China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - July 2006
Message from the Chairmen
The Arrest of Chen Guangcheng
The Commission is concerned about the June 21st arrest of Chen Guangcheng, a blind legal advocate who has suffered months of official harassment and detention in retaliation for exposing violent abuses by local officials in Linyi city, Shandong province.
Mr. Chen spoke out courageously against abuses committed by population planning officials in Linyi, raising these issues peacefully, lawfully, and in the spirit of good citizenship. The activities that Mr. Chen criticized contravene Article 39 of the 2002 PRC Population and Family Planning Law, and a senior official of the National Population and Family Planning Commission called them "definitely illegal." The Chinese Constitution prohibits "unlawful deprivation or restriction of citizens' freedom of person," and confirms that the "State respects and safeguards human rights." The arbitrary restrictions placed on Mr. Chen's personal liberty, however, undermine these constitutional guarantees.
The Commission urges the Chinese government to ensure that Mr. Chen's rights are respected and to allow him to resume his valuable humanitarian work.
Announcements
Translations: Open Letters From Wife of Arrested Advocate Chen Guangcheng
In March 2006, local authorities in Linyi city, Shandong province, exceeded a six-month time limit on their house arrest of Chen Guangcheng and took him into custody for interrogation. They did not send formal notice of Chen's detention to his wife until June. Since June, authorities have placed Chen's wife, among other close relatives, under house arrest.
The Commission has translated An Open Letter From Chen Guangcheng's Wife to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, dated March 24, and An Open Letter From Chen Guangcheng's Wife to UN General Secretary Kofi Annan on the Eve of His Visit to China, dated May 12, which raise these issues. For additional information, see Authorities Formally Arrest Legal Advocate Chen Guangcheng below.
Translation: Open Letter From Recently Confined Lawyer Zheng Enchong
Five years after local authorities suspended the law license of Shanghai lawyer and property rights activist Zheng Enchong, controversy over land disputes and forced demolitions remains prevalent there and throughout China. After releasing Zheng from prison on June 5, authorities provided him with written instruction about how to answer questions from the news media and confined him to the area immediately surrounding his home.
The Commission has translated Zheng's Open Letter to the UN Human Rights Council, dated June 15. For additional information, see Authorities Release Shanghai Lawyer Zheng Enchong, Restrict His Speech and Movement below.
Translation: Petition From Advocates Criticizing Internet Censorship
The Commission has translated a March 2006 petition that several groups have submitted to the Legislative Review and Filing Office of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, asking it to consider the constitutionality and legality of the Provisions on the Administration of Internet News Information Services, which the Chinese government used to shut down their Web sites.
The petition was organized by "Constitutional Review Application Delegations" from "Aegean Sea," which the Zhejiang Provincial Press and Publication Administration shut down on March 9; "Chinese Workers Net," "Worker, Farmer, Soldier BBS," and "Communist Party Peoples Net," which were shut down during a government crackdown on freedom of the press before the plenary sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; and "Democracy and Freedom" (Perspectives), which was shut down for the 47th time since the government first shut it down in November 2005. For additional information, see Groups Petition Government to Review Constitutionality of Internet News Rules below.