” of monks continues on a daily basis.

Witnessing the death penalty in the 21st century

This evening was a memorable moment in my human rights work. I left my day job a few minutes early to attend a gathering at the local public square in support of Troy Davis. I joined a small group of people waiting for the Supreme Court to announce its decision to issue a stay of execution. The clock ticked away as we waited and scrambled all over the web with our mobile devices to get the latest update from Georgia. The crowd grew thinner and thinner. After about an hour and a half, I had to catch the bus to head home.

One of the attendees was sharing the livestream of Democracy Now on her iPad. I could barely hear anything. Once I got home, dinner was ready in minutes through the magic of a microwave and a toaster. By the time I turned on the TV and the attached computer, Amy Goodman and her producer were announcing that the Supreme Court denied the stay of execution. A 4-hour delay ended in vain. I couldn’t believe it. What took so long to say no?

The moment of killing a human being came and gone quickly. The crowd was particularly silent since the court’s announcement. The witnesses of the execution talked to the media about Troy’s last words. And those words were beautiful. I wish this did not happen at all. Earlier in the livestream, one of the guest speakers explained the process of the execution and she pointed out that Troy’s death certificate would list “homicide” as the cause of death. That’s what happened tonight. A willful homicide witnessed by a small quiet group behind a piece of glass.

Thank you to Amy Goodman and the crew of Democracy Now for bringing live action of the death penalty to the masses. Although I wasn’t in Georgia in person, I could sense the intensity, anger and sadness. This is too real for me. I wish it will never happen again.

Second anniversary of July 5 protest in Xinjiang

Amnesty International
4 July 2011

China: Authorities grow bolder in Uighur crackdown

Two years on from riots and mass arrests in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Amnesty International has warned that the Chinese authorities continue to silence those speaking out on abuses during and after the unrest.

Hundreds of people were detained and prosecuted following the riots, with several dozen sentenced to death or executed and hundreds detained, with many of these sentenced to long prison terms.

Managers of well known Uighur websites and journalists have been jailed for involvement in posting messages announcing the protests, or for talking to foreign media.

Uighur asylum seeker Ershidin Israil was recently forcibly returned from Kazakhstan to China amid reported pressure from the Chinese authorities. He had been recently interviewed by Radio Free Asia about the alleged torture and death in custody of a young Uighur man in the aftermath of the protests.

“The government is not only still muzzling people who speak out about July 2009, it is using its influence outside its borders to shut them up,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Director for the Asia-Pacific.

“The general trend towards repression that we see all over China is particularly pronounced in Xinjiang, where the Uighur population has become a minority in its own homeland.”

On 5 July 2009 a protest in the regional capital Urumqi against perceived Chinese government inaction over the death of a Uighur factory worker in southern China, turned to ethnic rioting following police violence against demonstrators.

The unrest was followed by numerous reports of enforced disappearances, and torture in detention. The government is still arresting those who reveal human rights abuses that took place during and after the protests.

Dozens of people have reportedly been detained and ill-treated in connection with the revelation of the alleged death in custody reported to Radio Free Asia.

“Attacking every Uighur who speaks freely is no way to resolve the underlying grievances that led to the 2009 protests in the first place,” said Sam Zarifi. “The Chinese government has to listen to the grievances of the Uighur community and address their demands to have their rights respected and their culture protected.”

Memetjan Abdulla, a prominent state radio broadcaster is serving a life sentence for posting a protest notice on the Uighur website Salkin. Tursanjan Hezim and Dilshat Paerhat, both former web editors of well-known Uighur websites that reportedly posted protest notices, are serving seven and five years sentences respectively.

Hairat Niyaz, a Uighur journalist and website editor previously seen as pro-government, is serving a 15-year sentence on charges of “endangering state security” for essays he had written and interviews he gave to Hong Kong journalists following the July 2009 protests.

The Chinese authorities blamed overseas agitators for planning, directing and instigating the July 2009 unrest, without presenting evidence. According to official figures, 197 died in the course of the violence, the vast majority of them Han Chinese.

Eye witness accounts presented by Amnesty International in its 2010 report, ‘Justice, justice’: The July 2009 protests in Xinjiang, China, cast doubt on the official version of events, and point to unnecessary or excessive use of force by police against Uighur protesters including beatings, use of tear gas and shooting directly into crowds.

Dark times for lawyers as repression intensifies in China

Amnesty International
30 June 2011

China: Dark times for lawyers as repression intensifies

The Chinese government has unleashed an uncompromising series of measures intended to rein in the legal profession and suppress lawyers pursuing human rights cases, Amnesty International said today.

Against the Law – Crackdown on China’s Human Rights Lawyers Deepens details how state efforts to control lawyers have intensified over the last two years – and particularly in recent months.

“Human rights lawyers are subject to escalating silencing tactics – from suspension or revoking of licences, to harassment, enforced disappearance or even torture,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director.

Government fears of a “Jasmine Revolution” inspired by the Arab Spring have led to the detention of scores of government critics, activists and netizens since February.

As part of the crackdown, the government is rounding up lawyers associated with issues such as freedom of religion, freedom of expression and land rights.

“The Chinese state is attempting to wield and manipulate the law to crush those it perceives as a threat,” Catherine Baber said.

“Human rights lawyers are being targeted as they try to use the law to protect citizens against the excesses of the state. The government must release all those detained or forcibly disappeared for exercising, or even protecting fundamental rights,” she added.

Every year members of the legal profession in China have to undergo an ‘Annual Assessment’ which many believe has no basis under Chinese law. Local authorities assess law firms, while individual lawyers are assessed by supposedly independent lawyers associations. Lawyers who dare to take up ‘sensitive’ cases, such as human rights cases, often fail this assessment, which leads to their licence being suspended or revoked.

When annual assessment or threats fail to deter lawyers taking on such cases, lawyers are silenced by the authorities in ways that violate international human rights standards, and even China’s own laws.

The pressure, intimidation and persecution faced by human rights lawyers have kept their numbers down. Out of more than 204,000 lawyers in China, only a brave few hundred risk taking on cases that deal with human rights.

New regulations introduced in 2009-2010 prohibit lawyers from defending certain clients, commenting on their work to the media or challenging court malpractice, and expand the basis for lawyers to be charged with the crime of “inciting subversion” when carrying out legal defence.

The measures have made legal representation more difficult to find for those who need it most.

These include people prosecuted for membership of unofficial religious groups including the Falun Gong spiritual movement, Tibetan and Uighur protestors, victims of forced evictions, or those who challenge the government’s response to natural disasters or food safety issues.

Individuals who have suffered violations such as torture and illegal detention by the state are particularly vulnerable to inadequate legal representation. Examples include individuals facing the death penalty, prosecuted largely on the basis of confessions extracted through torture.

“If lawyers fear taking on ‘sensitive cases’, especially those involving official misconduct, then the Chinese people cannot rely on the law for redress, and officials have carte blanche to act with impunity,” said Catherine Baber.

“This type of repression ultimately can only backfire and undermine public faith in its leaders.

“Amnesty International calls on the government to restore licences to practice to lawyers suspended or disbarred for defending human rights cases, and for the governance of lawyers to be left to genuinely independent lawyers’ associations, as advocated by international standards and many people in China.

“Lawyers themselves must be protected – only then will they be able to exercise their full role in the protection of human rights and in the creation of a vibrant and, ultimately, just nation,” Catherine Baber said.