MCLC: nationwide arrest of activists

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at mac.com>
Subject: nationwide arrests of activists
***********************************************************

Source: Human Rights Watch (8/30/13):
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/30/china-nationwide-arrests-activists-criti
cs-multiply

For Immediate Release
China: Nationwide Arrests of Activists, Critics Multiply
Drive to Strengthen One-Party Rule Unhindered by Upcoming UN Rights
Council Election

(New York, August 30, 2013) – The Chinese government has undertaken a
nationwide crackdown on dissent in an apparent campaign against perceived
challenges to one-party rule, Human Rights Watch said today. Since
February 2013 the government has arbitrarily detained at least 55
activists taken into custody critics and online opinion leaders, and
increased controls on social media, online expression, and public
activism, rolling back the hard-won space China’s civil society has gained
in recent years.

The crackdown is unfolding as China campaigns to be elected to the United
Nations Human Rights Council, the UN’s preeminent human rights body, in
November 2013, and prepares for the review of its human rights record
before the council in October 2013.

“The Chinese government has embarked on a repressive drive at home that
attacks the very freedoms that Human Rights Council members are supposed
to protect,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
“Every arrest of a peaceful activist further undermines the Chinese
government’s standing at home and abroad.”

Seventeen of those arrested in recent months had participated in the New
Citizens’ Movement, a peaceful civil rights platform that rejects
authoritarianism and promotes freedom, justice, equality, and the rule of
law. The New Citizens’ Movement organizes a range of activities, including
a nationwide campaign that advocates for the disclosure of assets of
public officials as a way to curb corruption, and monthly gatherings over
meals for activists around the country to exchange ideas and build
solidarity.

On August 2, 2013, the State Prosecution approved the formal arrest of Xu
Zhiyong, the most prominent activist detained so far and considered the
intellectual force behind the New Citizens’ Movement. Xu has been held
since July 16 for “gathering crowds to disturb public order,” even though
he has been under house arrest since April. If convicted, Xu faces up to
five years in prison. Xu, 40, is a law lecturer at Beijing University of
Post and Telecommunications, and was once distinguished by the state
broadcaster CCTV as one of the “top ten rule of law people” in China. In
2009 he was forced to disband the legal aid center he helped set up, the
Open Constitution Initiative, after police detained him and a co-worker
for tax evasion.

“Xu Zhiyong is one of the most important activists behind the birth of
China’s ‘rights-defense’ movement that emerged around 2003,” Richardson
said. “While Xu’s cautious approach has helped keep him out of jail for
the past 10 years, his recent arrest indicates that even safer strategies
won’t spare activists from severe consequences.”

The 38 other activists recently detained were taken into custody for
organizing and participating in other public, collective actions not
directly related to the New Citizens Movement, including protests, Human
Rights Watch said. Many were charged with crimes such as “gathering crowds
to disturb order” and “creating disturbances” and of those, 16 have been
released, some on bail. But a number of the activists detained have been
charged with the more serious crimes of “inciting subversion” and
“subversion.” Inciting subversion carries up to 15 years in prison, while
subversion can result in life imprisonment.

Among those detained is prominent activist Guo Feixiong. Guo, a
47-year-old Guangzhou-based lawyer, who has been detained since August 8
for “gathering crowds to disturb public order.” Police have denied Guo
access to lawyers on the grounds that his case involves national security.
Beyond his right to legal counsel, Guo’s lawyers are concerned that
denying him access to lawyers makes him more likely to be subjected to
torture. Guo was tortured during his previous imprisonment between 2006
and 2011.

Government efforts to curb criticisms of the Chinese Communist Party have
widened to individual critical voices on the Internet, Human Rights Watch
said. Since August, the government has taken into custody hundreds of
Internet users accused of “spreading rumors” online. Most have
been released, but some remain detained under criminal charges. The
campaign has targeted influential online opinion leaders, or what the
state media call the “big Vs” (V for “verified users”).

According to state media, the State Internet Information Office held a
meeting on August 10 with some of these bloggers, including liberal
commentator Xue Manzi (also known as Charles Xue), “achieving a consensus”
that these opinion leaders would not breach “seven bottom lines,”
including China’s “socialist system,” the country’s “national interests,”
and “public order.” On August 23, Xue, 60, who has 12 million followers on
Sina weibo, one of China’s main social media networks similar to Twitter,
detained for “soliciting a prostitute,” an administrative offense under
Chinese law. State-owned media harshly criticized Xue while explicitly
warning other “big Vs” against becoming the “loudspeakers” for rumors.
Since May, the government has closed down more than 100 “illegal” news web
portals, citizen-run websites that have provided important channels for
citizens to expose government misconduct.

The crackdown on dissent reflects the general hardline shift taken by the
Xi Jinping leadership in recent months, Human Rights Watch said. It
contrasts sharply with Xi’s rhetoric at the beginning of his presidency in
March, when he promised to “uphold the constitution and the rule of law”
and “always listen to the voice of the people.”

In April, the office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party issued an internal directive stressing that the party must eliminate
“seven subversive currents” in China today, including those who advocate
for “Western constitutional democracy,” “universal values” such as human
rights, civil society, and “Western press values.” In June, the Supreme
People’s Procuratorate issued a notice demanding that prosecutors at all
levels “combat the crimes of endangering national security” by “resolutely
combating crimes such as illegal assemblies, the gathering of crowds to
disturb social and public order, and others, which aim to subvert state
power.”

Reflecting an apparent departure from a rule of law approach, the notice
stressed that legal organs should “unify social, political, and legal
results” in their work, rather than solely base their decisions on the law.

China is currently seeking a seat at the UN Human Rights Council, an
intergovernmental body charged with addressing human rights violations and
promoting respect for human rights. In a pledge submitted in connection
with its candidacy, the Chinese government said it “respects the principle
of universality of human rights,” and that it “has made unremitting
efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of the Chinese people.” The next elections for the council are
slated for November.

Human Rights Watch called on the Chinese government to drop all charges
against individuals for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of
expression and assembly, and to ensure that they are not subject to
torture or other ill-treatment in detention.

“The authorities’ abuse of the law to go after critics is
counter-productive, as it closes one of the only effective channels for
airing grievances about the government,” Richardson said. “The
government’s only ‘unremitting efforts’ on display these days are the
denial of universal rights.”

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on China, please visit:

http://www.hrw.org/asia/china