Human Rights: February 2012 Archives

By Radio FREE Asia

February 26, 2012

Beijing is holding more North Korean defectors than reported.

China has detained more North Korean defectors this month than previously thought by monitoring groups, with most of the refugees facing imminent deportation and possible execution at home, sources say.

The sources close to a U.S. nongovernmental group, which has workers on the ground in China to help North Korean defectors, also gave the names of several of those caught in a bid to debunk claims by Pyongyang that there were no such defections.

Nearly 40 North Koreans were detained as they crossed the border into China in separate incidents this month, according to the U.S. nongovernmental group, the sources told RFA.

Monitoring groups and media reports had earlier stated that between 29 and 33 North Korean defectors were caught by Chinese authorities in February, of whom nine were believed to have been already repatriated.

Beijing had deported the nine a week ago despite pleas by Seoul not to send them back as they faced the risk of being tortured or even executed by the hardline regime in Pyongyang.

"Reports have stated that the number of defectors facing imminent forcible repatriation ranges from 29 to 33, but according to this NGO's records and their [sources] in the field, the number of those recently arrested is 39," one source told RFA.

"According to the same NGO, it appears that nine of the 39 were repatriated about a week ago," the source said, declining to name the NGO due to security reasons.

The NGO was involved in helping five of the 39 defectors before they were caught by the Chinese authorities, according to the sources.

It identified the five as Lee Seung-Bok, Chae Keum-Hwa, Lee Myung-Sook, Kang Eun-Hyang, and Myung-Kwon.

They were among a group of defectors detained by Chinese security police in the the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, the sources said.

"We are providing the names of some of these defectors to show that North Korea's denial of the Chinese detention of the defectors has no basis," the source said.

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By Radio FREE Asia

February 21, 2012

Chinese authorities are targeting 'illegal' religious activities in Xinjiang.

Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have closed down at least 200 places of worship and detained 129 Muslim Uyghurs in a security crackdown ahead of national parliamentary meetings in March, according to exile sources and official media.

The regional government recently launched a campaign against "illegal" religious activities, a campaign which overseas Uyghurs say targets their ethnic group.

"The Chinese authorities have launched an unprecedented clampdown on religious affairs in the region," said Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress.

"China has closed more than 200 places of worship in Hotan and detained 129 people, as well as issued fines to nearly 3,000 people," he said.

"Official media say that around 1,400 people were involved, but that they have detained 129 people formally."

Hotan was the scene of one of a number of violent incidents between Turkic-speaking Uyghurs and police to hit the region during 2011, with official news reporting the deaths of 14 Uyghur "terrorists" it said had taken several hostages and overrun a police station in the city.

Official media also reported a series of knife and bomb attacks in the Silk Road city of Kashgar.

On July 5, 2009, deadly riots between mostly Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi left 200 dead and 1,700 injured, according to state media.

More than 1,000 Uyghurs have been jailed and several thousand "disappeared" in the aftermath of the most deadly episode of ethnic unrest in China's recent history, according to Uyghur exile groups.

Chinese officials have blamed Islamist extremists and "hostile overseas forces" for the violence and launched a two-month "strike hard" campaign in August which they said is aimed at "destroying a number of violent terrorist groups and ensuring the region's stability."

Beijing has also accused exiled Uyghur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer of inciting unrest in Xinjiang, and police routinely punish anyone caught with printed or audiovisual material about her.

Religious restrictions

Raxit said that youths as young as 14 were punished in the latest campaign against unauthorized religious gatherings in Hotan.

"Nearly 3,000 people were given fines, among them a 14-year-old and a 76-year-old," he said. "A lot of them were parents whose children were studying the Quran."

"Apart from that figure of 1,400 people involved in the case, there were many more relatives who were fined and subjected to forced political re-education," Raxit said.

The practice of Islam is tightly regulated by the ruling Communist Party, which bans Uyghur children from mosques and controls everything about their worship, from the wording of sermons to "approved" interpretations of the Quran.

According to the authorities, study of the Quran in an unauthorized location constitutes an "illegal religious activity."

A report on the Hotan municipal government website said the latest raids formed part of "stability" work, and were aimed at guarding against "external enemy elements" and tightening controls on "risky elements" at home.

It said 214 "illegal" places of religious activity had been identified involving 1,478 people.

A further 1,498 people had been found to be wearing traditional Muslim dress, usually a reference to long robes and beards among men and veils for women, the report said.

Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.
>> Original Source

The Times of India

February 17, 2012

The Chinese government has detained several hundred Tibetans who returned from India after attending teaching sessions overseen by the Dalai Lama, and is forcing them to undergo political re-education, a human rights group said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said it believed it was the first time since the late 1970s authorities had detained Tibetan laypeople in such large numbers, and comes as China frets about unrest in Tibetan parts of the country.

China allowed about 7,000 Tibetans to attend the sessions with exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Bihar in India between Dec. 31 and Jan. 10, in what the rights group said seemed to be a sign of a relaxation of policy towards Tibetans.

"However, that changed against a backdrop of unrest in the eastern Tibetan areas and apparent fears it might spread to Lhasa," it said in an emailed statement received on Friday, referring to Tibet's capital.

At least 15 Tibetans are believed to have died after setting themselves on fire since March in protests against Chinese rule, mostly in heavily Tibetan parts of China's Sichuan and Gansu provinces rather than in Tibet itself.

Tibetan advocacy groups say as many as seven Tibetans were shot dead and dozens wounded during protests in Sichuan in January. Chinese state media agency reported that police fired in self-defence on "mobs" that stormed police stations.

Activists say China violently stamps out Tibetan religious freedom and culture in Tibet, a vast, remote and largely mountainous region of western China in the Himalayas that has been under Chinese control since 1950.

China denies trampling on religious freedom and says its rule has bought much needed development.

Human Rights Watch said the detained Tibetans had travelled in and out of China on valid Chinese passports.

"There is no known regulation banning Tibetans from attending the teachings, and the returnees undergoing re-education have not been accused of any crime, such as carrying illicit documents or crossing the Chinese border without permission," it said.

"There are no reports so far that any of the estimated 700 ethnic Chinese from China who attended the Dalai Lama's teachings in Bihar have been detained on their return to China, suggesting that the detainees are being selected because of their ethnicity," the group added.

Calls to the Tibet government seeking comment were not answered.

Rights groups say that Tibetan parts of China have been put under even tighter security than normal ahead of Tibetan new year, which falls on Feb. 22.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

>> >>>> Original Source

By Radio FREE Asia

February 09, 2012

Authorities in southern China try an independent candidate who hoped to stand for local parliamentary elections.

A court in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong is trying an independent parliamentary election candidate this week for violating electoral law, her lawyer said.

Last October, hundreds of Li Biyun's supporters turned out in her home district of Rongli, in Guangdong's Foshan city, to protest her detention.

But her trial went ahead this week at the Shunde district People's Court in Foshan, according to her legal representative Wang Jinping.

"Li Biyun was charged because she protested against illegal election practices," Wang said, adding that Li had scant chance of a fair trial.

"The elections were organized by the local National People's Congress (NPC), and now the public prosecutors and the judges are all people who were appointed by them," he said.

"There are also clashes of interests in the mix. We asked for the judge to be withdrawn, which is a very reasonable request, but it was refused."

Rongli residents wrote an open letter to the to the Shunde electoral committee in October which garnered around 900 signatures, calling on them to declare the election results null and void because of "illegalities," one of which was the detention of Li.

Independent candidates

Dozens of political activists across China have joined the campaign to file applications to stand for the elections, in spite of official warnings that there is "no such thing" as an independent candidate.

Official media have said that anyone hoping to stand for elections this year to the district-level congresses will first have to clear "due legal procedures," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

However, activists are hoping to use a clause in the election rules which allows anyone with the endorsement of at least 10 constituents to seek nomination.

Some of the candidates, like Li, come from the least privileged groups in society, including those who have been forcibly evicted from their homes, or who have long campaigned for their legal rights.

Li's trial

Li's sister Li Caiyun said her sister appeared drawn and pale as she stood in the dock, wearing manacles that weren't removed even after she fainted.

"She had manacles on her hands and feet," Li Caiyun said. "My sister's health isn't very good; she's quite ill, and she couldn't stand very easily."

"It's not like she's a murderer; why did they have to put manacles on her, it was too cruel for words."

Several hundred of Li's supporters showed up outside the courtroom on Wednesday and Thursday to support the activist during her trial, but only a dozen were admitted.

One supporter surnamed Li said he had been approached as he left home on Wednesday morning by local police, who warned him not to try to attend the trial.

"Sister Li fought for the rights of the villagers and protested against violations of electoral law, and she led the villagers in the fight against corruption," he said. "She has never committed any crime."

He said the local authorities were making an example of Li. "They are just trying to terrorize us," he said. "They don't want the villagers to fight for their rights."

Repeated calls to the Shunde District People's Court went unanswered during office hours on Wednesday. Li's trial continues on Thursday.

Assault claim

Jiangxi-based political activist Li Sihua, who has himself tried to stand as an independent candidate for local NPC elections, said the case against Li hinged on the fact that she had accidentally injured someone with a pair of scissors.

"The person's injury was very light, and they said themselves that they didn't wish to press charges," he said. "Such a case, even if it was brought, should be a civil claim for injury and not a criminal case."

"If she did disrupt an election, then she only disrupted an illegal election in protest at its illegality," Li Sihua said.

Apart from a token group of "democratic parties" which never oppose or criticize the ruling Communist Party, opposition political parties are banned in China, and those who set them up are frequently handed lengthy jail terms.

More than two million lawmakers at the county and township levels will be elected during nationwide elections, held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships from May 7 through December of next year.

Reported by Xin Yu for RFA's Mandarin service and by Fung Yat-yiu for the Cantonese service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

>> Original Source

By NTD Television

February 06, 2012

On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrapped up her fifth visit to China since taking office. While Merkel was able to reassure Chinese leaders on the prospects of the Euro and Europe's recovery from the sovereign debt crisis, she was prevented from meeting with a prominent human rights lawyer.

The German Embassy in Beijing had invited Lawyer Mo Shaoping to attend a function with Merkel on February 2nd and afterwards to hold private discussions.

[Mo Shaoping, Human Rights Lawyer]:
"Chancellor Merkel hoped to meet with me and also the editor of 'Yanhuang Chunqiu,' Mr. Wu Si and have a talk in private. Mainly she wanted to discuss with me the situation of law and order in China, and the situation of lawyers in China."

However on the day of the meeting, Beijing police locked Mo up in his office for several hours to prevent him from attending the event.

[Mo Shaoping, Human Rights Lawyer]:
"Afterwards they said there was no legal foundation for it. They were just following orders from above. China will hold the 18th Party Congress this year. It requires stability--to protect stability, and won't allow any other voices to be heard."

In the end Merkel was only able to meet the editor of the publication "Yanhuang Chunqiu." They talked for about 40 minutes.

Shandong based rights lawyer Li Xiangyang says this kind of suppression is common in China.

[Li Xiangyang, Shandong Based Rights Lawyer]:
"Arbitrarily limiting people's freedom, arbitrarily trampling on law and order, this is something seen most often in China. (The regime itself) says: 'we are gangsters, what do we fear?'"

Human rights lawyers in China often meet with harassment or have their practices shut down. Lawyer Gao Zhisheng had his law license revoked in 2005 after investigating the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong. He has been in and out of custody for the last few years. Currently he's believed to be held in Xinjiang.

Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist who investigated forced abortions, has also been held under house arrest since his release from prison in 2010.

>> Original Source

By BBC World News

February 05, 2012

Three Tibetans have set fire to themselves in south-west China, reports say, in the latest apparent protest against rule from Beijing.

US-based Radio Free Asia said they had called for the return of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during the protest in Sichuan province.

Exiled activists said one Tibetan died and the others had serious injuries.

If confirmed, the latest protest would mean 19 Tibetans had self-immolated in the past year and 13 of them had died.

Most of the protesters are Buddhist monks or nuns.

Western Sichuan is home to hundreds of thousands of Tibetans.

The BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing says the authorities have launched a heavy security crackdown, sealing off much of the area.

Telephone lines have been cut and checkpoints have been set up along main roads, he says.

Radio Free Asia quoted exiled sources saying the latest immolations took place in a village in Seda county on Friday.

The UK-based Free Tibet group issued a statement with a similar account of the incident.

However, an unnamed official at the local government told the Associated Press news agency on Sunday that "no such thing happened".

A Tibetan was shot dead by security forces in Seda town on 25 January, some 145km (90 miles) from the latest incident.

International media are denied access to the area, making it difficult to verify conflict accounts.

Beijing has described the self-immolators as terrorists.

Officials have also blamed outside forces, particularly the Dalai Lama, for encouraging these act of defiance.

He denies that and blames the heavy-handed treatment of Tibetans for causing discontent.

The Tibet Divide

    China says Tibet always part of its territory

>> Original Source

By Radio FREE Asia

30 January 2012

A year after calls for a Chinese 'Jasmine Revolution,' activists say they have been subjected to beatings and humiliation.

As Chinese activists mark the first anniversary of online calls for an Arab World-style "Jasmine Revolution" in China, authorities in the eastern province of Hangzhou announced they would try a prominent dissident for subversion.

The beginning of the Arab Spring in Tunisia last year sparked online calls for Chinese activists to begin their own Jasmine Revolution, prompting the detention and suveilance of hundreds of dissidents and rights defenders across the country.

Chinese activists say they were subjected to beatings, humiliation, and brainwashing techniques during the crackdown, which continues this week with the trial of Hangzhou-based pro-democracy activist Zhu Yufu for "incitement to subvert state power."

"The authorities used every kind of method to make people feel sub-human," said Beijing-based rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong. "This undermines a person's sense of themselves, and of their human dignity and values."

Guangzhou-based independent commentator Ye Du, who was himself detained for a period of time during the clampdown, was reluctant to discuss the experience.

"My treatment at that time was such that I can't bear to recollect it," Ye said.

Jiang said many of his friends and fellow activists felt similarly about their experiences at the hands of China's state security police.

While dozens of those detained by the authorities were eventually freed, many remain under close police surveillance. The Jasmine crackdown has also prompted a string of lengthy jail terms handed to prominent activists for subversion.

"They detained large numbers of people and eventually let them out again," said Wuhan-based rights activist Qin Yongmin.

"But just as everyone was thinking it was all behind us, and that they should let those remaining people go, they sentenced a whole string of people, Chen Xi, Li Tie, and Chen Wei, in the space of a month."

Leadership succession

Qin said he believed the jail sentences handed to the three activists were the result of nationwide preparations for a crucial leadership succession at the 18th Party Congress later this year.

"The authorities are hoping that nothing big will happen ahead of the 18th Congress," he said. "So they are showing political dissidents what they're made of."

Rights groups estimate that at least 40 activists were held under criminal detention in the two months that followed the calls for a Jasmine Revolution--proposed silent demonstrations in major Chinese cities--that, in the event, appeared to attract more police and journalists than protesters.

Authorities in Hangzhou meanwhile announced they would try Zhu Yufu, a founding member of the now-banned opposition China Democracy Party (CDP), for subversion on Tuesday, his wife said.

Zhu's trial would begin at th Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court at 9.00 a.m. local time, according to Jiang Hangli. Only two passes were issued for family to attend the proceedings, she said.

"Only close family members [can attend]," Jiang said, adding that she and the couple's daughter planned to attend the trial. "Even more distant relatives aren't allowed."

She said the case against her husband apparently hinged on a poem he posted online, titled "It is Time," calling on Chinese people to walk the streets in support of political change.

"I read the poem," Jiang said. "But my friends said they couldn't see anything in it ... The lawyer also said that he collected donations and asked about the families who had people in prison over Spring Festival."

"He also gave interviews to journalists; that's what the lawyer said."

'It Is Time'

Zhu was formally detained by Hangzhou police last March after he posted his poem, titled "It Is Time" online.

"It is time, people of China! It is time," the poem read. "The square belongs to us all; our feet are our own."

"It is time to use our feet to go to the square and to make a choice ... We should use our choices to decide the future of China," it said.

Zhu, 60, is a veteran activist who first caught the attention of the authorities during the Democracy Wall movement of 1978. He was sentenced in 1998 to a seven-year jail term for his involvement with an unprecedented attempt to register the Zhejiang provincial branch of the CDP as a civil organization with the authorities.

Prior to his most recent arrest, he had been under frequent surveillance by police.

Zhu's charge sheet mentioned his habit of giving interviews to foreign media, his publishing of "subversive" opinions, his propaganda on behalf of the CDP and his online promotion of calls for a Jasmine Revolution in China, according to fellow CDP activist Zou Wei.

Reported by Grace Kei Lai-see for RFA's Cantonese service, and by Lin Ping for the Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

>> Original Source