Access to Justice
Beginning around July 9, 2015, Chinese authorities conducted a nationwide and coordinated crackdown (709 Crackdown) that affected over 300 human rights lawyers, legal professionals, and rights advocates.[i] At least fifteen individuals detained in the crackdown have been convicted on criminal charges.[ii] In a recent interview, one of the detained lawyers Sui Muqing recalled that suppression of rights lawyers began to intensify around 2014, after a long period when “lawyers were the only group willing to speak out” and were asked by grassroots activists “to take the lead [in rights defense movements].”[iii] Authorities consistently accused lawyers of committing crimes endangering state security, reflecting the view that lawyers presented a political threat to the state.
CECC Commissioners Rubio, Smith, Feinstein, Cotton, Merkley, Lankford, Daines, Young, Walz, Pittenger, Kaptur, Hultgren and Lieu Issue Statements Mourning the Death of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo
Commissioners ‘Deeply Saddened’ by the Loss of Liu Xiaobo and Urge Renewed Efforts to Seek the Unconditional Release and Protection of His Wife Liu Xia
Media Contact: Scott Flipse, 202-226-3777
July 13, 2017
June 30, 2017
(Washington)— U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), the chair and cochair respectively of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), held a hearing this week looking at the Chinese government crackdown on human rights lawyers and legal advocates.
Over the past four years, the Chinese government has carried out an extensive campaign to silence political dissent, curtail civil society, and ensure ideological loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party from various sectors of society, including business leaders, bloggers and social media users, university professors, and journalists. One of the most vicious aspects of the campaign has been the use of detentions, arrests, torture, televised confessions, and enforced disappearances to punish lawyers and legal advocates who have defended various victims of the Chinese government’s human rights abuses, including religious adherents, petitioners, artists, and reporters.
CECC Commissioners Say Transparency About 1989 Events a “Vital Concern” for Those Seeking More Productive U.S.-China Relations
June 1, 2017
(Washington, DC)—A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to lift restrictions on public discussion of the Tiananmen protests and their violent suppression and to release individuals detained for commemorating the June 4 anniversary and human rights lawyers detained in the “709” crackdown.
Lei Yang, an environmental scientist and Beijing resident, died in police custody in May 2016. His death sparked a national uproar over police brutality and abuse of power and highlighted widespread distrust of law enforcement, particularly from China’s emerging class of young professionals. Shortly after Lei’s death, President Xi Jinping convened a “leading small group” meeting which announced plans for stricter police supervision and the need to solve existing law enforcement problems, a reference which state media linked to Lei Yang’s death. Nevertheless, in December 2016, the Beijing procuratorate declined to press criminal charges despite finding that the police officers involved used excessive force and caused Lei’s death. To stem public interest in the case, authorities censored online advocacy efforts and harassed individuals pressing publicly for greater police accountability.
Crackdown On Human Rights Lawyers 'Inconsistent' With China's Desire To Be Viewed As A Responsible Global Stakeholder Say Chairs
May 11, 2017
Concrete improvements in human rights and the rule of law in China are directly linked to the security and prosperity of both the American and Chinese people. Advances in protecting human rights and curbing government violations of universal freedoms are essential components of economic development, mutual prosperity, domestic stability, and the type of trust and confidence necessary to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on a range of issues that will define the 21st century.