Arbitrary detention of Ms. Shen Peilan - CHN 006 / 1109 / OBS 158

03/11/2009
Urgent Appeal

The Observatory has been informed by Human Rights in China (HRIC) about the arbitrary arrest of Ms. Shen Peilan, a Shanghai-based activist and forced-evictions petitioner.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.

According to the information received, on October 29, 2009, at 3 p.m., Ms. Shen Peilan was arrested by officers from the Public Security Bureau (PSB) of Maqiao Township in Pudong New District, Shanghai.

As of issuing this urgent appeal, she remained detained for "disturbing public order". Nevertheless, the police has refused to give Ms. Peilan’s husband any official documentation or explanation regarding the reasons for her detention and her place of detention.

Ms. Peilan had previously been beaten by police officers on October 27, 2009 as she went to visit the human rights defender and Charter 08[1] petitioner Mr. Zheng Enchong, who served a three-year prison term in 2003-2006 for "providing State secrets overseas", and was put under de facto house arrest upon his release on June 5, 2006.

Ms. Shen Peilan began petitioning the authorities in 2003 after her home in the Dongbakuai neighbourhood in Jing’an District, Shanghai, was demolished in the framework of a development plan. She subsequently signed Charter 08 and has been repeatedly harassed by the authorities.

On May 24, 2009, Ms. Peilan had already been arrested and kept in incommunicado detention for 25 days. On October 23, 2009, Ms. Peilan participated in a rally on Nanjing Road, in Shanghai, to protest the conviction of another Shanghai petitioner, Mr. Duan Chunfang, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In early October, Ms. Peilan also went to Beijing to petition in front of Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters of the Communist Party of China.

The Observatory denounces the arbitrary detention of - and ill-treatment against - Ms. Shen Peilan, as they seem to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights activities, and urges the Chinese authorities to comply with the relevant international norms and standards, in particular the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998.

The Observatory further recalls that in April 2009, the PRC submitted a document to the UN in order to support its candidacy to the Human Rights Council, in which it affirmed that the People’s Republic of China was "committed to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Chinese people".

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of the People’s Republic of China asking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Shen Peilan, and all human rights defenders in China;

ii. Release Ms. Shen Peilan immediately and unconditionally since her detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioning her human rights activities;

iii.Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned event in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;

iv. Put an end to all forms of harassment - including at the judicial level - and ill-treatment of human rights defenders in China, as well as any obstacles to freedoms of expression, association and assembly;

v. 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 his or her rights";

vi. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international human rights instruments ratified by the People’s Republic of China.

Addresses:

· Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Guojia Zongli, The State Council General Office, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs

· Ms. Wu Aiying, Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345, minister@legalinfo.gov.cn / pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn

· Mr. Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn;

· Mr. Meng Jianzhu, Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang, Gong’anbu, 14 Dongchang’anjie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100741, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 63099216

· Mr. Ma Zhenchuan, Director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, Juzhang, Beijingshi Gong’anju, 9 Qianmen Dongdajie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100740, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 85222320, Email: wbjc2sohu.com

· 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 as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies in China.

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