The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.
Brief description of the situation:
According to the information received, on February 20, 2006, Mrs. Liu Hua, formerly village head of Zhangliangbao Village, Honglingbao Township, in the Sujiatun District of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, and her husband, former village chairman, who had most recently petitioned Beijing just before this year’s session of the National People’s Congress, were arrested by officers of the Public Security Bureau’s You’anmen dispatch station. On February 21, 2006, they were forcibly returned to Shenyang, where they have remained in custody up to now. Family members have not been shown a warrant or given any reason for the couple’s detention. According to the most recent information, Mrs. Liu Hua would currently be held in the Shenyang’s Masanjia Re-education Centre, and Mr. Yue Yongjin in the city’s Sujiatun District Detention Centre.
For several years, Mrs. Liu Hua and Mr. Yue Yongjin have been exposing corruption among village officials, and since 2004, they have been petitioning Beijing to intervene in forcible land seizures in the village.
On February 28 and March 7, 2006, more than 40 residents of Zhangliangbao Village allegedly petitioned the Sujiatun District Public Security Bureau (PSB) Station calling for Mrs. Liu and Mr. Yue’s release. A PSB officer surnamed Dou reportedly told the petitioners that Mrs. Liu had broken petitioning regulations and caused trouble in Beijing, including shouting slogans outside of a United Nations office in Beijing, and that her crimes were "serious".
According to the information received, in 2002, Mrs. Liu and Mr. Yue accused the previous village committee of embezzling collective assets. Subsequently, Zhangliangbao residents elected Mr. Yue as village chairman and Mrs. Liu as village head, but the previous officers refused to provide them with the official seal, making it impossible for Mrs. Liu and Mr. Yue to exercise their official powers. Nevertheless, Mrs. Liu and Mr. Yue brought in outside auditors to examine the village accounts, and the auditors determined that local village officials had unlawfully sold and reallocated collective property, including the village school. Village officials were also found to have taken possession of emergency funds for water, electricity and disaster relief. In all, corrupt officials, including the previous and current village Party secretaries and village accountant, were alleged to have taken assets worth more than 2.6 million yuan.
Local officials, angry over the investigation initiated by Mrs. Liu and Mr. Yue, staged another election in April 2004, during which they openly purchased and coerced votes from villagers, through which Mr. Zhang Fuqiang, a man with a criminal record, was elected the new village head. Since that time, Zhangliangbao Village has accordingly been in a state of constant turmoil, with village officials forcing villagers to consent to the sale of collective land. In spite of intimidation, more than 200 village households signed a petition objecting to the sale of village land and demanding the recall of village head Zhang Fuqiang and village Party secretary Liu Jia’an. In that same year, villagers chose Mrs. Liu Hua and Mr. Yue Yongjin as their representatives to petition Beijing authorities to intervene in the land dispute.
The Observatory recalls that rural land controversies have led to increasing social unrest in recent years. Official statistics indicate that in 2004, an estimated 3.6 million people took part in 74,000 mass protests across China, and that the main causes of the protests were land disputes and allegations of official corruption. The number of protests in 2005 rose to 87,000, a 17 percent increase over 2004. At the end of last year, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that unlawful land seizures were the chief cause of mass protests in China’s rural areas. Recent crackdowns against mass protests in Taishi Village and Shanwei Dongzhou Village are notable instances in which villagers were targeted after attempting to fight local corruption.
Actions required:
Please write to the Chinese authorities urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Liu Hua and Mr. Yue Yongjin;
ii. Release immediately Mrs. Liu Hua and Mr. Yue Yongjin since their detention is arbitrary;
iii. Put en end to the harassment against Mrs. Liu Hua and Mr. Yue Yongjin and all human rights defenders in China;
iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", and article 5, which states that "for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedom, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: (a) to meet or assemble peacefully; (b) to form, join and participate in non-governmental organisations, association or groups";
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the People’s Republic of China.
Addresses:
President Hu Jintao, People’s Republic of China, c/o Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008, USA, Fax: +01 202 588-0032
President Hu Jintao, People’s Republic of China, c/o Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Genève, Swtzerland, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Fusen Buzhang, Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn
Ambassador, Sha Zukang, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int, Fax : +41 22 793 70 14
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of the People’s Republic of China in your respective countries.
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Geneva-Paris, March 31, 2006
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
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