China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update - No. 7 - August 19, 2010
Statement of the Chairman and Cochairman on Political Imprisonment in China Today
Recent trials of Webmasters, professors, writers, lawyers, and even a geologist in China who is a U.S. citizen have heightened concern that the Chinese government increasingly is using detention and imprisonment to stifle dissent or to advance government objectives, at the expense of human rights. For example, in July, Dr. Xue Feng, an American geologist, was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping a U.S. company purchase commercial information on oil wells in China. Gheyret Niyaz, a Uyghur journalist and the editor of a popular Web site was sentenced to 15 years in prison for apparently giving an interview to the foreign media after the July 2009 demonstrations and riots in Xinjiang and for essays critical of some Chinese government policies in Xinjiang. In addition, Nijat Azat, Dilshat Perhat, and Nureli, have been sentenced to prison in connection to their roles as administrators of three popular Uyghur Web sites.
Announcements
Roundtable: "China and Human Trafficking: Updates and Analysis"
Friday, August 20, 2010
10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 628
At this CECC roundtable, panelists will examine recent developments in the Chinese government's efforts to combat human trafficking and discuss prospects for and obstacles to further progress. In the last year the Chinese government has acceded to the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Will its accession impact developments on the ground? What challenges do current labor conditions in China present for defining and addressing human trafficking, including labor trafficking? How do political pressure and human rights in China intersect with the issue of human trafficking?
Panelists:
Earl Brown, Labor and Employment Law Counsel and China Program Director, Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO
Tiantian Zheng, Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Asian/Middle Eastern Studies Program, State University of New York, Cortland
Wan Yanhai, Director of Beijing Aizhixing Institute; expert on HIV/AIDS, human rights and civil society in China
Patrick Radden Keefe, Fellow, The Century Foundation; author of The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
CECC Roundtables are open to the public. No RSVP is necessary.