Authorities Obstruct Publicity and Legal Defense Efforts in Chen Guangcheng Case

July 31, 2006

Human Rights Watch and Boxun both posted on July 19 timelines of events related to the Chinese government's criminal case against Chen Guangcheng. The timelines recount several weeks of continuing harassment and violence against Chinese human rights defenders, including legal scholars and advocates who have attempted to participate in Chen's criminal defense:

Human Rights Watch and Boxun both posted on July 19 timelines of events related to the Chinese government's criminal case against Chen Guangcheng. The timelines recount several weeks of continuing harassment and violence against Chinese human rights defenders, including legal scholars and advocates who have attempted to participate in Chen's criminal defense:

Obstruction of Attempts By Rights Defenders to Publicize Chen's Case

  • The timelines note that on June 19, authorities prevented rights defenders and Chen's family members from holding a press conference to publicize Chen's case. A June 20 South China Morning Post (SCMP) report (subscription required) said that the activists canceled the press conference after the universities employing legal scholars Teng Biao and Xu Zhiyong warned the two men not to become involved in Chen's case. The SCMP also reported that more than 10 plainclothes security officers physically blocked AIDS activist Hu Jia and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, from leaving their home to attend the press conference. According to a June 20 Associated Press report (reprinted in the Hong Kong Standard), authorities similarly prevented Beijing lawyers Jiang Tianyong and Li Heping from leaving their homes. "[W]e're not breaking any laws by telling people about Chen's situation," Li Heping told the Associated Press.
  • On June 29, Beijing authorities pressured the organizer of a "Symposium on the Topic of Developing a Healthy Rule of Law Environment Within China" to cancel the event. According to a June 30 Radio Free Asia (RFA) report (in Chinese, reprinted by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CRD)), the symposium was organized to discuss the difficulties faced by Chinese rights defenders, and also to bring attention to Chen's case. Teng Biao, Xu Zhiyong, Hu Jia, and Zeng Jinyan all received invitations to participate. RFA reported that after the cancellation, security officers searched the home of Han Tao, the conference organizer, as well as the conference site, and placed Han under surveillance.

Obstruction of Attempts By Lawyers to Meet With Chen

  • The timelines note that on June 21, the date of Chen's formal arrest, lawyers Zhang Lihui and Li Jinsong visited the Yinan County Detention Center to meet with Chen. Li's work report (in Chinese) from that day, posted on Boxun, notes that he received a death threat over the phone in the afternoon.
  • On June 23, Li Jinsong and his assistant, Li Subin, visited Chen's home village to meet with Chen's wife, Yuan Weijing, about the possibility of applying for Chen's release on bail. According to a June 24 CRD report (in Chinese), more than 20 unidentified assailants beat the two lawyers when they attempted to enter the village.
  • On July 9, Hu Jia, Zhang Lihui, Li Jinsong, and Li Subin visited Chen's home village to look over court documents, including the indictment, and to meet with Chen so that he could provide his own account of events. The next day, more than 30 unidentified assailants surrounded Hu and Yuan Weijing, according to a July 11 L.A. Times report. The L.A. Times reported that the assailants beat Hu, and that police officers arriving on the scene made no attempt to stop the beating, but instead took away Yuan Weijing for interrogation. Li Jinsong received permission to meet with Chen on July 11.

Obstruction of Attempts By Lawyers to Gather Evidence in Chen's Defense

  • The timelines note that on June 27, Li Jinsong, Li Subin, and Hu Jia visited Chen's home village to gather evidence in support of Chen's criminal defense. An unidentified assailant assaulted Li and took his video camera as nearby police officers stood and watched, according to a June 28 SCMP report. In a June 28 RFA report (in Chinese), Li Jinsong said that unidentified assailants attacked him only after police officers arrived on the scene. A video recording (in Chinese, posted by RFA on July 19) shows that several assailants also attempted to overturn Li's vehicle. Hu Jia told the RFA that he witnessed the incident from a second vehicle nearby, and that the assailants overturned Li's vehicle while he and Li Subin were still inside.
  • On July 15, Xu Zhiyong and Li Jinsong arrived in Linyi in advance of Chen's originally scheduled trial date. A July 18 RFA report (in Chinese, reprinted by CRD) noted that both were unable to enter Chen's village to gather evidence in support of Chen's criminal defense.

The government's harassment and violent measures target legal scholars and advocates on the basis of their attempts to participate in Chen's criminal defense, and occur at a time when Chinese rights defenders are increasingly subject to government repression and control. In recent months, the Chinese government has taken measures to restrict the activities of lawyers engaged in criminal and civil rights defense. Some of these measures prohibit lawyers from using the media to bring attention to particularly high-profile cases. In addition, the All China Lawyers Association issued in March a guiding opinion that requires lawyers to "be cautious" in their contacts with domestic and foreign media, and foreign organizations, and to inform and discuss with the local justice bureau any "mass" cases that they accept. These restrictions run counter to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that everyone has the right to impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Although governments may restrict this right for the protection of national security, public order, or public health or morals, Beijing authorities have not indicated that their obstruction of the June 19 and 29 press conferences was for any purpose other than to prevent Chen's supporters from conveying information and opinions on the government's prosecution of Chen.

Since June, Linyi authorities have relied on harassment and violent measures to obstruct the ordinary activities of criminal defense lawyers engaged in their professional practice. In a plea to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Supervision, and various Shandong provincial agencies, several rights defenders commented: "Such illegal actions violate the professional rights of lawyers and shake the foundation of the nation's administration of justice; they openly and severely challenge the nation's rule of law, and should lead to great caution and resolute resistance by the state and by society." Article 96 of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) guarantees a criminal suspect the right to meet with a lawyer after police interrogation or from the first day of formal detention. Moreover, it provides that the defense lawyer "shall have the right to find out from the investigation organ about the crime suspected of, and may meet with the criminal suspect in custody to enquire about the case." Under Article 36 of the CPL, defense lawyers are allowed access to court documents, including the indictment, as soon as the investigation has ended and the case is transferred to the procuratorate. Article 37 of the CPL ensures that defense lawyers are able to gather information in support of their case from a witness, as long as they obtain the consent of that witness. The actions of Linyi officials disregard the protections guaranteed under Chinese law, and contravene Article 11 of the UDHR, which mandates that a criminal defendant has had "all the guarantees necessary for his [defense]," and Article 14.3(b) of the ICCPR, which requires that he have "adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his [defense] and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing."