MCLC: Xu Zhiyong detained

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at mac.com>
Subject: Xu Zhiyong detained
***********************************************************

This is a worrying trend.

Paul

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Source: China Human Rights Defenders (7/17/13):
http://chrdnet.com/2013/07/china-end-escalating-crackdown-criminalizing-pea
ceful-assembly-and-free-expression/

China: End Escalating Crackdown Criminalizing Peaceful Assembly and Free
Expression

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, July 17, 2013) – CHRD has confirmed that
Xu Zhiyong, a leading activist pushing for constitutional democracy and
rule-of-law reform, was criminally detained on suspicion of “gathering a
crowd to disrupt public order” by Beijing police on July 16. With Xu’s
detention and the detentions of two other activists on July 12 in Beijing,
China’s newest crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and
expression has seen a total of 24 activists and lawyers taken into custody
since late March. As has become clear especially with Xu’s detention, the
crackdown is targeting a loose grouping of activists involved in what has
become known as the “New Citizens Movement,” who have peacefully advocated
for democratic and rule-of-law reforms, constitutionalism, human rights,
and social justice. The crackdown has initially responded to an
anti-corruption campaign by Chinese citizens who have called for an end to
official corruption, while some of the detained activists also demanded
the government ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR) 
<http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx>.

Xu, 40, who teaches at the Beijing Postal University and had been
previously elected as a representative to the local People’s Congress in
Beijing’s Haidian District, is the founder of the “Open Constitution
Initiative” (gongmeng), a pro-democracy NGO that was banned after Xu faced
“tax evasion” charges in 2009. Since then, Xu has frequently been
questioned by police or put under “soft detention.” On July 16, police
also searched Xu’s residence and took away three computers, a cell phone,
and other personal belongings. Currently held at the Beijing No. 3
Detention Center, Xu was taken into custody by police from the Traffic
Security Protection Division of the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

To date, 14 of the individuals swept up in the crackdown have been
formally arrested and the others criminally detained in Beijing and the
provinces of Jiangxi and Hubei. Among those being held, three are
scheduled to go on trial on July 18 in Xinyu City in Jiangxi. Five others
have been released but likely remain under tight surveillance. Their
alleged crimes include, among others, “inciting subversion,” “unlawful
assembly,” and “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.” (See case
details 
<http://chrdnet.com/2013/07/individuals-detained-in-crackdown-on-new-citize
ns-movement/> on CHRD’s website.) Meanwhile, Song Ze (宋泽), a close
associate of Xu Zhiyong and others in custody, has been missing since July
12.

“We have now seen more activists and lawyers criminally detained in this
particular crackdown than in any other in recent years, including the 2011
crackdown on ‘Jasmine rallies’ that involved widespread disappearances and
torture, or the one after the release of ‘Charter 08’ that led to Liu
Xiaobo’s 11-year imprisonment,” said Renee Xia, CHRD’s international
director.

In documenting these cases and confirming information with activists,
lawyers who represent the detainees, and close associates of Xu Zhiyong
and the banned Open Constitution Initiative, CHRD has pieced together a
picture of a coordinated nationwide crackdown on individuals identified
with the New Citizens Movement, which has grown out of Open Constitution
Initiative and has been inspired by Xu,gongmeng’s founder.

Initially, Beijing police seized several activists who had displayed
banners in the streets of the capital to echo President Xi Jinping’s vow
to clean up government corruption, which Xi made when he assumed China’s
top leadership positions in March. A few others were then detained for
leading a petition drive that gathered hundreds of signatures from Chinese
citizens, demanding that more than 200 high-ranking Communist Party
officials, including President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, publicly
disclose their financial wealth. Those subsequently detained in Jiangxi
and Hubei had participated in similar activities or openly called for the
release of fellow activists and lawyers who had been detained.

Many of the detained individuals, especially those in Jiangxi, have
overtly identified themselves with the New Citizens Movement, in part by
displaying a “Citizen” (公民) logo on their weibo, Twitter, or Skype
profiles. Some have attended meetings referred to as “Dine and Get Drunk”
parties (饭醉, which has the same pronunciation in Chinese as “commit a
crime,” since such meetings may well constitute “unlawful assembly” in the
eyes of authorities). Others have gone to the streets, unfurling banners
or making public speeches about cleaning up government corruption, the
need for respecting China’s constitution and laws, and calling for the
government to implement international human rights standards, especially
by ratifying the ICCPR, which China signed in 1998.

Lawyers who represent some of the detained individuals have told CHRD that
police interrogations of their clients have focused on such questions as:
“Who is the leader of the ‘Citizen’ movement?,” “Who has plotted and
organized the activities?,” and “Who has provided the funding for the
activities?” Police have searched the residences of several of the
detained individuals, hauling away laptop computers, cell phones, and
memorabilia with the logo “Citizen” printed on them, such as pins,
posters, banners, umbrellas, and T-shirts.

Five of the activists were detained in late June in Chibi, a city in
Hubei, which was the tenth stop on a nationwide “advocacy trip” that began
on April 8. Activists on the trip had staged rallies, made public
speeches, and met with fellow activists, with the stated goals of
encouraging citizen activism and spreading ideas of democracy and rule of
law.

“The anti-corruption calls certainly irritated authorities, as the CCP
leaders loathe being told by the people to clean up, even when it’s the
same thing they vowed to do,” said Renee Xia. “But what the leaders truly
fear, as it’s been made evident here, is that Chinese citizens are getting
organized, taking to the streets, and expressing their views.”

CHRD demands the immediate release of the 19 individuals who remain in
custody. They have been detained solely on the basis of their peaceful
exercise of their rights to free expression, association, and assembly,
which are guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the Chinese Constitution.

The Chinese government’s retaliation against these human rights defenders
for their peaceful campaign to improve rights protection only further
discredits the government, whose human rights record is coming up for
Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on October 22.
CHRD requests that the President of the Human Rights Council, the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Special Rapporteur on the Situation
of Human Rights Defenders to speak up on behalf of the arbitrarily
detained individuals.

This escalating crackdown is being waged by the Chinese government ahead
of the US-China “human rights dialogue,” which is scheduled to take place
on July 30-31 in Kunming, Yunnan Province. It makes a mockery of the
annual bilateral exercise. CHRD urges the US government to condemn the
crackdown and demand the unconditional release of the detained activists
and lawyers.

Media contacts
Renee Xia, International Director, +1 240 374 8937, reneexia at chrdnet.com
Victor Clemens, Researcher, +852 8192 7875, victorclemens at chrdnet.com