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China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update
Mongol Rights Advocate Sodmongol Remains in Custody Following April Detention at Beijing Airport
October 20, 2010
Sodmongol, a Mongol rights advocate, remains in custody following his detention in April. He was about to depart for New York to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues when authorities at the Beijing Capital International Airport detained him. His case represents the second time in two years that authorities have prevented Mongol rights advocates from participating in UN forums on the protection of indigenous peoples. The Chinese government does not recognize any communities within its borders as "indigenous peoples."
Sodmongol, an ethnic Mongol rights advocate from Chaoyang city, Liaoning province, remains in custody since authorities first detained him at the Beijing Airport in April 2010, according to a July 15 press release from Amnesty International (AI). As reported in an April 23 article from the Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), officials at the Beijing Capital International Airport detained Sodmongol on April 18 as he was waiting to board a flight to the United States. Sodmongol had planned to attend the Ninth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York as part of a delegation arranged by the U.S.-based SMHRIC. The following day, authorities in Chaoyang searched Sodmongol's home, confiscated computers and other items, and told Sodmongol's wife of his detention. Sources cited in the AI article conjectured that he is held in detention in Chaoyang and that the Chaoyang procuratorate is investigating the case, but officials have not confirmed his whereabouts, according to the report. His family has been unable to visit him, according to AI.
Sodmongol was the administrator of two Internet forums¡ªnow shut down¡ªthat had promoted dialogue on Mongols' rights, according to the SMHRIC article. He also organized workshops and other events to promote the protection of Mongols' rights, in one case distributing flyers in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) to promote the protection of Mongolian language rights. Authorities previously questioned him about one of the Web sites in June 2009, asking, among other questions, whether the site posted content relating to "issues of independence of Tibetans, Mongols and Uyghurs," according to a June 22 SMHRIC article. In a December interview (via Police Net, December 4), Zhao Liping, head of the IMAR Public Security Department, said that like in the autonomous Tibetan areas of China and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the IMAR faced the threat of "enemy forces" from Western countries that wanted to "split" the region. He added that public security offices had carried out their duties and prevented the "enemy forces" from succeeding.
Sodmongol's detention comes two years after the detention of another advocate who promoted Mongols' rights as indigenous peoples. As noted in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Political Prisoner Database and a previous analysis, in 2008, authorities in the IMAR placed Mongol rights activist and journalist Naranbilig in confinement in his home for 1 year after detaining him for 20 days in March and April. Naranbilig had planned to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York when authorities intercepted his invitation letter and detained him on March 23. In addition to his planned participation in the Permanent Forum, Naranbilig also was involved in other activities to advocate for Mongols' rights.
The Chinese government voted to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, but the government does not recognize any populations within its borders as "indigenous peoples" with discrete protections for their rights stemming from this status. (See a September 13, 2007, UN General Assembly press release for the declaration's vote status.) At the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that Sodmongol had planned to attend, the Chinese government defended its policies toward the groups it defines as "ethnic minorities" and did not directly respond to comments at the session about Sodmongol's detention. See April 27 and 29 press releases from the forum. (For an additional example of Chinese policy toward the recognition of indigenous communities within its borders, see. e.g., a 1997 statement by the Chinese delegation to the 53rd session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, via the Web site of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Switzerland.)
The UN Declaration recognizes "the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples...especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources" (Preamble), and also protects the right of indigenous peoples to "revitalize, use, develop and transmit [their languages] to future generations" (Article 13). Sodmongol had raised concern about Chinese government policies toward grasslands and language use. As noted in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China 2009 Annual Report, the IMAR government has continued to implement policies to resettle herders away from grasslands and shift them to new occupations, with the stated aim of improving grasslands conditions. Such "ecological migration" measures in the IMAR, sometimes reported to be compulsory, have eroded Mongols¡¯ pastoral livelihoods, and scholars have questioned the effectiveness of these government policies in ameliorating environmental degradation. As also described in the 2009 Annual Report, after sustained implementation of policies that decreased the use of the Mongolian language in the IMAR, authorities have taken steps in recent years to spur greater use of the language. At the same time, authorities have targeted some Mongolian-language Web sites and Mongol discussion sites for scrutiny and closure, and a Mongol rights advocate in the IMAR reported curbs over the use of Mongolian on a university campus.
For more information on the rights of Mongols and conditions in the IMAR, see Section II¡ªEthnic Minorities in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-04-29 / English) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=140141 |
Authorities Prevent Some Human Rights Defenders From Traveling
October 27, 2010
Chinese authorities have appeared increasingly to restrict rights defenders' ability to leave China in recent months. Since April, authorities detained several rights defenders at airports in China, before they could board international flights. Authorities cited China's Law on the Control of the Exit and Entry of Citizens as justification for preventing rights defenders from traveling, or, in some cases, provided no official explanation.
Chinese authorities appear to be applying greater restrictions on rights defenders and advocates' ability to leave China. Authorities appear increasingly to rely on immigration controls to target them at the border.
- On August 3, Beijing Public Security Bureau detained writer Mo Zhixu in Fujian province, as he attempted to board a plane to Japan for vacation, according to reports on August 5 and August 3 from Radio Free Asia. Authorities reportedly cited concerns for state security as the reason for Mo's detention. Mo reportedly speculated that his detention was likely related to his support of Charter 08, a treatise advocating political reform and human rights.
- Several other human rights defenders were prevented from leaving China in recent months. In May, authorities detained rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong at the Beijing Capital International Airport while he attempted to board a flight to the United States, according to the August 5 report by Radio Free Asia. Customs officials reportedly invoked state security as grounds for preventing Jiang from traveling abroad.
- In July, authorities prevented Guo Yushan, director of the non-government Transition Institute, from attending a conference organized by the European Union in Poland, and a second, unrelated conference in Brussels, according to the August 5 report by Radio Free Asia. Authorities reportedly did not provide any explanation for preventing Guo's travel.
- On July 4, authorities in Beijing prevented human rights lawyer Zhang Kai from attending a church-organized training conference in the United States, according to China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group and ChinaAid. Zhang's colleagues were allowed to leave. During the past year, Zhang Kai has defended members of house churches in several cases that authorities have regarded as politically sensitive. Authorities at the Beijing International Airport reportedly cited state security, and orders from a higher government entity as reasons Zhang was not allowed to travel.
- On April 18, authorities at the Beijing Capital International Airport reportedly prevented Sodmongol, a Mongol rights advocate, from attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City, according to an April 23 article from the Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center. Authorities apparently did not provide an explanation for Sodmongol's arrest. As of July 15, Sodmongol had been held in detention in Chaoyang city, Liaoning province according to an Amnesty International press release. For more information on Sodmongol, see CECC analysis, Mongol Activist Remains in Custody Following April Detention at Airport.
In instances where explanations were given (Mo, Jiang, and Zhang), authorities most frequently cited Article 8 (5) of China's Law on the Control of the Exit and Entry of Citizens (Chinese, English) as justification for preventing rights defenders from traveling. The section prohibits the departure from China of "... persons whose exit from the country ... in the opinion of the competent department of the State Council, [would] be harmful to state security or cause a major loss to national interests." According to the August 3 and 5 reports from Radio Free Asia, human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong expressed concern about the apparent trend of preventing Chinese citizens who are "active in the public domain" from traveling abroad in recently months. According to one Chinese scholar, anecdotal evidence appears to suggest a broader application of the "state security" provision to rights defenders and citizens. He further observed that Article 8 (5) deprives citizens of fundamental rights due to its lack of accountability and remedial provisions.
These recent developments suggest that Chinese authorities are placing significant burdens on freedom of movement, which is a human right guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. For more information on restrictions on freedom of movement, see Section II¡ªFreedom of Residence in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-23 ) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=146550 |
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