by Arnold Winkleried
Amnesty International was founded in 1961 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for its efforts to promote global observance of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a worldwide movement of people acting on the conviction that governments must not deny individuals their basic Human Rights.Its mandate
Amnesty International works to promote awareness of, and adherence to, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights accords. It also pressures governments and non-governmental organizations to
Human Rights violations in China
People's Republic of China
Head of state: Jiang Zemin
Head of government: Zhu Rongji
Capital: Beijing
Population: 1.2 billion
Official language: Standard Chinese or Mandarin
Death penalty: retentionist
1999 saw the most serious and wide-ranging crack-down on peaceful dissent in China for a decade. Thousands of people were arbitrarily detained for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or religion. Some were sentenced to long prison terms under draconian national security legislation and after unfair trials; others were assigned without trial to up to three years' detention in "re-education through labour" camps. Torture and ill-treatment of prisoners were widespread. Thousands of people were sentenced to death and many executed. In the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang those suspected of nationalist activities or sympathies continued to be the targets of particularly harsh repression.
Background
In the year which marked the 50th anniversary of the creation of the People's Republic of China, the serious deterioration in human rights called into question the authorities' sincerity in signing key human rights conventions in the previous two years. It also represented a serious setback for the policy of dialogue on human rights pursued by some governments. Indeed, as the international spotlight faded, the Chinese authorities began to crack down with increased intensity on dissidents and activists. At the UN Commission on Human Rights, China again blocked debate on a draft resolution by using a procedural motion "not to take action".
Crack-down on fundamental freedoms
The human rights situation in China deteriorated sharply during the year. Those targeted in the crack-down included political dissidents, anti-corruption campaigners, labour rights activists, human rights defenders and members of unofficial religious or spiritual groups. Thousands of people were arbitrarily detained by police in apparent attempts to intimidate or silence them. Some were sentenced to long prison terms after unfair trials or sent to forced labour camps. Many were reportedly tortured or ill-treated.
Repression of dissidents
Arrests of members of the China Democratic Party (CDP) continued and more than 20 leading members were sentenced to prison terms during the year. The CDP was founded in Zhejiang province by a group of dissidents. Arrests of its members began in July 1998, within hours of the first application to register the CDP, and started a chain of protests by other dissidents, many of whom were themselves subsequently harassed, questioned or detained.
A broad range of people were also detained for promoting reforms. Chinese law requires that all independent groups be registered. In October 1998, the same month that China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees the rights to freedom of expression and association, the government revised several laws on the registration of groups which had the effect of increasing the limitations on these rights.
* Writer Peng Ming, leader of a grouping of self-styled "moderate" reformers - the China Development Union and the China New Development Strategy Research Institute - was assigned to 18 months' "re-education through labour" in February for allegedly "buying sex" from prostitutes, which he and his family asserted were trumped-up charges. Prior to his arrest he had led weekly discussions in Beijing on reform issues and had been detained more than once and allegedly instructed to dissolve the Institute.
Repression of religious and spiritual groups
The nationwide "anti-superstition" campaign, initiated in 1998, continued. Members of Christian groups were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. "Unauthorized" temples continued to be demolished and adherents of charismatic or unorthodox religious and millenarian groups were arrested and assigned without trial to terms of "re-education through labour". The death penalty and long prison sentences were imposed on alleged leaders of such groups.
Thousands of members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement were arbitrarily detained and put under pressure to renounce their beliefs. Some were reportedly tortured or ill-treated. In July 1999, the day after the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced that the Falun Gong movement would be banned for alleged "illegal activities", "promoting superstition" and "jeopardizing public security", at least 97 Falun Gong leaders and thousands of practitioners, many of them elderly women gathering for morning exercises, were detained in several cities. Many were released after being taken to stadiums for "education" sessions; some were beaten with electric batons.
Protests against the ban and arrests of practitioners continued over the following months. The crack-down intensified in October when changes to the law were introduced to outlaw cults. According to official sources, by 4 November at least 111 Falun Gong followers had been charged with crimes, but dozens more were charged subsequently. Hundreds of other practitioners were reported to have been sent without charge or trial to "re-education through labour" camps. In November, the first publicly reported trial of Falun Gong members took place in Hainan province. The four defendants, described as "key members" of the group, were accused of organizing "illegal" gatherings after the ban on the group and sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to 12 years.
Repression of labour activists
Millions of workers are unemployed as a result of the failure of companies in the state sector. There were many demonstrations by unemployed workers protesting at the failure of the state to provide social welfare and against government corruption. Independent trade unions were illegal and the official All China Federation of Trade Unions continued to be controlled by the ruling Communist Party. Activists who attempted to organize independent labour action continued to be detained, imprisoned or subjected to "re-education through labour". They, like other political prisoners, were sometimes singled out for particularly harsh treatment, including beatings and denial of medical care.
Denial of due process
In many cases the authorities continued to show a blatant disregard for the Criminal Procedure Law, revised in 1996 to provide for greater access to legal representation, notification of relatives and public trial. Political defendants were routinely denied their right to due process and their lawyers were often subjected to pressure by the authorities. Political trials continued to fall far short of international standards, with verdicts and sentences being decided by the authorities before the trial, and appeal hearings usually a mere formality.
Tiananmen - 10 years on
Many of the thousands killed, injured or arrested by the security forces in the clamp-down on the 1989 pro-democracy movement and protests in Tiananmen Square had still not been accounted for. Most of those imprisoned had been convicted, after unfair trials, of "counter revolutionary" offences which by 1997 were no longer crimes under Chinese law. The authorities however refused to review their cases. Those who had been released had their freedom restricted and were closely monitored by the authorities. As in previous years, restrictions on fundamental freedoms intensified in June 1999 as the authorities sought to prevent commemoration of the June 1989 massacre; police detained pro-democracy campaigners and tried to force them to sign statements promising that they would not attempt to commemorate the victims of the massacre. AI continued to call for an amnesty to be granted to all those still imprisoned in connection with the 1989 protests in view of the summary nature of the trials and the absence of adequate safeguards for defence. It also continued to call on the authorities to account for all those killed in the 1989 massacre.
Death penalty
The death penalty continued to be used extensively, arbitrarily, and frequently as a result of political interference. According to the limited records available to AI at the end of the year, at least 1,720 death sentences were passed and at least 1,077 executions were carried out in 1999, bringing the total number recorded in the 1990s to more than 27,120 death sentences and around 18,000 executions. These were believed to be only a fraction of the true figures as death penalty statistics remained a state secret in China. Execution was by shooting or lethal injection and sometimes occurred within hours of sentencing. Appeals were rarely successful. Mass executions were frequently carried out prior to major events or public holidays, such as the Chinese New Year, when death sentences were sometimes imposed for relatively minor crimes which would not attract such a sentence at other times of the year.
Torture and ill-treatment
Torture and ill-treatment of criminal suspects were common. Police used various methods to torture and intimidate people, including kicking, beating, electric shocks, hanging by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation. Prisoners serving sentences in prisons or labour camps were frequently tortured or ill-treated by guards or by other inmates at the instigation of guards.
Prison conditions
Prison conditions remained harsh. The routine denial of medical care was a serious problem. Prisoners were also denied family visits, which restricted opportunities for providing food and necessary medication to prisoners.
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
Gross violations of human rights continued in the XUAR amid growing ethnic unrest fuelled by unemployment, discrimination and curbs on fundamental freedoms. The targets of this pattern of arbitrary and summary executions, torture, arbitrary detention and unfair political trials were mainly Uighurs, the majority ethnic group among the predominantly Muslim local population.
Over the years attempts by Uighurs to air their views and grievances and peacefully exercise their most fundamental rights have met with repression. AI has called on the government to establish a special commission to investigate human rights violations and assess economic, social and cultural needs in the region; to suggest remedial measures; and to provide a forum for individuals and groups to voice their grievances.
Many Uighurs were arbitrarily detained for their suspected views, associations or peaceful activities. Others were accused of involvement in clandestine opposition activities, including armed opposition. Most were held without charge for several months, in violation of Chinese law, during which time their families received no news of them.
Political trials were a mere formality as the verdict was usually pre-determined. Few defendants had access to lawyers. Some were taken to "public sentencing rallies" - show trials attended by hundreds or thousands of people.
Torture of political prisoners to extract information or coerce them to sign confessions was frequent and systematic. Some particularly cruel methods of torture not used elsewhere in China were reported in the XUAR, for example, the insertion into the penis of horse hair or of a special wire with small spikes which fold flat when it is inserted but extend when it is pulled out.
Scores of Uighurs, many of them political prisoners, were sentenced to death and executed. The XUAR continued to have the highest ratio of death sentences relative to its population and was the only region where political prisoners were known to have been executed in recent years. Others, including women, were reported to have been extrajudicially executed.
Tibet Autonomous Region
Gross human rights violations, particularly against Tibetan Buddhists and nationalists, continued. Hundreds of prisoners of conscience, most of them monks and nuns, remained imprisoned. Reports persisted of torture and ill-treatment, harsh prison conditions, and deaths in custody. The "patriotic education" campaign intensified with further closures of monasteries, and ill-treatment and expulsions of monks and nuns deemed "unpatriotic". Many Tibetan prisoners suffered health problems as a result of inadequate food coupled with poor sanitation and long hours working in unacceptable conditions. Many detainees were tortured and ill-treated. Kidney and liver ailments were common as a result of kicking and beatings by prison guards. Other forms of torture reported included the use of electric shock batons, particularly on sensitive areas such as the mouth or genitals; being forced into painful positions; and the use of ankle, hand and thumb cuffs.
Individual Case
Amnesty International asks you to write a letter for Rebiya Kadeer (prisoner of conscience)
Rebiya Kadeer is a successful businesswoman and women's rights advocate, and a vocal critic of China's treatment of the Uighurs (see information on the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region above). She was arrested in August 1999 while on her way to meet with representatives of the U.S. Congressional Research Service. She was sentenced in March 2000 to eight years in prison for "providing secret information to foreigners." According to the official Chinese press, this so-called "secret information" consisted only of publicly available newspapers and journals that Ms. Kadeer had sent abroad to her husband. Amnesty International considers Ms. Kadeer to be a prisoner of conscience.
Please write, calling for the release from prison of Rebiya Kadeer.
You can either write your own letter to the following address:
President Jiang Zemin
Office of the President
Beijingshi
People's Republic of China
Or you can print and send out the letter below. (copy and paste it to your word processing program)
If you choose to write your own letter, please read the guidelines at http://www.amnesty.org/actnow/wwa/letguide.htm. The first and most important rule is "Always be polite".
Please DO NOT WRITE after 27 April 2001. If you receive an answer to your letter, please e-mail the author of this article.
Sample letter
President Jiang Zemin
Office of the President
Beijingshi
People's Republic of China
Dear Mr. President:
Soon after the world celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, it is unfortunate to note that one of China's leading women's rights advocates, Rebiya Kadeer, is serving eight years in prison on charges that appear to have been politically motivated.
As you may be aware, Ms. Kadeer, a successful businesswoman and women's rights advocate, was arrested in August 1999 while on her way to meet with representatives of the United States Congressional Research Service. She was sentenced in March 2000 to eight years in prison for "providing secret information to foreigners." According to the official Chinese press, this so-called "secret information" consisted only of publicly available newspapers and journals that Ms. Kadeer had sent abroad to her husband. Ms. Kadeer's husband has been a vocal critic of China's treatment of the Uighurs - the majority Muslim ethnic group in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Rebiya Kadeer had previously suffered police harassment and travel restrictions apparently in connection with her husband's activities and her own attempts to promote the advancement of Uighur women by forming the "Thousand Mothers Movement," which encouraged women to run their own businesses.
The independent human rights organization Amnesty International considers Rebiya Kadeer to be a prisoner of conscience. This mother of ten children was reportedly moved in late 2000 to Baijiahu Prison, where she is said to be in poor health.
I welcome the news that Ms. Kadeer's son Ablikim Abdiryim, who had also been imprisoned, was freed recently from a Chinese labor camp. I hope that his release may be soon followed by the unconditional release of his mother. I thank you for your attention to this serious concern, and I look forward to hearing of your progress in this matter.
Sincerely,
copy to:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008