Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA090330(1)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background
Please respond before 30 April 2009
Update

Summary

Mr. Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer in China, was arrested on 4 February 2009 and his whereabouts are still unknown.  There is great concern about his personal safety, as he has been tortured while in custody in the past.

Gao and his family have been under harassment and intimidation since 2005, when Gao criticized government repression on Falun Gong practitioners.  His legal practice license was suspended and his law firm was closed down.  In 2006, Gao was arrested and convicted for subversion in a closed trial, and while in suspended sentence in 2007, he was arbitrarily detained and tortured after publishing an open letter on the human rights situation in China.  Even his children have been followed and intimidated by police, and his wife assaulted.  The family has been forced to move to another province during the Beijing Olympic Games.

Terrified by years of harassment from the government, and for the safety of their children, Gao’s wife, Ms Geng He, fled with their children to the United States, arriving on 11 March.

Considering the precedence that Gao had been tortured several times during detention, ACPP fears that he is under high risk of being tortured and gravely concerned about his personal safety.  Like Gao, many other courageous human rights defenders are being persecuted, still suffering and struggling and need your concern and action.

Action Requested

Please write polite letters expressing your concern over the arbitrary detention and personal safety of Mr. Gao Zhisheng, as well as the situation of other human rights defenders in China, specifically urging the Chinese authorities to:
• release Mr. Gao Zhisheng and all other human rights defenders immediately and unconditionally;
• ensure Mr. Gao’s physical and psychological integrity while in detention;
• stop harassing human rights defenders and their family members; and
• adhere to the provisions of the Constitution, domestic law and comply with international human rights standards.

Sample Letter

Background

Predicament of Human Rights Defenders

Gao Zhisheng
Gao was named by the Chinese Ministry of Justice as one of the top ten lawyers in 2001.  In 2005, he wrote three letters to the President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabo urging the government to stop repression of Falun Gong practitioners, that led to series of harassment, intimidation and torture of him and his family.  Since then, his legal practice license was suspended and his law firm was closed down.  He was arrested in August 2006, charged and convicted of “inciting subversion” in a closed trial in December 2006, and sentenced to three-year imprisonment, but which was suspended for five years.

Regrettablely, the suspension of the sentence did not imply that Gao is free from persecution.  In September 2007 he was arbitrarily detained and tortured after he published an open letter to the US Congress on the human rights situation in China.

Even worse, his family has been collectively punished.  In the report of Human Rights Watch, Walking on Thin Ice, Gao’s children have been followed and intimidated by policemen, including an attempted abduction, and his wife, Ms Geng He, has been assaulted by police.  Under the harassment of the police, his daughter could not attend school, and his 5-year-old son was also under tight surveillance.  According to the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, Gao and his family were forced to move to Xinjiang Province during the Beijing Olympics.  Recently, Gao was taken away by 10 police from his home on 4 February and has not been seen since then.  His wife eventually decided to flee from China through a circuitous journey for the security of their children early this month.

Gao is not a unique case of human rights defenders being persecuted.  Many other courageous human rights defenders are still suffering and struggling and also need support from the international community.  The following are some examples of human rights defenders who are victims of rights violations and harassment mentioned in a previous Urgent Appeal UA080125(1).

Chen Guangcheng
Mr. Chen Guangcheng is a blind “barefoot” lawyer, without legal license, who provided legal advice on the cases of reproductive rights in Linyi City, Shandong Province.  He was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment for "intentionally damaging property and organizing a crowds to disturb traffic" in August 2006.  His family revealed that Chen was tortured in custody in June 2007 which caused injuries to his legs and ribs.  He was also insulted, fed with poor quality food, and barred from access to books which his family gave him.  His wife, Ms Yuan Weijing, has not been allowed to visit him and is under surveillance of the government in her village since September 2007.

Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong)
In 2005, villagers of the Taishi Village in Guangdong Province protested against the unfair village election and corruption of village officials.  Mr. Guo Feixiong actively involved himself in providing legal assistance to villagers in their struggle.  He was sentenced to five years imprisonment on the charge of “illegal business operation” in November 2007.  His wife, Ms Zhang Qing, told that Guo has been tortured during interrogation, including his hands and legs being shackled for weeks, being deprived of sleep, and his genitalia being beaten with an electric rod.  His lawyer, Mr. Hu Xiao was obstructed from appealing for him in October 2008.  Like the situation of many other political prisoners, Guo’s family was not allowed to visit him.

Hu Jia
In April 2008, Mr. Hu Jia, a human rights activist working on HIV/AIDS and environmental protection, was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment for “inciting subversion of state power” for his five articles criticizing the Chinese government.  Prior to the sentence, he had been placed under house arrest for months.  He was awarded the European Union Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in October 2008.  His wife, Ms Zeng Jinyan, was not allowed to visit him after her video tape was presented in the ceremony.  Zeng is frequently under house arrest and surveillance for voicing out the plight of her husband.

Concerns of the Human Rights Council
The human rights record of China was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council under the Universal Periodic Review system in February 2009.  The report prepared by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the following points regarding human rights defender in China:

“Notwithstanding the State’s efforts to address the practice of torture and related problems in the criminal justice system, CAT [Committee against Torture] in 2008 remained concerned about the continued allegations of routine and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects in police custody.” (para. 18)

“The Special Rapporteur on torture stated that one of the largest obstacles to eliminating torture in China is the institutional weakness and lack of independence of the judiciary.  In 2008 CAT identified three over-arching problems that stand in the way of ensuring the legal safeguards for the prevention of torture: the 1988 Law on the Preservation of State Secrets; the reported harassment of lawyers and human rights defenders; and the abuses carried out by unaccountable “thugs” who use physical violence against specific defenders but enjoy de facto immunity.” (para. 24)

“The Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights defenders, together with other relevant Special Procedures mandates, has transmitted to the Government allegations of human rights violations, including against human rights activists and petitioners […] would welcome further information from the Government that demonstrates that human rights defenders are able to freely conduct their work, disseminate information, present a petition, criticize the Government publicly or conduct other peaceful activities without the likelihood of attracting criminal charges.” (para. 28)


Sources:
China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
Human Rights in China
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Chinese Human Rights Defenders
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, UN Human Rights Council

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