Mr. President,
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, would like to draw your attention to the situation of Mr. Wang Xiaoning, who remains detained since his arrest in 2002, because of essays he distributed through the Internet.
According to the information received from Human Rights in China (HRIC), on September 1, 2002, the police made a search at Mr. Wang’s home, and confiscated some files of his personal computer, as well as records of his emails. Mr. Wang Xiaoning was detained on the same day on suspicion of “incitement to subvert state power”, and then formally arrested on September 30, 2002. On September 12, 2003, the Beijing Municipal First Intermediary People’s Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison and two years’ subsequent deprivation of political rights on the charge of incitement to subvert state power.
These charges against Mr. Wang were linked with some electronic essays he published between 2000 and 2002, distributed in China and overseas by email and through Yahoo! Groups that Mr. Wang established anonymously in mainland China and Hong Kong. In these journals, entitled Democratic Reform Free Forum and Current Political Commentary, Mr. Wang issued articles written under his real name and pen names, and also articles written by others, calling, amongst others, for democratic reform and a multi-party systemMr. Wang also denounced the repression by the authorities against trade union leaders and peasants, and advocated the creation of a “China Third Road Party”. Mr. Wang was also accused of communicating by email with Mr. Liu Guokai, leader of the overseas China Social Democratic Party, which the Chinese government considers as a “hostile organisation”.
Among the evidence against Mr. Wang cited in the judgment was information provided by Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. The judgment also notes that in 2001 administrators of Mr. Wang’s mainland China-based Yahoo! Group noticed the “political” content of Mr. Wang’s writings and did not allow him to continue distribution through the Group. He then began distributing his journal by email to individual email addresses.
Since the beginning of his detention, Mr. Wang Xiaoning is said to have repeatedly suffered physical abuse. In May 2004, Mr. Wang was transferred to the Beijing Municipal No. 2 Prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Following this transfer, Mr. Wang had reportedly been warned that if he submitted his appeal, he would be denied any opportunity for parole, reduction of sentence for good behaviour or other privileges. Since then, he has been subjected to the prison’s second most severe form of solitary confinement. Nevertheless, Mr. Wang appealed the First Instance Court’s decision to the Supreme People’s Court, which rejected his request in December 2004.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mr. Wang Xiaoning’s arbitrary detention and sentencing, and urges the Chinese authorities to guarantee in all circumstances his physical and psychological integrity, and to release him immediately and unconditionally, as his detention is arbitrary, for it aims at curtailing the exercise of his human rights activities hence his freedom of expression.
Besides, the Observatory urges you to put en end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in China, and to 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 12.2, which states that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.
More generally, the Observatory calls upon the authorities to comply with international human rights standards and international instruments signed or ratified by the People’s Republic of China.
In the hope that you will take these considerations and requests into account,
We remain,
Sidiki Kaba Eric Sottas
President of FIDH Director of OMCT