Submission to the UN on Zhang Lin, Zhou Weilin – January 3, 2014
Comments Off on Submission to the UN on Zhang Lin, Zhou Weilin – January 3, 2014Submission to:
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Communique on Behalf of Zhang Lin and Zhou Weilin,
Citizens of the People’s Republic of China,
Alleging Arbitrary Detention, Torture,
Violation of Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association,
and Reprisals against Human Rights Defenders
I. IDENTITY (1)
1. Family name: Zhang (张)
2. First name: Lin (林)
3. Sex: Male
4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): June 2, 1963
5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China
6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card
I. IDENTITY (2)
1. Family name: Zhou (周)
2. First name: Weilin (维林)
3. Sex: Male
4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): April 17, 1965
5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China
6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card
7. Professions and/or activities of the detainees (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention): Zhang Lin began devoting himself to promoting democracy in China in 1986 after leaving his job as a proprietor of a magazine. He supported and participated in the 1989 pro-democracy movement and was sentenced to two years in prison. After his release, he continued his activism on labor rights and democracy. Zhang was one of the initial signatories of Charter 08, a manifesto on human rights and democracy in China.
Zhou Weilin retired from a tractor factory due to an industrial accident that resulted in the loss of his left arm. Since then, he has defended his own rights and also on behalf of others. He also reported as a citizen journalist for Weiquanwang, a rights advocacy group in China.
Zhang and Zhou have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression that began in early 2013. Authorities detained them in apparent retaliation for protests held in support of Zhang’s 10-year-old daughter, Annie Zhang, who was blocked by authorities from attending school in February in Hefei City, Anhui Province.
II. Arrest (1)
1. Date of arrest: Zhang Lin was taken away on July 18, 2013
2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Zhang was taken away from the hotel in Anhui Province where he was under soft detention.
3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Police from Bengshan Branch of Bengbu Public Security Bureau (“Bengbu PSB”)
4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? (Yes) ……. (No)… √…..
5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: No warrant is known to have been issued.
6. Relevant legislation applied (if known): Since no warrant is known to have been issued, it is unclear what relevant legislation that police used to issue the arrests
III. Detention (1)
1. Date of detention: Zhang Lin was criminally detained on July 19, 2013 and formally arrested on August 22, 2013.
2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): From July 19, 2013 through the present (i.e., his detention is ongoing)
3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Bengshan Branch of Bengbu PSB
4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Bengbu City No. 1 Detention Center
5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Bengshan District People’s Procuratorate
II. Arrest (2)
1. Date of arrest: Zhou Weilin was taken away on September 6, 2013.
2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Zhou was taken away from his home (Room 208, 3#, Antuo Eastern Village, South Nanling Road, Yaohai District, Hefei City, Anhui Province).
3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Police from Shushan Branch of Hefei Public Security Bureau (“Hefei PSB”)
4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? (Yes) ……. (No) … √…..
5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: No warrant is known to have been issued.
6. Relevant legislation applied (if known): Since no warrant is known to have been issued, it is unclear what relevant legislation police used to issue the arrests
III. Detention (2)
1. Date of detention: Zhou Weilin was detained on September 6, 2013, and subsequently issued a criminal detention. He was formally arrested on October 14, 2013.
2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): From September 6, 2013 through the present (i.e., his detention is ongoing)
3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Shushan Branch of Hefei PSB
4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Feixi County Detention Center in Anhui Province
5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Yushan People’s Procuratorate of Hefei City
6. Reasons for the detention imputed by the authorities: Mr. Zhang and Mr. Zhou were charged with “gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place” through participating in protests organized in support of Zhang Lin’s daughter, 10 year-old Annie Zhang, after she was blocked from attending school in Hefei City in apparent retaliation for her father’s pro-democracy activism.
7. Relevant legislation applied (if known): For the crime of “gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place,” Article 291 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance to those who are gathered to disturb order at railway stations or bus terminals, wharves, civil airports, marketplaces, parks, theaters, cinemas, exhibition halls, sports grounds or other public places, or to block traffic or undermine traffic order, or resist or obstruct public security administrators of the State from carrying out their duties according to law, if the circumstances are serious.
IIV. Describe the circumstances of the arrest and/or the detention and indicate precise reasons why you consider the arrest or detention to the arbitrary:
Police in Anhui Province interrogated Zhang Lin for eight hours overnight after seizing him on July 18, 2013. The overnight interrogation exhausted Zhang and took a serious physical toll on him; his blood pressure escalated the next morning, and his eyes became infected and swollen.
The trial of Zhang was held on December 18 at the Bengshan District People’s Court in Bengbu City, Anhui Province. The court did not announce a verdict at the end of just six hours of proceedings, saying that it would set a date for sentencing. Zhang’s lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原) had been monitored and harassed by police at his guesthouse and upon arrival to the courthouse with Zhang’s other lawyer, Li Fangping (李方平). Several witnesses for the defendant were kept away; one was forced onto a train to return to Guangzhou, and another was detained in Bengbu City.
Zhou Weilin was issued a 15-day administrative detention on April 16, 2013, by Hefei police for protesting authorities’ barring of Zhang Lin’s daughter Annie Zhang from attending school. About five months later, on September 6, he was criminally detained for the same reason. On December 17, his case was transferred to the Shushan District People’s Procuratorate for prosecution. Zhou’s trial is expected to be held soon.
Ms. Zhang and Mr. Zhou have been detained and tried solely on the basis of the peaceful exercise of their rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Specifically, under the Working Group’s criteria for determining when a deprivation of liberty is arbitrary, the circumstances of their detentions satisfy both Category II (i.e., when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms guaranteed by articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the UDHR and Category III (i.e., when the total or partial non-observance of the international norms relating to the right to a fair trial, spelled out in the UDHR and in the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned, is of such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character).
IV. Indicate internal steps, including domestic remedies, taken especially with the legal and administrative authorities, particularly for the purpose of establishing the detention and, as appropriate, their results or the reasons why such steps or remedies were ineffective or why they were not taken:
A family member applied for the release on bail of Zhou Weilin, but police denied the request without any explanation. Zhang Lin’s lawyers have also applied for the release on bail on behalf of Zhang twice, but the applications were both turned down by the Bengshan Branch of Bengbu PSB.
Zhang Lin’s two daughters, Annie Zhang and Zhang Ruli (张儒莉), came to the United States in September 2013. They wrote an open letter calling for their father’s freedom which has been published widely on the Internet.
Rights activists throughout China have shown support for Zhang and Zhou and protested against authorities in various ways, including by publishing joint statements and taking to the streets to hold banners calling for the activists to be released.
Date submitted: January 3, 2014