Politically Charged Arrests in China Escalate Persecution of Rights Lawyers

January 14, 2016       Comments Off on Politically Charged Arrests in China Escalate Persecution of Rights Lawyers

Chinese Government Punishes Human Rights Lawyers as “Enemies of the State”

(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, January 14, 2016) – CHRD condemns the actions of Chinese authorities who this week formally arrested 11 lawyers, paralegals, and activists on serious charges, politicizing Chinese lawyers’ efforts to protect human rights. CHRD sees the new arrests as indication of a drastic escalation of President Xi Jinping’s campaign against human rights lawyers. Since July 2015, authorities have cracked down on such lawyers and continued to blatantly violate international human rights conventions and disregard China’s own laws.

Seven of the 11 arrested this week, including lawyers Wang Yu (王宇), Wang Quanzhang (王全璋),  Zhou Shifeng (周世锋), trainee lawyer Li Shuyun (李姝云), activists Liu Sixin (刘四新) and Hu Shigen (胡石根), and paralegal Zhao Wei (赵威), face a “political” charge—“subversion of state power”—that has mostly been used to prosecute political dissidents or “enemies of the state,” and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Three others face the charge “inciting subversion of state power,” which has normally been used to persecute individuals who criticize the government. Another individual, a paralegal, has been accused of “helping to destroy evidence.” In total, 22 individuals have been detained incommunicado or forcibly disappeared for at least six months, including three who were released within the past week. Of the 19 still held since last July, the detention status and whereabouts of eight individuals are still unclear.

Meanwhile, authorities have apparently expanded the wave of persecution by detaining yet another rights lawyer, Wang Qiushi (王秋实), who was defending detained lawyer Wang Quanzhang. Police took Wang Qiushi into custody on January 10 after summoning him twice for questioning, and later put him under “residential surveillance in a police-designated location.” Wang has worked on several high-profile cases, and represented one of the Five Feminists authorities detained last spring.

Families received arrest notices this week just as the legal time limit of six months was set to expire for “residential surveillance in a police-designated location,” under which several of the individuals were being held. If the detainees were not placed under arrest, they would need to have been released, either with the criminal measures dropped or on “bail awaiting further investigation,” according to China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL). Those arrested for crimes involving “subversion” face potentially long prison sentences. “Subversion” carries a sentence of up to life in prison in the most serious cases (Criminal Law, Article 105 (1)). If convicted of “inciting subversion,” an individual can be sentenced to at least five years if they are considered a “ringleader,” while they may face a maximum of five years if their offenses are considered less serious (Article 105 (2)).

On July 9, 2015, coordinated police operations began targeting more than 300 lawyers, activists, and their associates, the vast majority of whom were summoned for interrogation and then released. Of the 22 individuals held for at least six months, 12 were put under “residential surveillance in a police-designated location.” A further five were held in criminal detention, and another five had been forcibly disappeared—no official acknowledgment of their deprivation of liberty has been provided to families or lawyers. None of these individuals have been granted access to their lawyer, with many lawyers receiving notices stating their requests have been denied because cases involve “endangering state security.” There are still nine individuals whose current status is unknown, including the recently detained Wang Qiushi. (See details below as documented by CHRD.)

During the escalating persecution of rights lawyers and activists, unprecedented in its scale and severity, authorities have breached Chinese law and infringed upon the rights of individuals as guaranteed by international human rights law. Officials have disregarded all safeguards of basic human rights in the cases of these detained lawyers. These lawyers and activists have been punished for exercising their rights to free expression, assembly, association, the right to work in just and favorable conditions, as well as their right to practice their legal profession without political interference.

Moreover, China’s flawed legal provisions and its judicial system controlled by the Communist Party have provided domestic legal cover for these perversions of law and international norms. Under Article 73 of the CPL, police are authorized to put detainees under “residential surveillance in a designated location.” This compulsory criminal measure is a de facto form of incommunicado detention, as detainees can be held in a secret location for up to six months without access to family or a lawyer. The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) criticized this form of “residential surveillance” last year during its review of China’s compliance with the Convention against Torture, and called on the Chinese government to repeal the provisions “as a matter of urgency.” Additionally, Article 37 of the CPL allows police to deny lawyers’ access to clients who are suspected of “endangering state security” crimes. Authorities can also expand the scope of this category of crimes to encompass most offenses under a Ministry of Public Security regulation. Blocking access to lawyers puts detainees at greater risk of torture or other forms of mistreatment.

The use of enforced disappearance is considered a “crime against humanity” according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and it also violates the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1992), and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which China is not party to but has indicated it is considering ratifying in “due time.”

In a step that further deprives the arrested lawyers’ right to legal counsel of their own choice, authorities notified several family-appointed lawyers of the detainees that they have been “dismissed” by their clients and that new lawyers have been appointed to handle the cases. This has occurred despite the fact that the detainees have not been able to communicate with their lawyers or families throughout their time in custody, and it is not clear if the surrendering of their chosen legal counsel was done under duress.

Current status of 20 individuals who remain in police custody in connection with the July 2015 crackdown (see more case details on CHRD’s website):

Individuals formally arrested this week:

“Subversion of state power” (Criminal Law, 105(1))

• Activist Hu Shigen (胡石根), male, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.
• Trainee lawyer Li Shuyun (李姝云), female, with Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.
• Activist Liu Sixin (刘四新), male, assistant at Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.
• Lawyer Wang Quanzhang (王全璋), male, with Beijing Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on January 8, 2016 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.
• Lawyer Wang Yu (王宇), female, with Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 9, 2015.
• Paralegal Zhao Wei (赵威), female, also known as Kaola (考拉), with lawyer Li Heping, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.
• Lawyer Zhou Shifeng (周世锋), male, director of Fengrui Law Firm, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 10, 2015.

Inciting subversion of state power (Criminal Law, 105(2))

• Lawyer Xie Yanyi (谢燕益), male, from Beijing, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center. Seized on July 12, 2015.
• Lawyer Bao Longjun (包龙军), male, husband of Wang Yu, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Held at Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center. Seized on July 8, 2015.
• Lawyer Xie Yang (谢阳), male, from Hunan Province, arrested on January 9 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Held at Changsha No. 2 Detention Center. Seized on July 11, 2015.

Other crime:

• Paralegal Gao Yue (高月), female, with lawyer Li Heping, arrested on January 8 on suspicion of “assisting in destruction of evidence” (Criminal Law, 307(2)). Held at Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center. Seized on July 20, 2015.

Residential Surveillance (Location Unknown):

• Activist Gou Hongguo (沟洪国, aka Ge Ping, 戈平), male, detained on July 10 and later put under “residential surveillance at a designated location,” on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.”
• Buddhist monk and activist Lin Bin (林斌, aka Monk Wang Yun, 望云和尚), male, detained on July 10 and later put under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on suspicion of an “endangering national security” crime.
• Activist Liu Yongping (刘永平) also known by screen name Lao Mu (老木), male, detained on July 10 and later put under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on suspicion of “creating a disturbance.”
• Lawyer Wang Qiushi (王秋实), male, lawyer of detained lawyer Wang Quanzhang, was taken into custody on January 10, 2016 and placed under “residential surveillance” after police summoned him twice for questioning.
• Trainee lawyer Xie Yuandong (谢远东), male, with Fengrui Law Firm. Detained on July 10 and later put under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on suspicion of “creating a disturbance” and “inciting subversion of state power.”
• Henan activist Xu Zhihan (徐知汉), male, detained on July 24 and put under “residential surveillance” at his house in Zhengzhou on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.”
• Lawyer Zhang Kai (张凯), male, detained on August 25 and later put under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on an “endangering national security” crime and “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order” charges.

Enforced Disappearance:

• Lawyer Li Chunfu (李春富), younger brother of Li Heping, missing since August 1.
• Lawyer Li Heping (李和平), male, missing since July 10.

Individuals released in January 2016 after 6 months in detention:

• Lawyer Huang Liqun (黄力群), male, with Fengrui Law Firm, was under criminal detention from July 10, 2015 until January 7, 2016, at an unknown location on unknown charges.
• Lawyer Sui Muqing (隋牧青), male, was held under “residential surveillance at a designated location” on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” from July 10, 2015, until January 6, 2016. He was released on “bail awaiting further investigation.”
• Accountant Wang Fang (王芳), female, with Fengrui Law Firm, was forcibly disappeared from July 10, 2015 until January 7, 2016.

CHRD urges the Chinese government to:

• Immediately and unconditionally release all those tied to the crackdown still currently in police custody;
• Repeal provisions in Article 73 of the Criminal Procedure Law, which is a de facto form of incommunicado detention;
• Ensure all detainees have access to a lawyer and their due process rights are protected;
• Conduct transparent and impartial investigations into any allegations of torture that may arise, ensure those in custody are free from torture and ill-treatment, and hold criminally responsible any state agent who has abused the law or mistreated a detainee;
• Provide state compensation to all those arbitrarily detained in the crackdown;
• Ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; and enforce both of these Covenants, which will bring China more in line with international human rights standards.

 

Contacts:

Renee Xia, International Director (Mandarin, English), +1 863 866 1012, reneexia@chrdnet.com, Follow on Twitter: @ReneeXiaCHRD

Victor Clemens, Research Coordinator (English), +1 209 643 0539, victorclemens@chrdnet.com, Follow on Twitter: @VictorClemens

Frances Eve, Researcher (English), +852 6695 4083, franceseve@chrdnet.com, Follow on Twitter:@FrancesEveCHRD

Linda Wang, Program Coordinator (Mandarin, Cantonese, English), +1 917 426 0973, lindawang@chrdnet.com