Access to Justice

The Sichuan province high court, procuratorate, and public security bureau have issued a joint opinion that in theory prohibits the use of oral evidence obtained through illegal means and strengthens other protections for criminal defendants, according to a Procuratorial Daily article. The announcement comes in the wake of a national uproar over recent revelations that courts wrongfully convicted two Chinese men of murder in part on the basis of confessions obtained through torture (see related stories on the Nie Shubin and She Xianglin cases - 1, 2, 3). The cases have sparked widespread criticism of China’s criminal justice system and the continuing problem of torture there.

Human Rights in China reported on January 31 that Chinese authorities in Shanghai formally detained Xu Zhengqing. Authorities had taken Xu into custody in Beijing on January 29, along with 22 others, including Wang Qiaojuan, Zheng Peipei, and Chen Xiuqin, as they tried to attend memorial services for former senior leader Zhao Ziyang.

According to Boxun several activists who security authorities subjected to movement restrictions and surveillance have reported a lessening of official harassment after Zhao’s funeral ended. Boxun said that Qi Zhiyong and Li Jinping have been allowed to return home, and Ding Zilin, Jiao Guobiao, Zhang Xianling, and Liu Xiaobo report that police surveillance has ended around their homes.

In late June and July, public security officials in Shanghai have beaten and detained several Chinese citizens who signed petitions and attempted to participate in peaceful assemblies, according to a July 19 report from Human Rights in China (HRIC). Citing unnamed sources, HRIC said that on June 24, dozens of public security officials attacked more than 30 petitioners as they prepared to depart from Shanghai for Beijing to protest the government's revised regulations on petitioning. According to HRIC, 16 petitioners issued an open letter on June 28, protesting the prosecution of petitioner Xu Zhengqing, who has been held on charges of "disturbing social order" since January 29.

According to several sources, Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown on human rights activists in Beijing during the visit of Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to China from August 29 to September 2. On August 29, Chinese police raided the office of the Empowerment and Rights Institute, a legal and human rights advisory group in Beijing, shortly before Ms. Arbour's arrival, according to an August 30 New York Times article. The article cited employees of the Institute as saying that police searched the Institute's offices and copied computer files. The group's director, Hou Wenzhuo, said that the police had come to her home as well, but had not arrested her.

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, is scheduled to visit China from November 21 to December 2, 2005, according to an August 22 United Nations press release. Nowak will visit government officials, representatives of civil society, and detention centers in Beijing, Jinan, Urumqi, Yining, and Lhasa and will submit a comprehensive report to the Commission on Human Rights in 2006, according to the U.N. release.

Mr. Nowak and his predecessor, Theo van Boven, have long negotiated with the Chinese government for permission to make an investigative visit to China. In March 2004, the Chinese government agreed to a visit by van Boven. It later postponed the visit with a pledge to reschedule it before the end of 2004, citing the need for additional preparations and the difficulty of coordinating the visit among local authorities. Mr. Nowak succeeded van Boven in December 2004.

Two private citizens have petitioned the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) to resolve an apparent contradiction between national and local legal requirements related to marriage registration, according to an article in the Procuratorate Daily. In July 2005, Heilongjiang provincial officials amended a local rule to require couples to submit evidence of a medical examination before they may obtain a marriage license. Although the rule is consistent with the 1994 Law on Mother and Infant Health Care, which requires evidence of such exams to be presented before authorities register a marriage, it conflicts with the State Council Marriage Registration Regulations issued in 2003, which specifically abolish such compulsory medical examinations.

A Zhejiang provincial court agreed in June to hear a case involving a lawsuit by 282 farmers against the Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission (DRC). The farmers alleged that the DRC's approval of an administrative license for a garbage burning power plant violated the Administrative Licensing Law, according to a June 13 report in the Legal Daily.

Chinese authorities are experiencing an increasing number of xinfang petitions of final court decisions, ongoing court cases, and legal issues which should be handled by the judiciary, according to an analysis by a Chongqing local court official published on the China Court Network Web site. Petitioners are increasingly resorting to extreme behavior, multiple petitions, and organized petitioning efforts to pursue their grievances.