MCLC: open letter to judges

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: open letter to judges
***********************************************************

Following is an open letter to Chinese judges who will be presiding over
upcoming civil rights trials in China, which was released last night and
was signed by Chinese from all walks of life, including lawyers,
academics, artists, workers, etc. The original Chinese follows the
English. 

Paul

==========================================================

Align Your Loyalty with the Constitution and the Law
—An Open Letter to Judges Who Will Be Presiding over the Civil Rights
Trials in China

Over the year of 2013, Liu Yuandong (刘远东) was arrested in March; Ding
Jiaxi (丁家喜), Zhao Changqing (赵常青), Liu Ping (刘萍), Wei Zhongping (魏忠
平), Li 
Sihua (李思华) and others were arrested in April; Song Ze (宋泽) and Xu
Zhiyong 
(许志永) were arrested in July; Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄), Li Huaping (李化平)
and Liu 
Jiacai (刘家财) were arrested in August; Wang Gongquan (王功权) was arrested
in 
September; and in October Dong Rubin (董如彬) was arrested...... In 2013,
more than one hundred citizens were arrested for exercising their basic
rights.
 

Most of them have been indicted with trials pending. Their fate is now in
your hands.
 

So we feel compelled to appeal to all of you who will be presiding over
their trials. We didn’t appeal to the police officers who arrested these
brothers and sisters of ours, because they were soulless components of a
machine and they act as the machine commands them. But you are different;
you could still be considered part of the community of legal professionals.
 

If you think China still has what can be called a judiciary, if you
believe judicial justice is the baseline of social justice, then you will
have to acknowledge that you are given the sacred responsibility to defend
that justice.

We ask you to assume this responsibility of yours, not allowing political
interference to trump your obligation to justice.

You are all versed in law; you surely know how to use the yardstick of the
law. After examining the related legal documents—especially the
indictments, and the evidence presented by the police, after hearing the
defense of the defendants themselves and their defense lawyers, there will
be a time when you judge these cases against the Constitution and the law.
We ask you to place your hand on your chest, where your heart beats, and
ask yourselves whether you would deny that these are cases of political
persecution. Do you honestly believe these citizens have perpetrated the
crimes they are accused of?
 

Align your loyalty with nothing but the Constitution and the law, and make
that the basic ethical requirement of your profession. As recently as
December 4, 2013, Zhou Qiang, president of the Supreme People’s Court of
China, along with 500 Chinese judges, pledged the following:
 

“I am a judge of the People’s Republic of China. I pledge my allegiance to
the motherland, to the people, and to the Constitution and the law. [I
pledge] to truthfully fulfill my duty as a judge and adhere to
professional ethics and a judge’s code of conduct. [I pledge] to
administer the law judiciously, with integrity, and for the people, and I
will endeavor to maintain social fairness and justice!”
 

Dear judges, now it is the time to make good on your pledges. World
opinion is focusing its attention on you, so are the justice-loving people
around the world.
 

No less importantly, history will be recording you. No case is an
abstraction; all the particulars will be written into history, especially
the name of each one of you on the verdicts. In other words, while you are
trying these innocent citizens, you yourselves will also be tried by
history, that is, by justice and conscience.
 

Not to mention the trial of the posterity. Your children and your
grandchildren will be interested in these historic records bearing your
names. How do you want them to regard you? Do you want them to be proud or
ashamed of you?
 

Indeed, you will have to take the legal and moral responsibility for all
these cases. You have no place to hide. Do not for a moment think you can
be absolved of this responsibility by hiding behind the organization to
which you belong. You should harbor no illusions about the organization.
It may be able to shield you for the time being, but not forever, not to
mention that your organization is unpredictable and untrustworthy.
 

On the other hand, you can always choose to have peace of mind by honoring
your sense of duty and your allegiance to the Constitution and the law.
You will stand the judgment of the people and posterity. You shall have no
guilt toward the organization either, for you will have only done what you
have pledged to do as a judge. To be sure, by doing so you might be
exposing yourself to career risks, but it is unlikely that you too will
immediately lose freedom simply because you have handed out a decision
based on the Constitution and the law. Meanwhile, you will have issued a
historic verdict. Between an unprecedented feat and some career risks, the
choice is for you to make.
 

Making a decision based on the Constitution and the law, you will be
writing a new page for the rule of law in China. You will even be turning
a new page for us as a people. The biggest crisis we face as a people is
the spiritual damage from the past and the present. More political
persecution and more law-trumping legal decisions will inflict more damage
and aggravate the crisis. You can help, even by a tiny degree, heal
damage, mitigate antagonism and boost hope by carrying out judicial
justice. As a people, we have been ravaged and depleted too much and for
too long, and cannot afford any more of it. You can refrain from
inflicting more on the nation by not using law to endorse political
persecution.
 

These innocent citizens have spent birthdays, the moon festival, Christmas
and the New Year in jail last year and they will likely spend the Chinese
New Year of 2014 behind bars, all because they took the Constitution and
the law too seriously and attempted to assert the human rights and civil
rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the law. Now it is time for you,
the judges presiding over their trials, to stand up against manipulation
of the law and stop persecution. We ask you to make open, fair and
judicious judgment on these cases, and rehabilitate the credibility of the
Constitution and the law as well as your own dignity as judges. We ask you
to restore the freedom of these innocent citizens and let them go home to
reunite with their loved ones.

Dear judges, we honestly don’t have much to hope for under the current
circumstances of the judiciary, but we do not want to give up the effort,
so we write this letter to you. The Third Plenum of the 18th CCP Central
Committee has emphasized judicial justice, and vowed to “let those who
preside over trials make decisions, and let the judges take responsibility
for their decisions.” You will have no excuses for not taking full charge
of your actions. You will be presented with an equal opportunity to honor
or shame. The moment is yours.

Citizens(ordered by Pinyin):
 

Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明), professor, Guangzhou;
Bi Kang (毕康), self-employed, poet, Nanjing;
Cai Shufang (蔡淑芳), citizen, Hong Kong;
Cai Yongmei (蔡咏梅), editor, Hong Kong;
Chen Weiqing (陈伟青), unemployed, Zhuhai;
Chen Yunfei (陈云飞), amateur animal trainer, Sichuan;
Chen Zhiguang (陈志光), civil servant, Guangzhou;
Chen Boliang (陈博良), self-employed, Changsha, Hunan;
Cheng Qiubo (成秋波), citizen, in the US currently;
Cheng Yao (程曜), professor, Beijing;
Ding Hua (丁华), retired teacher, Shanghai;
Dong Wenjie (董文杰), self-employed and volunteer, Yuncheng, Shanxi;
Fan Ren (梵·任), unemployed, Guiyang;
Feng Chongyi (冯崇义), academic, living in Sydney currently;
Guo Shaokun (郭少坤), handicapped police officer, Xuzhou, Jiangsu;
Guo Xianliang (郭贤良), engineer, Kunming;
Guo Yongliang (郭永亮), farmer, Baotou, Inner Mongolia;
Guo Yuhua (郭于华), professor, Beijing;
He Yang (何杨), independent documentary maker, Beijing;
He Shengjun (贺生军), citizen, Beijing;
Hua Ze (华泽), documentary maker, Beijing;
Huang Wuxian (黄无限), doctor, Sichuan;
Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), lawyer, Beijing;
Li Dawei (李大伟), citizen rights defender, Tianshui, Gansu;
Li Hongyu (李红雨), author, Beijing;
Li Jin (李锦), non-CCP political party member, Chongqing;
Li Weiguo (李维国), citizen, Guangzhou;
Li Xuezheng (李学政), self-employed, Shanghai;
Li Yong (李勇), self-employed, Wuhan;
Liang Haiyi (梁海怡), citizen, Guangdong;
Liang Lianfa (梁联发), retired, USA;
Liang Xiaojun (梁小军), lawyer, Beijing;
Liu Donghui (刘东辉), citizen, Yueyang, Hunan;
Liu Jianpeng (刘建鹏), citizen, living in Australia currently;
Liu Shuchao (刘书超), citizen, Zhengzhou;
Liu Sixin (刘四新), PhD in law, Beijing;
Liu Xiaolong (刘小龙), web development engineer, Hangzhou;
Lu Yinuo (陆以诺), missionary, Hangzhou;
Ma Bo (马波), author, Beijing;
Ma Yongtao (马永涛), farmer, Langfang, Hebei;
Ou Biaofeng (欧彪峰), citizen, Zhuzhou, Hunan;
Qin Weiping (秦伟平), independent economist, New York City currently;
Ren Ming (任铭), veteran, Shenzhen;
Shan Yajuan (单亚娟), medical doctor, Jixi city, Heilongjiang;
Shang Baojun (尚宝军), lawyer, Beijing;
Song Qingwen (宋庆文), citizen, Guangzhou;
Su Xiaoling (苏小玲), author, Beijing;
Su Zheng (苏征), corporate employee, Xi’an;
Sui Muqing (隋牧青), lawyer, Guangzhou;
Sun Weibang (孙维邦), citizen, France currently;
Tan Aijun (谭爱军), citizen, Guangxi;
Tang Jitian (唐吉田), lawyer, Beijing;
Tang Jingling (唐荆陵), lawyer, Guangzhou;
Tao Lishi (陶立诗), electric engineer, Beijing;
Teng Biao (滕彪), academic, Beijing;
Teng Peng (滕鹏), self-employed, Suzhou;
Tian Faquan (田发全), farmer and citizen, Shaanxi;
Tong Wenjie (童文杰), migrant worker, Hanshou, Hunan;
Wang Ce (王策), political scientist, Spain;
Wang Cheng (王成), lawyer, Hangzhou;
Wang Fulei (王福磊), fisherman, Shenzhen;
Wang Henggeng (王衡庚), PhD in mathematics, Hangzhou;
Wang Li’an (王立安), professor, Dalian;
Wang Qingying (王清营), citizen, Guangzhou;
Wang Yaoming (王耀明), Christian, Chongqing;
Wang Yimin (王译敏), student, Xi’an;
Wu Wenxing (巫文兴), security guard, Foshan, Guangdong;
Wu Hao (吴昊), white-collar worker, Anhui;
Wu Lebao (吴乐宝), citizen, Australia currently;
Wu Wei (吴伟), academic, Beijing;
Wu Zuolai (吴祚来), academic, Beijing;
Wu Yisan (武宜三), publisher, Hong Kong;
Xiang Li (向莉), curator, Beijing;
Xiao Guozhen (肖国珍), lawyer, in the US currently;
Xiao Shu (笑蜀，即陈敏), media professional, Guangzhou;
Xiao Yong (肖勇), citizen, Hunan;
Xie Li (解丽), Christian, Wuhan;
Xiong Ruopan (熊若磐), retiree, USA currently;
Xu Wenli (徐文立), retired senior fellow, Brown University, USA;
Xu Youyu (徐友渔), academic, Beijing;
Yin Longlong (殷龙龙), poet, Beijing;
Yang Gaofeng (杨高峰), citizen, Shangqiu;
Yang Jianli (杨建利), PRC citizen, Washington, DC, USA;
Yang Yu (杨雨), exile, Maryland, USA;
Yang Zi (羊子), retiree, USA;
Ye Kuangzheng (叶匡政), poet, Beijing;
Yu Fangqiang (于方强), NGO, Beijing;
Yu Xiangzhen (于向真), freelancer, Beijing;
Yu Yunfeng (于云峰), citizen, Harerbin;
Yu Qiyuan (余其元), citizen, Guangzhou;
Yuan Ya (袁亚), citizen, ezhou, Hubei;
Zhang Boshu (张博树), academic, Columbia University, USA;
Zhang Guiliang (张贵良), citizen, Sichuan;
Zhang Haitao (张海涛), self-employed, Urumqi;
Zhang Hongjun (张红军), actor, Sichuan;
Zhang Hui (张慧), teacher, Shangdong;
Zhang Hushan (张虎山), pipe installer, Wuwei, Gansu;
Zhang Kun (张昆), participant in the New Citizens Movement, Xuzhou;
Zhang Shihe (张世和), documentary maker, Beijing;
Zhang Xiaofeng (张晓峰), citizen, France currently;
Zhao Shujun (赵淑君), citizen, Hangzhou;
Zhao Yong (赵勇), self-employed, Beijing;
Zhu Chengzhi (朱承志), social activist, Shaoyang, Hunan;
Zhu Yan (朱晏), secretary of Outdoors Club Beijing Chapter, actor, Beijing;

Citizens wishing to join this appeal, please send your name, profession,
and location (city) to gongminanjian at gmail.com

=====

请兑现对宪法和法律的忠诚
——给审理公民权利案的法官诸君的公开信

去年3月刘远东被捕，4月丁家喜、赵常青、刘萍、魏忠平、李思华被捕，7月宋泽、许志永
被捕，8月郭飞雄、李化平、刘家财被捕，9月王功权被捕，10月董如彬被
捕……因争取基本权利而被捕的公民，去年多达一百多人。
 

他们大多已经被起诉，开庭在即。他们的命运，到了你们的手中。
 

所以，必须向你们呼吁。无须向抓捕他们的警官呼吁，因为他们都是机器上的部件，只会按
机器的指令行事，没有自己的灵魂。你们不然，你们或属于法律人共同体。
 

如果你们承认中国还有司法，承认司法公正是社会公正的最后底线；你们或不得不承认，你
们负有捍卫这最后底线的神圣职责。

那么，请你们守住这底线，不要让政治干预洞穿这底线。

你们都精通法律，当然知道法律的尺度。看了起诉书之后，看了警方所谓呈堂证供之后，听
了当事人尤其律师的抗辩之后，再对照宪法和法律，扪心自问，你们能否认那都
是政治迫害么？你们真的相信他们都属于刑事罪犯么？
 

完全忠于宪法和法律，是最基本的职业伦理。就在12月4号，最高法院院长周强已率500名
法官，向着全世界宣誓：
 

“我是中华人民共和国法官，我宣誓：忠于祖国，忠于人民，忠于宪法和法律，忠实履行法官
职责，恪守法官职业道德，遵守法官行为规范，公正司法，廉洁司法，为民司
法，为维护社会公平正义而奋斗！”
 

亲爱的法官，现在就请兑现这誓言吧，全世界的舆论，都正聚焦你们，全世界的良知，都正聚
焦你们。
 

更重要的是，历史将记录你们。记入历史的一定不是抽象的案情，而会是全部细节，尤其包
括判决书上你们每个人的名字。换句话说，表面上是你们在审判那些公民，但实
际上，你们何尝不同时在接受历史的审判，即公义与良知的审判呢？
 

更有后人的审判。有着你们个人名字的历史，你们的子孙不可能不关心，那么，你们想给他
们留下怎样的一份历史记录，你们希望他们怎样评说你们呢？你们希望他们以你
们为荣，还是以你们为耻？
 

是的，这一切责任，法律责任和道德责任，都得你们来承担。无可逃避。不要以为躲在组织
的面具下就可以免责。不要对组织有幻想，且不谈组织常常翻手为云覆手为
雨，就算组织愿为你们遮风挡雨，但挡得了一时，挡得了一世么？
 

但是，如果你们完全忠于法律人的职业伦理，即完全忠于宪法和法律，你们就可以俯仰无愧。
既无愧于所谓组织——这么做完全符合法官誓词的宗旨；也无愧于人民，尤其
无愧于历史，无愧于你们的后人。是的，这有一定的职业风险，但不至于有人身风险，总不
至于当你们完全依据宪法和法律裁决之后，你们也同样马上失去自由。而这样的
裁决，可是创造历史的裁决，相比于创造历史的伟业，那点职业风险，又算得了什么呢？
 

这么裁决，你们不只是创造你们个人的历史，更是为中国法制开新篇，甚至，为我们民族开
新篇。历史和现实累积了太多的精神创伤，这才是我们民族最大的危机。任何政
治迫害，任何枉法裁决，都会加大创伤。而如果你们真的坚守了司法公正这个最后的底
线，创伤就会少一分，仇恨就会少一分，戾气就会少一分，愈合的希望就会多一分。
真的，我们民族的元气实在消耗太大，经不起新的创伤了。你们能不对我们民族的元气伤
害太狠么？能尽量不为构陷者背书么？
 

那些无辜的公民，在囹圄中度过了他们去年的生日、中秋、圣诞和元旦，或许还将在囹圄
中度过今年春节；仅仅因为他们把宪法和法律当真、争取宪法和法律规定的人权和
公民权利。现在，是到你们站起来，制止对法律的玩弄和操纵、制止这一切迫害的时候了。
请公开公平公正裁决，还无辜公民以自由，还宪法和法律以信用，也还你们以尊
严。


当前法制环境下，我们本不抱奢望；但我们不愿放弃任何努力，所以写这封信给你们，亲爱
的法官。十八届三中全会决定已经强调司法公正，强调“让审理者裁判，让裁判
者负责”。你们无可推诿，你们负有全责。历史的机会在你们手上，光荣是你们的，耻辱也
是你们的。名垂青史还是万劫不复？你们的毕生浮沉系于这一刻！


公民（以拼音排名）：
 

艾晓明，学者，广州
毕康，诗人，南京
蔡淑芳，公民，香港
蔡詠梅，雜誌編輯，香港
陈伟青，待业，珠海
陈云飞，业余驯兽师，成都
陈志光，政府职员，广州
陳博良，自由工作者，湖南長沙
成秋波，公民，流亡者
程曜，教授，北京
丁华，退休教师，上海市
董文杰，自由职业者，山西运城
梵·任，无业，贵阳
冯崇义，学者，旅居悉尼，
郭少坤，伤残警察，江苏省徐州市
郭贤良，工程师，昆明
郭永亮，农民，内蒙古包头
郭于华，学者，北京
何杨，独立纪录片制作人，北京
贺生军，公民，北京
华泽，纪录片导演，北京
黄无限，医生，四川
江天勇，律师，北京
李大伟，公民维权人士，甘肃天水
李红雨，作家，北京
李锦，民主党派，重庆
李維國，公民，廣州
李学政，自由职业者，上海
李勇，自由职业者，武汉
梁海怡，公民，广东
梁联发，退休，美国
梁小军，律师，北京
刘东辉，公民，湖南岳阳
刘建鹏，公民，旅居澳洲
刘书超，公民，郑州
刘四新，法学博士，北京
刘小龙，Web开发工程师，杭州
陆以诺，传道人，杭州
马波，作家，北京
马永涛，农民，河北
欧彪峰，公民，湖南株洲
秦伟平（秦邦），独立经济学者，旅居纽约
任铭，深圳公民，复员军人
单亚娟，医生，黑龙江
尚宝军，律师，北京
宋庆文，公民，广州
苏小玲，作家，北京
苏征，企业员工，西安
隋牧青，律师，广州
孙维邦，公民，法国
谭爱军，公民，广西
唐吉田，律师，北京
唐荆陵，律师，广州
陶立诗，电气工程师，北京
滕彪，学者，北京
滕鹏，自由职业者，苏州
田发全，农民公民，陕西
童文杰，农民工，湖南
王策，政治学者，西班牙
王成，律师，杭州
王福磊，渔夫，深圳
王衡庚，数学博士，杭州
王立安，教授，大连
王清营，公民，广州
王耀明，基督徒，重庆
王譯敏，學生，西安
巫文兴，保安，广东佛山
吴昊，上班族，安徽
吴乐宝，中国公民，澳洲
吴伟，独立学者，北京
吴祚来，学者，旅美
武宜三（凌文秀），出版人，香港
向莉，策展人，北京
肖国珍，律师，旅居美国
笑蜀（陈敏），媒体人，广州
肖勇，公民，湖南
解丽，基督徒，武汉市
熊若磐，退休，美国
徐文立，美国布朗大学退休资深研究员，美国
徐友渔，学者，北京
殷龙龙，诗人，北京
杨高峰，公民，商丘
杨建利，中国公民，美国
杨雨，流亡者，美国
羊子，退休，美国
叶匡政，诗人，北京
于方强，NGO，北京
于向真，自由撰稿人，北京
于云峰，公民，哈尔滨
余其元，公民，广州
袁亚，公民，湖北鄂州
张博树，学者，美国
张贵良，公民，四川
张海涛，自由职业，新疆乌鲁木齐
张红军，演员，四川
张虎山，管道安装，甘肃武威
张慧，教师，山东
张昆，新公民运动参与者，徐州
张世和（老虎庙），纪录片工作者，北京
张晓峰，公民，法国
赵淑君，公民，杭州
赵勇，自由职业，北京
朱承志，社会工作者，湖南邵阳市
朱晏，演员，北京

参与联署的公民，请将真实姓名、职业、所在地发：
gongminanjian at gmail.com