| Action Requested Please
write polite letters to the Government of the PRC
requesting:
1. the disclosure of the whereabouts and immediate
release of Bishop Su Zhemin and Bishop Jia Zhiguo;
2. the immediate release of human rights activists, Mr Li
Hai, Mr Guo Xinmin and Mr Liu Xianbin.
Send Letters or Faxes to:
1. President Jiang Zemin
Beijingshi 100 032
People's Republic of China
2. Premier Zhu Rongji
Guowuyuan, 9 Xihuangchenggenbeijie, Beijingshi 100 032
People's Republic of China
Email: zhurj@mx.cei.gov.cn
c.c. Copy to:
Ms. Mary Robinson, High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des
Nations, UNOG-OHCHR, CH-1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland FAX: 41-22-739 7353
Mr. Bill Clinton,
President of United States, White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20005, USA
FAX: 1-202-456 2461
Diplomatic representatives
of PRC in your country.
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Background
On
17 February 2000, the Chinese Government released a white
paper on human rights, entitled 'Fifty Years of Progress
in China's Human Rights'. The document cited the great
improvement in the human rights situation in China over
the past 50 years. Meanwhile, six international groups,
including Amnesty International and Human Rights in
China, criticized the deteriorating human rights
situation and the repression to dissent by the Chinese
Government. In a joint statement released in February
2000, they said that Beijing is conducting "the most
ruthless repression of dissent" since the army
crushed student-led demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen
Square in June 1989. Examples include the crackdown on
the religious Falun Gong Movement since 1999 and the
continued imprisonment of political and spiritual
activists.
In 1997, the Chinese Government signed the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights followed
by the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights in October 1998. Both United Nations treaties
clearly protect the rights of freedom of religion,
expression and association. However immediately after the
International Covenant had been signed, in late 1998, new
regulations on registration of social groups and on
publishing were introduced.
According to Amnesty International's 1999 Annual Report,
hundreds of people were detained for political reasons
and many of them were sentenced without charge or trial.
Underground Christians, priests and Bishops were
continually harassed, detained and arrested, as well as
placed under 'house arrest' and severe surveillance.
Labour rights activists were also arbitrarily detained
and arrested in the context of growing labour unrest
across the country. Widespread arrests were especially
carried out during politically sensitive periods, for
example the arrest of those who addressed open letters to
the National People's Congress (NPC, the PRC's
legislature which functions in a mainly "rubber-stamp"
capacity) calling for reforms in and during the annual
session of the NPC.
The following is the brief summary of the two arrested
Bishops and three human rights activists:
(1) Bishop Su Zhemin
Bishop Su, 67, the Bishop of the Diocese of Baoding in
Hebei Province had been in hiding for 17 months and was
subsequently arrested by the Public Security Bureau in
early October 1997. During the period in hiding, he
issued an open appeal to the Chinese Government to stop
religious persecution. Bishop Su had previously been
arrested at least five times. He was imprisoned for
nearly twenty years in Qingyuan Xian. Nothing has been
heard of him since his latest arrest.
(2) Bishop Jia Zhiguo
Bishop Jia, 64, is the Bishop of the Diocese of Zhengding
in Hebei Province. In the past few years, Bishop Jia was
often taken away by government officials on the eve of
church feast days, but usually released after one or two
weeks. However, since his arrest on 15 August 1999,
Assumption Day, nothing has been heard of him nor of his
whereabouts.
(3) Human Rights Activist Mr Li Hai
Li, 45 years old, had previously been imprisoned for more
than one year because of the 1989 democratic movement.
After his release, he continued to urge the government to
implement democratic reforms. He started investigations
and produced a list of and information on political
prisoners who were sentenced since the June 4 incident.
He also sent humanitarian donations to the kin of the
victims of the incident. In May 1995, Li was arrested and
held incommunicado for nearly eighteen months. In 1996,
Li was tried secretly and even his family were not
allowed to be present. On 18 December 1996, he was
sentenced to nine-years imprisonment because he was
alleged to have been "prying into state secrets".
According to a report issued by his mother, Li suffered
abuse during his imprisonment, and was denied medical
treatment. He was also unreasonably deprived of the right
to family visits.
(4) Human Rights Activist Mr Guo Xinmin
Guo was a worker of Tianshui City Transport Company in
Gansu Province. On 4 January 1999, Guo and other workers
formed the China Workers Monitor with the objectives to
help laid-off workers and monitor the corruption in their
former factory. He was arrested on 10 January and was
sentenced to 2-years imprisonment with the charge of
"subverting state power" on 5 July. Guo, during
his detention, was tortured and forced to give the
information about demonstrations of laid-off workers.
(5) Human Rights Activist Mr Liu Xianbin
Liu, 31, is a well-known member of the democratic
movement in Sichuan Province. In October 1998, Liu
organised the formation of the Sichuan Branch of the
Chinese Democracy Party (CDP), and sought registration
from the Civil Affairs Department of the Sichuan
Provincial Government. The registration request failed
and he was arrested on the charge of participating in
activities of the CDP in January 1999. He was re-arrested
in February after a brief release, and again in July
following a second release. On 6 August, he was charged
with "subverting state power " and sentenced to
13-years imprisonment. Liu was not allowed to employ a
defense lawyer.
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