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), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention on the following situation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
New information:
According to the information received, on October 13, 2007, Mrs. Liu Jie, who was arrested on October 11, 2007 by the Beijing police (See background information), was detained for suspicion of “gathering crowds to disturb social order”, on the basis of Article 61 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law, which pertains to the initial detention of “major suspects” or “active offenders” and thus does not address the substance of any supposed crime committed by Mrs. Liu. Her family obtained her formal detention order from the Public Security Bureau of the Beian City Military Farm Bureau (nong ken) in Heilongjiang Province. Mrs. Liu is currently detained at the Beian Nongken Detention Centre.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mrs. Liu’s arbitrary detention, as it seems to merely sanction her human rights activities, and fears for her physical and psychological integrity as an increasing number of human rights defenders have been subjected to torture or ill-treatments by the authorities over the past years.
Besides, Mrs. Liu’s husband, Mr. Fu Jingjiang, is also believed to have been sent to detention by the same police force. Indeed, he has not been seen since petitioners saw him being taken away in a police vehicle in Harbin on October 15, 2007. He is believed to be held at the detention centre of Beian City.
Background information:
On October 11, 2007, Mrs. Liu was arrested by Beijing police around noon as she was leaving some friends at Beijing Zhong Ding Village, near the South Train Station. She was taken to the nearby You-an Men police station where her cell phone was confiscated. Police officers then put her in a car and drove away.
She and other organisers spent the last two months surveying petitioners and collecting signatures for the open letter addressed to the leaders of the Communist Party. They collected a rather large number of signatures by petitioners from many provinces, who had been to Beijing to file complaints about their mistreatments by local officials, many of whom suffered official harassment and police brutality. Since 2003, Ms. Liu has organised petitioners every year to submit open letters addressing Chinese leaders at important meetings, such as the annual National People’s Congress, advocating legal and political reforms. Other organisers of the open letter campaign are now in hiding.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China, urging them to:
i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Liu Jie, as well as of Mr. Fu Jingjiang;
ii.Ensure their immediate release since their detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning their human rights activities;
iii.Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the People’s Republic of 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 12.2, which provides 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”;
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;
– Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, Wu Aiying, 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, Buzhang Waijiaobu, Mr. Yang Jiechi, 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, Chemin de Surville 11, P.O. Box 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int;
– Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Brussels, Avenue de Tervuren, 463 1160 Auderghem, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 663 30 10 / + 32 2 663 30 17 / +32 2 771 14 97 / +32 2 779 43 33; Fax: +32 2 762 99 66 / +32 2 779 28 95; Email: chinaemb_be@mfa.gov.cn.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.
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Geneva - Paris, October 23, 2007
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: E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80 Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
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New information
CHN 007 / 1007 / OBS 129.1
Arbitrary detention / Judicial proceedings /
Risk of torture or ill-treatment
People’s Republic of China
October 23, 2007