Guest Comments by the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
HONG KONG – The Chinese New Year should be a time for family reunions. But in China, many human-rights lawyers, legal scholars and legal practitioners endure harassment, intimidation and illegal detention. Some are under house arrest after being released from prison, forcibly disappeared or beaten by anonymous people. Their relatives, even seniors and children, also suffer harassment and intimidation.
On January 27, the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group held a demonstration to protest outside the Central Liaison Office here. We demand that the Chinese government immediately release Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng, Fan Yafeng, Guo Feixiong and Zheng Enchong, among others. Give them authentic freedom.
Beijing Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng
After a brief reappearance for two weeks last March, Gao disappeared again. A few weeks ago, the Associated Press exposed the contents of an interview in which he detailed the brutal torture and inhumane treatment he suffered while detained during an earlier 14-month “disappearance”.
Shandong Blind “Barefoot Lawyer” Chen Guangcheng
Last September, Chen, a blind human-rights activist nicknamed the “barefoot lawyer”, finished a four-year imprisonment. Yet he was promptly placed under house arrest in a rural village. His wife, five-year-old daughter and elderly mother were put under house arrest too. The entire family has been cut off, and Chen's daughter can't go to school.
Beijing Legal Academic and House-Church Leader Fan Yafeng
A Beijing legal academic and house-church leader, Fan was taken away by the state-security police in December 2010. His home and the Shengshan Christian Institute he led were raided. All bank cards and bankbooks were confiscated. After secret detention for a week, he was sent home and placed under house arrest. Sources say his wife and three-year-old son were illegally detained too. The home's Internet connection was cut and telephone calls monitored. Police are stationed there 24/7. No one can visit the family.
Guangdong Legal-Rights Defender Guo Feixiong
Guo provided legal assistance to the people of Taishi Village in Panyu, Guangdong, to expose local officials' corruption. He also joined a campaign to save Gao Zhisheng. Now he's cut off from outside communication. Since July 2009, he hasn't been allowed to meet his family and lawyers. His condition in prison is worrying.
Shanghai Human-Rights Lawyer Zheng Enchong
Zheng offered legal assistance to forcibly-evicted residents of Dongbakuai in Jing'an District, Shanghai, to sue the Shanghai government and Zhou Zhenyi, then the city's richest man. In revenge by the local authorities, Zheng was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. Since his release in 2006, he and his wife remain mostly under house arrest. The authorities installed surveillance cameras outside their home, and public-security officers are stationed there. More than 70 times, Zheng has been taken to the public-security bureau for interrogation.
It's incomprehensible why the Chinese government suppresses human-rights lawyers and practitioners in such brutal ways. The victims always strive to promote implementation of the rule of law. Amid growing social unrest in China, they try to resolve conflicts by legal means. Leveraging their professional knowledge, they offer legal assistance to people seeking redress. Indeed, they're builders for the rule of law.
While emerging as an economic superpower, China fails to respect its own laws, instead using uncivilized and inhumane methods to suppress legal practitioners. We urge the Chinese government to implement the rule of law and end such behavior.
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Posters plaster a street as Hong Kong people
call for an end to unfair harassment of
Chinese-mainland human-rights defenders.
Protesters denouce the Chinese
government's brutal habits.
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