Criminal Justice
Chi Qiang, President of the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court (IPC), announced the abolition of that court's responsibility system for wrongly decided cases, according to a November 21 newspaper article in The First. The system is described in the Implementation Details for the Beijing No. 1 IPC's Responsibility System for Illegally Adjudicated Cases (Trial)," which previously was used to discipline judges for cases overturned or altered on appeal. Court President Chi noted that the definition of a "wrongly decided case" is unclear in practice, and that the fear of sanctions harms the willingness of trial judges to decide cases independently.
The Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party Central Committee issued a "Circular on Solving the Enforcement Problem of Chinese Courts" on January 23, according to an article published on the China Court Web site on the same date. The article's commentary on the circular indicates that a campaign on enforcement of judicial decisions led by the Party is now under way, as a result of official concern about mounting social unrest.
Local government officials in China have continued to target for repression citizens who attempt to defend their legally protected rights, according to a September 25 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article. RFA reports: "Rather than penning well-crafted essays on broad themes aimed at Party ideologues and the urban elite, the new breed of Chinese activist is more likely to use their pens on countless official forms and letters, culminating in complaints, lawsuits, or appeals to Party disciplinary systems." The article notes that the struggles of these rights defenders "seem inevitably to lead to beatings, detentions, and [criminal] sentences," and that the underlying problem giving rise to their grievances "is systemic, rather than ideological, and therefore isn't going away any time soon."
The wrongful detentions and torture of four teenagers in 2005 in Chaohu city, Anhui province, reflect continuing criminal procedure violations and abuses by local police, as described in a September 12 Xinhua report (in Chinese) on the cases. The teenagers, who ranged in age from 16 to 18, were released in January 2006 after more than three months in police custody. According to the Xinhua account, the Anhui provincial-level Public Security Bureau (PSB) acknowledged that officials handled the teenagers' cases in error. In addition, public security officials have agreed to give each teenager 60,000 yuan (approximately US$7,600) in compensation for their wrongful detentions, pursuant to agreements signed with each individual teenager's guardians. Xinhua reports that authorities currently are investigating the three police officers who handled the cases for their suspected involvement in coercing confessions under torture.
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB) continues to hold Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng without a formal charge, and has denied him access to a lawyer on the grounds that his case involves "state secrets," according to a September 25 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report (in Chinese). More than 10 plainclothes police officers abducted Gao on August 15 from his sister's home in Dongying city, Shandong province, where he was visiting his critically ill brother-in-law, according to an August 17 RFA report (in Chinese).
Guangzhou police have accused rights defender Yang Maodong (who uses the pen name Guo Feixiong) of posing as a publisher, misappropriating the book numbers of various publications, and illegally publishing, printing, and issuing over 20,000 publications, according to a September 15 Guangzhou Daily report (in Chinese, via the Guangdong provincial government Web site). The report characterized Guo's alleged wrongdoing as "illegal operation of a business," a crime punishable under Article 225 of the Criminal Law. The Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) have both reported that police took Guo from his home during the early morning of September 14, and that they are currently holding him at the Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Center.
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The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a Commission hearing entitled "Human Rights and Rule of Law in China," on Wednesday, September 20 from 10 AM to 11:30 AM in Room 138 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Senator Chuck Hagel, Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, presided.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has issued new provisions that detail the criteria for prosecuting official abuses of power, according to a July 26 Xinhua report. The SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Dereliction of Duty and Rights Infringement Criminal Cases went into effect on July 26, and clarify standards previously established in 1999 by the SPP's Provisions on the Criteria for Filing Cases Directly Received by People's Procuratorates for Filing and Investigation (Trial).
The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court acquitted New York Times researcher Zhao Yan of disclosing state secrets on August 25, but sentenced him to three years' imprisonment on an unrelated fraud charge, according to an August 25 New York Times report. On August 26, the China Daily reported that the court also fined Zhao 2,000 yuan (US$250) and ordered him to pay back 20,000 yuan (US$2,500) that it ruled he had acquired through fraud. According to a September 5 Associated Press International report (via the Guardian), on that day Zhao filed an appeal arguing that the prosecution's evidence was insufficient and that the court did not allow a defense witness to testify.
On July 11, Reporters Without Borders reported that documentary filmmaker and blogger Hao Wu had been released by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB) after being held for 140 days. The PSB never provided a reason for holding Wu, but at the time he was taken into custody on February 22, Wu was shooting a documentary about China's unregistered house churches, the subject of frequent harassment and repression by the Chinese government. On that day, Wu was supposed to meet with Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who had represented unregistered house church members and whom Wu had wanted to include in his documentary.