Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2002 - China

Law restrictions²¹

The Chinese government signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998 and freedom of association is enshrined in Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution; nevertheless, the Chinese authorities have at their disposal an extremely restrictive legal apparatus regarding associations. In fact, in 1998, China adopted a series of decree-laws (N° 250, 51 and 252) which have increased government control and made it more difficult to create an association. For instance, the state may ban the registration of an association; moreover, nationwide groups cannot set up regional branches and any individual undertaking "unauthorised action" (no definition is provided as to what these words refer to) is liable to a criminal sentence and may be held in custody. Provisions are made in the new legislation for the government to have access to associations' accounts; controls by state "sponsors" – to which any association must report to – have been strengthened, with no right of appeal in case of conflict.

Human rights movements

The authorities have been particularly hostile to human rights defenders. Setting up a human rights defence group is strictly forbidden. Individuals are constantly arrested and detained for denouncing human rights violations or helping the victims of such violations.

For instance, the members of Tiananmen Mothers, a group that represents the families of the demonstrators killed or injured during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, suffer from harassment, intimidation and are labelled as 'traitors' by the authorities. The organisation does not exist officially and Mr Ding Zilin, its spokesperson, is under constant political pressure.

In November 2002, Mr Li Yiblin, editor of the on-line magazine Democracy and Freedom, was imprisoned. His whereabouts remain unknown. His arrest is part and parcel of a government strategy to increase control over the media, especially the internet. The Observatory fears that other cyber-dissidents, who have little contact outside China, may have been arrested this year.

Furthermore, Mr Li Hai is still in jail for having gathered information on the cases of 500 Beijing residents sentenced to long periods in prison for taking part in the 1989 demonstrations. In 1996, he had been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for "seeking and gathering" state secrets.

Social movements

Despite China's ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2001, independent trade unions are still illegal. There is only one trade union, controlled by the government. The Chinese government has not yet ratified the two Conventions of the International Labour Organisation (87 and 98) on the right to join a trade union.

Workers' representatives are systematically arrested: Mr Yao Fuxin, Mr Pang Quingxiang, Mr Xiao Yunliang and Mr Wang Zhaoming were arrested during the 11th and 12th March 2002 demonstration, which reportedly mobilised over 10,000 workers in Liaoyang, asking the government to uphold their right to decent living conditions. The aforementioned leaders were imprisoned with no prior knowledge of the charges against them. Mr Pang Quingxiang and Mr Wang Zhaoming were released on 20th December 2002.

By the same token, Mr Xu Jian, a lawyer specialising in labour law, was arrested in December 1999 and sentenced in July 2000 to four years' imprisonment, by the People's Middle Court of Baotou, for "conspiring against the socialist system and the power of the State". His health has seriously deteriorated. He had given legal advice to the workers at his office and via his Web site and had helped them during lawsuits and arbitration proceedings.

Religious groups

The Chinese government banned the Falun Gong movement in July 1999 and cracked down on its members. According to the Falun Dafa Information Centre, as of September 2002, 485 followers of the cult have died since government persecution of the movement started; 10,000 have been arbitrarily imprisoned, 20,000 sent into forced labour camps without trial for at least three years, 500 sentenced to up to eighteen years' imprisonment and 1,000 confined to mental hospitals.

Political groups

Legal attempts to create political parties are not tolerated by the authorities. For instance, when the founding members of China Democratic Party (CDP), Mr Xu Wenli, Mr Wang Youcai and Mr Qin Yongmin tried to register their party with the Department for Civil Affairs, they were sentenced to long periods of imprisonment.

Mr Xu Wenli was sentenced to thirteen years in prison and deprived of his civil rights for three years. He was released on 24th December 2002 and sent into exile in the USA.

Mr Youcai was charged with breaching Article 106 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment. His crimes include: drafting the founding declaration of the CDP, attempting to hold a CDP meeting, sending 18 CDP documents via the Internet and being the main CDP leader.

On 17th December 1998, Mr Yongmin was sentenced to 12 years in jail by the People's Middle Court of Wuhan, after a trial that lasted for two and a half hours. He was charged with "taking part in the organisation of the CDP, editing press releases for China Human Rights Watch, reporting on the situation of human rights to the United Nations and meeting with hostile foreign organisations."

In November 2002, during the 16th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, numerous petitions and open letters were issued, calling for political reform and an open regime. The authorities reacted by arresting several dissidents in order to maintain "stability and calm" during the Congress.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

21. See open letter sent to the Chinese authorities on 20 December 2002.