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China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update
Beijing Public Security Officials Formally Arrest Activist Hu Jia
Beijing public security officials formally arrested activist Hu Jia on charges of "inciting subversion of state power," according to a February 1 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article and a January 31 report in the Dui Hua Foundation's Human Rights Journal. Beijing public security officials detained Hu on December 27, 2007. On January 30, officials served Hu's family with an arrest notice and officials allowed Hu's father to visit him on January 31, according to the Dui Hua report and a February 3 RFA article. The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau previously denied lawyer Li Jinsong's reconsideration request (posted on Boxun on January 8) to allow Hu to meet with his lawyers, citing the involvement of state secrets in the case, according to a January 25 RFA article. The same article reports that officials also denied Li's application (posted on Boxun on January 15) for Hu to obtain a guarantor pending trial, a process similar to bail, on the grounds that it could "endanger society." Officials have continued to harass individuals connected to Hu and those who attempt to visit the residence of Hu and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, according to the RFA articles dated February 1 and February 3.
For additional information on Hu's detention, see a previous CECC analysis and Hu's record of detention, searchable through the CECC's Political Prisoner Database.
| Source: -See Summary (2008-02-04 ) |
Posted on: 2008-05-05 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=102295 |
Guo Feixiong Sentenced to Five Years for Illegal Business Operation
A Guangzhou court sentenced rights defender Yang Maodong (who uses the pen name Guo Feixiong) to five years in prison for "illegal operation of a business," a crime under Article 225 of China's Criminal Law, according to a November 16 Guangzhou Daily article (in Chinese, via the Web site of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government). A November 14 Human Rights in China (HRIC) press release said that the Tianhe District People's Court, in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, handed down the sentence on November 14 and also fined him 40,000 yuan (US$5,400). The Guangzhou Daily article said that Guo's punishment stemmed from activities he allegedly undertook beginning in 2001. The article said that in July 2001, Guo fabricated the existence of a magazine publisher named "Comprehensive Law" and misappropriated the publication number of the publication "Chemical Reagent." Guo then used the number to print 26,086 copies of a publication named "Comprehensive Law 2001 Special Issue" and distributed them to the cities of Shenyang and Dalian, both in Liaoning province, to be sold. While the Guangzhou Daily described the item being sold as a "publication" and gave no details as to its content, the HRIC press release and a November 15 South China Morning Post (SCMP) article (subscription required) reported that Guo was punished for publishing a book concerning a political scandal in Shenyang. SCMP reported that the book had "angered local officials."
Guo's punishment comes amid a sustained government crackdown against prominent rights defenders such as Guo, Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng, and Zheng Enchong. For more information on this crackdown, see "Access to Counsel and Right To Present a Defense" in Section II - Rights of Criminal Suspects and Defendants of the CECC's 2007 Annual Report. Guo himself was previously detained for more than three months in late 2005, after he advised villagers in Taishi village, Guangdong, on their recall campaign against an allegedly corrupt village committee head. In February 2006, Guo published an online essay identifying government suppression of the recall campaign as the start of the crackdown against rights defenders. Two days after the essay was published, unidentified assailants reportedly beat Guo outside the police station where officials had earlier interrogated him. In early 2006, Guo took part in a hunger strike relay that Gao initiated to protest government abuses. In October 2006, about a month after Guo was detained, Chinese authorities arrested writer Zhang Jianhong and Internet essayist Chen Shuqing, both of whom had expressed support for Gao and are now serving sentences of six years and four years, respectively.
Guo's more recent detention and trial included a number of procedural postponements. According to the HRIC press release: - September 14, 2006 - Guo detained.
- September 30 - Guo formally arrested, after which the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB) refers his case to the Tianhe District People's Procuratorate.
- January 19, 2007 - procuratorate sends case back to the Guangzhou PSB for supplemental investigation.
- January 20 - case transferred to authorities in Liaoning.
- February 17 - case sent back to the Tianhe District People's Procuratorate.
- March 1 - procuratorate sends case to Guangzhou PSB for supplemental investigation.
- May 15 - Guo formally indicted.
- July 9 - Guo's trial begins at the Tianhe District People's Court.
- July 26 - Guo's wife, Zhang Qing, learns that the procuratorate has requested a supplemental investigation.
- End of August - supplemental investigation completed.
- October 12 - Zhang learns that the court has requested a one-month delay from the Guangdong Provincial High People's Court.
In a June 4, 2007, appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (translated and reprinted by HRIC), Zhang reported that police interrogators in both Guangzhou and Shenyang used coercive methods in an attempt to force a confession from Guo, including tying him to his bed in arm and leg manacles for 40 days and using electric batons and rods to strike his genitals. Article 247 of the Criminal Law and provisions issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in 2005 prohibit and punish the use of torture to coerce a confession. The Chinese government is further bound by provisions in the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which it ratified in 1988. Wang Zhenchuan, Deputy Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, acknowledged at a November 18, 2006, seminar in Sanya city, Hainan province, that almost all wrongful convictions in China involve police abuse during the investigation stage. Official Chinese statistics show that only about 30 people are wrongfully convicted in China each year due to police abuses, but Wang said that the real number could be higher.
The Chinese government has relied on the crime of "illegal operation of a business" to selectively punish other individuals for publishing political or religious materials. For example, house church pastors Wang Zaiqing and Cai Zhuohua were sentenced to two years and three years, respectively, for printing Bibles and other Christian literature without government permission. China's licensing scheme for publishing prevents citizens from publishing through anyone but a government-licensed publisher. To obtain a license, publishers must have a government sponsor and meet minimum financial requirements. The government limits the number of publications by requiring a publication to have a unique serial number, the allotment of which the government controls. These restrictions force citizens who wish to publish information or opinions that the Chinese government or Communist Party disagrees with to refrain from doing so or to risk punishment by publishing without government permission.
For more information on the Chinese government's policy toward publishing, see "Government Policy Toward Publishing" in Section II - Freedom of Expression of the CECC's 2007 Annual Report. For additional information about Guo, Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng, Zhang Jianhong, Chen Shuqing, Wang Zaiqing, and Cai Zhuohua, see their records of detention, searchable through the CECC's Political Prisoner Database.
| Source: -See Summary (2007-12-14 / English / Free) |
Posted on: 2008-05-05 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=101322 |
Wang Dejia, Shi Weihan Released on Bail
State security officials in China released Internet essayist Wang Dejia (whose pen name is Jing Chu) on bail on January 12, the Chinese rights advocacy Web site Minsheng Guancha reported on the same day. The report said that Wang had been released from the Quanzhou County Detention Center in Guilin city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Wang was originally detained in Quanzhou on December 13, 2007, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." Wang has written and posted numerous articles on the Internet criticizing the Chinese government and Communist Party and has also criticized China's hosting of the Olympics, which takes place in August of this year. According to Wang's wife, as reported in a January 17 Agence France-Presse article (via The China Post), authorities released Wang on the condition that he cease posting essays critical of the Chinese government. She said they required Wang to sign a pledge not to write any more and told him not to speak to foreign journalists.
While released on bail, Wang's case could remain open and subject to further investigation and prosecution for up to a year. Under Chinese law, being released on bail is referred to as having "obtained a guarantor pending trial" (qubao houshen). Article 58 of China's Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) provides that "[t]he period granted by a People's Court, People's Procuratorate, or public security organ to a criminal suspect or defendant for awaiting trial after obtaining a guarantor shall not exceed twelve months..." Article 58 also requires officials to continue "investigation, prosecution and handling" of a case while an individual is released on bail and to terminate such status if officials determine that the individual should not be investigated for criminal responsibility. During the period that Wang is released on bail, he must observe certain restrictions, including obtaining the government's permission before leaving his city or county of residence, according to Article 56 of the CPL.
Also in January, Beijing authorities released bookstore owner Shi Weihan on bail after detaining him for "illegal printing and distribution" of religious literature, according to a January 7 press release (English, Chinese) from the China Aid Association (CAA). According to CAA, authorities decided not to formally arrest Shi because of "insufficient evidence" and released him and two dozen others allegedly involved in the case on bail on January 4. Shi was originally detained on November 28.
For more information on China's imprisonment of online critics and punishment of citizens who publish religious materials without permission, see "Internet Censorship" in Section II - Freedom of Expression and "Religious Speech" in Section II - Freedom of Religion, in the CECC's 2007 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2008-01-18 / English / Free) |
Posted on: 2008-05-05 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=101879 |
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