Update to UN on Submission on Ms. Ma Lijun – September 17, 2012
Comments Off on Update to UN on Submission on Ms. Ma Lijun – September 17, 2012Submission to:
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
September 17, 2012
Update to Communique submitted on behalf of Ms. MA Lijun, citizen of the People’s Republic of China
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) recently learned of a development in the case of Ms. MA Lijun and thus is providing this update to the Working Group and Special Rapporteurs. For your reference, I have copied below our response to Section V of the WGAD form from the original submission (dated 15 December 2011), which asks about the domestic remedies pursued (or not) in the case.
“A lawyer challenged the RTL [Re-education through Labor] Decision in Ms. Ma’s case through the administrative reconsideration (xingzheng fuyi) process. On November 23, 2011, the Shijiazhuang Municipal Government rejected the administrative reconsideration petition and upheld the original RTL Decision. In early December, after learning that the RTL Decision had been upheld, the lawyer filed a lawsuit against the RTL Committee pursuant to the Administrative Litigation Law (ALL). As of December 14, 2011, the court had not yet formally docketed the ALL suit. As with administrative reconsideration, ALL challenges to RTL decisions are rarely successful.”
On August 9, 2012 – as predicted– the Qiaodong District People’s Court in Shijiazhuang City rejected Ms. Ma’s Administrative Litigation Lawsuit challenging the RTL Committee’s decision to incarcerate her for 1.5 years in an RTL facility. The original RTL Committee decision stands, and Ms. Ma will serve her full RTL term. She is due to be released on February 8, 2013.
See CHRD’s previous submission on behalf of Ma Lijun:
Submission to UN on Ma Lijun – December 15,2011