Olympics countdown -- important reforms marred by increasing repression

 press release, 30/04/2007

Dspite significant reforms to the death penalty system and new rules for foreign journalists in China, there is little evidence of improvement in other areas of human rights related to the Olympics -- and there has been increasing repression of human rights activism and domestic journalism, said Amnesty International today.

In its latest assessment of China's progress towards its promised human rights improvements ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Amnesty International also found that the Olympics is apparently acting as a catalyst to extend the use of detention without trial, at least in Beijing.

"The new extra layer of judicial review for death sentences and the relaxation of restrictions on foreign journalists are important steps towards better respect for human rights in China. Disappointingly, they have been matched by moves to expand detention without trial and ‘house arrest' of activists, and by a tightening of controls over domestic media and the Internet," said Catherine Baber, Deputy Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International.

"The failure to ensure equal rights and freedoms for both foreign and domestic journalists smacks of double standards -- China has yet to meet its promise to ensure 'complete media freedom' for the Olympics."

An overriding pre-occupation with ‘stability’ and ‘a good social environment’ for the hosting of the Olympics appears to inform this approach. While such concerns are understandable for any country holding such a major international event, policies and practices must be founded on respect for rule of law and human rights, or they risk fuelling further discontent.

Moves to reform or abolish 'Re-education through Labour' remain stalled, with the Olympics apparently being used as a pretext to extend its use in order to ‘clean up’ Beijing in time for August 2008. The Beijing police have also recently suggested that another form of detention without trial, ‘Compulsory Drug Rehabilitation’, may be extended from six months to one year to force drug users to ‘give up their addictions before the Olympics'.

"If the Chinese authorities and the International Olympic Committee are serious about the Olympics having a ‘lasting legacy’ for China, they should be concerned that the Games are being used as a pretext to entrench and extend forms of detention that have been on China's reform agenda for many years," said Catherine Baber.

Amnesty International has sent copies of its latest update to the Chinese authorities and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), noting that these issues are directly relevant to Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics and key principles in the Olympic Charter, such as ‘preservation of human dignity'.

"The IOC cannot want an Olympics that is tainted with human rights abuses -- whether families forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for sports arenas or growing numbers of peaceful activists held under 'house arrest' to stop them drawing attention to human rights issues," said Catherine Baber.

Notes to Editors

In the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Games, Amnesty International is publishing regular assessments focusing on four key areas of human rights relating to the Olympics: human rights activists, media freedom, death penalty and detention without trial. Key findings in the latest assessment are as follows:

Human Rights Activists

Examples of growing tolerance towards some individual activists are outweighed by the continuing harassment of others who try to report or campaign more widely on human rights violations. Two veteran Chinese dissidents who had been active in the 1989 pro-democracy movement were allowed to go to Hong Kong for the first time in mid April, and HIV/AIDS activist Dr Gao Yaojie was able to travel to the USA to receive an award. However, many more activists face intimidation, arbitrary detention and intrusive surveillance of family members.

• Ye Guozhu continues to serve a four-year prison sentence in connection with his efforts to organise a demonstration against reported forced evictions in Beijing. Relatives say he suffers from health problems, partly as a result of being tortured in detention, including a recent incident at the end of 2006 where local sources say he was beaten with electro-shock batons by guards at Chaobai prison in Beijing. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
• Defence lawyer Gao Zhisheng is being held by police as a prisoner in his own home after being convicted of 'inciting subversion' in December 2006 in connection with his peaceful human rights activism. He has claimed to other activists that he had been treated harshly during his four months in formal police custody, including being handcuffed and forced to sit in an iron chair or cross-legged for extended periods, and having bright lights shone on him. He said he only agreed to confess to his ‘crime’ in order to protect his family.

Media Freedom

Despite promising 'complete media freedom' during the Olympics, the government is applying double standards for foreign and domestic journalists. On 1 January 2007, new regulations for foreign journalists took effect, allowing them to bypass permission from local authorities when conducting interviews and investigations. However, Chinese audiences are likely to be denied access to foreign news reports on sensitive topics, particularly after regulations were introduced in September that strengthen official controls over the domestic distribution of news from foreign agencies within China. Over recent months, other official rulings have tightened controls over domestic media, who now

• have to get permission before reporting on 'sensitive' historical events
• are banned from broadcasting news on 20 specific issues, including judicial corruption and campaigns to protect human rights
• are subject to a new penalty points system, where they may be closed down if they lose all their points over 'wrongdoings'. The system is aimed at a 'peaceful social environment ahead of... next years Olympic Games', according to a state media executive quoted in the South China Morning Post.

In recent months, the Chinese authorities have also sought to further tighten controls over the Internet. This has been followed by further censoring of certain websites, blogs and online articles. For example, a website providing news broadcasts over the internet, http://www.ccztv.com/, was closed down in March.

Death Penalty

On 1 January 2007, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) formally resumed its role of approving all death sentences, a move that Amnesty International welcomed in the hope that it would reduce the number of people sentenced to death and spur reforms in the judicial system towards greater compliance with international fair trial standards.

But a lack of transparency means it is difficult to assess whether the SPC's review is having a significant effect. For example, the state news agency Xinhua reported on 19 March that the SPC had approved four death sentences since 1 January. Yet Amnesty International recorded the executions of at least 13 other individuals during that period while monitoring Chinese news reports -- none of them the same as the four people named by Xinhua. Amnesty International is calling on the Chinese authorities to publish further details of the SPC reviews and full national statistics on death sentences and executions.

Detention without trial

"We do not rule out the possibility of compelling all drug abusers in the capital to give up their addictions before the Olympics": Fu Zhenghua, deputy director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau.

Amnesty International continues to receive regular reports of individuals being assigned to 'Re-education through Labour' and other forms of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review. The organization fears that these abusive systems are being used to detain petty criminals, vagrants, drug addicts and others to 'clean up' Beijing ahead of the Olympics.

The Eighth Anniversary of "April 25 Peaceful Appeal."

UK Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and parade on April 28, 2007 in London to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the "April 25 Peaceful Appeal." The rally and parade also condemned the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) eight years of persecution and its crime of harvesting organs from living people, and supported the 20 million people having withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

The rally was held opposite the Chinese Consulate in London. Chairman of the UK Falun Dafa Association Mr. Peter Jauhal, President of European Friends of Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioner representative Jiang Xinxia spoke at the rally. Lancaster TD MP, David Marshall MP and Mark Hunter MP and others sent letters to express their support.

Statement from MEP John Purvis

As you may know, my colleague Mr Edward MacMillan-Scott, Conservative MP for Yorkshire and the Humber and Vice President of the European Parliament, has been particularly active on this issue.

In May 2006 he visited China and interviewed Falun Gong practitioners Cao Dong and Niu Jinping and has spoken at length to human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, who has supported a number of Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. MacMillan-Scott has also been liaising with the UN and concerned NGOs as well as with the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Hans-Gert Pottering, who has raised the issue of Falun Gong prisoners with the Chinese ambassador to the EU.

I am grateful to you for raising this particular case, which I have forwarded to Mr. MacMillan-Scott for submission to the European Commission, which conducts a twice yearly EU-China human rights dialogue.

I hope this will be of some help.

John Purvis
Member of the European Parliament for Scotland

Speech Given by European Friends of Falun Gong to Commemorate the April 25th Appeal in Beijing

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the day when 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners spontaneously gathered at Zhongnanhai in Beijing to appeal peacefully to the Chinese government to release practitioners who had been arrested in Tianjin.

Since then the Chinese government has been responsible for the worst series of organised persecution ever perpetrated in the history of mankind. Over 3,000 practitioners have been tortured to death in prisons and labour camps across China, while thousands more have been subjected to a horrific variety of abuse and torture with little hope of freedom or justice.

It is remarkable to think that just seven years before that day Falun Gong had been introduced to a Chinese public that was clearly ready for a major change to replace the drudgery of everyday life imposed by a government and a party intent upon hanging on to power and subjugating its people.

The popularity of Falun Gong, which resulted in about 100 million people practising it, suddenly posed a huge problem for the government, as they now had a rival for the attention of the masses.

What we have witnessed since however goes against all right-minded thinking and humane behaviour. But should we really be surprised by the attitude of the CCP? After all they had already built themselves a reputation for brutality which has now cost the lives of over eighty million Chinese citizens since 1949.

Not satisfied with the cruel physical and mental torture of millions of people over the last eight years, we have now heard of course of the more sinister practice of organ-harvesting from live practitioners, whose bodies are then disposed of to destroy the evidence.

The CCP's cruelty knows no bounds. We shudder to imagine what new form of persecution may be festering in the minds of those calling the shots in Beijing.

We must all contribute towards bringing these atrocities more into the public domain, especially with the huge propaganda platform presented by the Olympic Games next year. Now is the time to bring pressure to bear on the Chinese authorities to end the persecution and to release all those illegally detained against their will.

We urge all governments of the world to do all they can to put pressure on China to end the persecution, and not to allow their own economic and political interests abroad to rule over freedom and justice for Falun Gong practitioners.

To the Chinese government, we urge you to end the persecution and to release all those being held immediately.

European Friends of Falun Gong
April 28th, 2007

Holland: Rallies Held in Two Cities in Holland to Support the 20 Million Withdrawals from the CCP

On April 21st and 22nd, over ten human rights organizations including the Epoch Times and the Service Center for Quitting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) held large scale activities supporting the 20 million brave people who quit the CCP and its associated organizations. The theme of the event was "The evil CCP has been uprooted."

On April 21st, a parade was held in The Hague's Chinatown, Holland. On the following day, a rally was held at Museum Square in Amsterdam. Falun Gong practitioners also took part in the activity. Performing to support this event was the European Divine Land Marching Band, a waist-drum troupe, a group of women dressed as fairy maidens, and a group of flower-drums composed by hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners. The organizers of these activities hoped that more people will break away from the control of the vicious CCP so that they will have a good future.

United Kingdom: VIPs and Media Call for Wenjian Liang to be Released

Wenjian Liang and her husband Zhiyong Lin were taken from their home in February together with six other Falun Gong practitioners. They were sentenced to two years in a labour camp without trial in March. Amnesty International issued an urgent action call about their case on March 20th. In the UK, the Liberal Democrat Party Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Shadow Foreign Secretary gave his moral and active support to the free Wenjian campaign. Michael Moore MP, wrote to Wenjian’s sister Jane in the UK on April 11th that he is “dismayed at the extent of human rights abuses within China and given the seriousness of the issues surrounding your sisters detention I have written to the Foreign Secretary to highlight our concerns about the case.” He very kindly added, “in what must be a distressing time for you and your family, can I take this opportunity to wish you every success in the campaign to secure Wenjian’s release”

The Nottingham Evening Post, a news paper in the city where Wenjian’s sister lives highlighted the plight of Wenjian. The Nottingham Evening Post put a half page report about Wenjian and her husband’s ordeal. The newspaper also reported the efforts of local MP Alan Simpson who has written twice to the UK Foreign Secretary in the past weeks asking her to take up the case of Wenjian and “make the strongest possible protest to the Chinese authorities against such arbitrary imprisonment."

Many members of the European Parliament (MEP) have signed the petition for Wenjian’s release. Christopher Beazley MEP on April 13th wrote to Jane “I am most concerned to lean of the arrest and imprisonment of your sister Mrs. Wenjian Liang by the Chinese authorities because of her membership of the Falun Gong group. I note that your sister’s sentence runs until after the Beijing Olympics”. Roger Knapman MEP based at Exeter signed the free Wenjian petition on April 11th. He wrote in his letter to Jane: “I am very sorry to hear of the treatment suffered by your sister. Unfortunately the Chinese government is authoritarian and known for this sort of thing.” Many MEPs wished the free Wenjian campaign success and good luck.

Germany: Large-Scale Media Coverage of Seminar Exposing the CCP's Organ Harvesting from Living Falun Gong Practitioners

During a discussion seminar held near Frankfurt on March 30th 2007, Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State and Member of Parliament David Kilgour's report on the CCP's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners became the focus of the forum. During a press conference on the same day, the organizers of this seminar, the International Human Rights Committee, talked about the deteriorating human rights under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), using the investigation report as an important example, leading to large-scale media coverage. At the seminar, a German MP in his closing speech emphasized the importance of giving more publicity and raising awareness about this issue in Germany.

Radio Vatican broadcast a programme in German about practitioners of Falun Gong who had become victims of the illegal organs trade. Wiesbadener Kurier also published a report: "The most outrageous accusation in the report is that in China, practitioners of the banned practice Falun Gong are not only persecuted, they are also being used as live organ stocks within a long stretch of time. When needed, their organs are removed, they are murdered and their bodies are thrown into the incinerator to have any evidence destroyed... Since 2001, at least 41,500 of them have been used as organ sources for transplant operations. The authorities have given no explanations."

The third-largest newspaper in Germany "Die Welt" published a whole-page article about the independent investigation on the CCP's harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners

The German Press Association (DPA), and regional newspapers Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger and Taunus Zeitung also made corresponding reports on this topic. Before that, the Journalismus Nachrichten von Heute website published a long report from Geneva, calling the two Canadian investigators "hunters of the illegal organ traders" and furthermore explaining in detail the contents of their investigation.

Spain: Barcelona Residents Learn about Falun Dafa at "World Earth Day" Activities

On April 21, 2007, the people of Barcelona, Spain held activities to celebrate the annual "World Earth Day." The park near Arc de Triomphe was packed with a lot of tourists and local residents celebrating the festival.

The Falun Dafa booth attracted a lot of attention. On one hand, people were drawn by the gracefulness of the Falun Gong exercises; on the other, they were shocked by the atrocities on the display boards exposing the Chinese Communist regime's inhumane persecution against Falun Gong. A middle-aged woman said: "I used to think that the Chinese Communist regime had changed for the better, and its human rights situation had improved. But it is not true whatsoever. It is despicable that what's behind China's prosperity are horrendous atrocities of cruel torture, killing and harvesting organs from living humans."

After viewing the photos exposing the Chinese Communist regime's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, an elderly man said: "It is indeed terrible. The Chinese Communist regime is even far crueler than the Nazis."

United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) News Brief: Chinese Asylum Seeker and Her 8-Year-Old Daughter forcibly Deported From Russia

Source: Media Relations & Public Information, UNHCR, Geneva

According to credible information received by UNHCR, a Chinese asylum seeker and her 8 year-old daughter were taken by the Russian authorities from their St. Petersburg residence last Wednesday (March 28th) and put on a plane departing to China via Novosibirsk. The woman and her daughter had submitted a claim for asylum in accordance with the Russian Federation Law on Refugees. Their appeal against a first negative decision was scheduled to be considered by the Dzerzhinky District court in St. Petersburg yesterday afternoon. Both had been registered by UNHCR as persons in need of international protection.

UNHCR is concerned at their forcible deportation in violation of the Russian Federation's international obligations and of the Russian Federation Law on Refugees, both of which prohibit the return of asylum seekers to their country of origin before a final decision on their asylum claims has been made. The Russian Federation is a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

UNHCR is following up with the asylum seekers' legal counsel and the Russian authorities to clarify the facts of the matter.

MEP Raises Questions about Human Rights Lawyer Imprisoned for Speaking out for Falun Gong

Cristiana Moscardini is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for North-West with the Alleanza Nazionale, Co-president of the Union for a Europe of Nations and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade. Ms. Moscardini recently questioned the European Parliament regarding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) verdict against renowned Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and the regime’s atrocities of harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners. Here is a transcript of the question:

A court in Beijing recently found lawyer Gao Zhisheng guilty of subversion. Gao is an active human rights attorney. As we can imagine, the Chinese regime sentenced Mr. Gao because he defended Christian members of unofficial churches and practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. His two lawyers were neither allowed to enter the court nor meet their client. Consequently, they cannot confirm whether Gao pleaded guilty as the regime claimed.

1) Can the committee request the Chinese authorities to protect the safety of human rights activists?
2) We have “normal” trading with such countries. How long can we tolerate their violation against human rights?
3) Can we verify that China is the largest country for organ trafficking. Most of these organs come from “Gulag” (concentration camps) where political prisoners, Falun Gong practitioners and Roman Catholics are being detained.