[CHRB] Activists Conduct Sit-In in Beijing, Demanding Participation in UPR (6/21-27, 2013)

June 27, 2013       Comments Off on [CHRB] Activists Conduct Sit-In in Beijing, Demanding Participation in UPR (6/21-27, 2013)

China Human Rights Briefing

June 21-27, 2013

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

• 3 More Anti-Corruption Activists Formally Arrested

• Filmmaker Detained For Recording Petitioners in Black Jail

UPR Watch

• Activists Rally at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Demand Participation in Drafting State Party Report to UPR

Special Notice

• CHRD Releases Handbook on Civil Society Participation in Review of China’s Record on Protecting Children’s Rights

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Arbitrary Detention

3 More Anti-Corruption Activists Formally Arrested

Three activists initially detained in Hubei Province in late May have been formally arrested on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” as part of the intensifying crackdown on anti-corruption campaigners around the country. On June 19, Huang Wenxun (黄文勋) of Guangdong Province, and Li Yinli (李银莉) and Yuan Fengchu (袁奉初，aka Yuan Bing, 袁兵), both from Hubei, were formally arrested in Chibi City, where they were seized on May 25. At that time, the individuals were calling for the release of Beijing activists who had been arrested for seeking disclosure of officials’ assets. They served 15-day administrative detentions before being arrested. Two others seized in Chibi, Chen Jianxiong (陈剑雄) and Yuan Xiaohua (袁小华), remain in police custody. The three individuals arrested in Hubei join 11 other activists from Beijing and Jiangxi Province who have been arrested since May for anti-corruption advocacy.[1]

Filmmaker Detained For Recording Petitioners in Black Jail

Hou Zhihui (候志辉), a Beijing-based filmmaker and host of an entertainment website, has been criminally detained after filming petitioners who were being held in a black jail. On June 11, police went to Hou’s home and took him into custody, and officers went back later to search his residence, confiscating a computer. The next day, Hou’s family was informed that he had been detained on a charge of “creating a disturbance,” likely in retaliation for recording video at a black jail in Majialou in the capital. A former member of the military and originally from Shanxi Province, Hou is being held at the Fengtai District Detention Center.[2]

UPR Watch

Activists Rally at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Demand Participation in Drafting State Party Report to UPR

A growing number of activists have staged a sit-in outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) office in Beijing since June 18, asking to meet with officials and awaiting a government reply to their requests to participate in drafting China’s national human rights report, which the Chinese government will submit to the UN Human Rights Council for the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October. Cao Shunli (曹顺利), who has been at the forefront of civil society efforts to take part in the UPR process since 2008, has been among nearly 100 activists who have gathered to push for the report to include the plights of petitioners, among other rights concerns. Police warned them at one point to leave the area, but officers have simply been monitoring the situation nearby since the activists explained their purpose.

For years, authorities have intimidated and harassed activists who have pursued transparency and participation in the UPR process. Several of the leaders in the drive have been put under house arrest or detained since December 2008, when their first request to the government related to China’s UPR in 2009 was submitted (see CHRD’s alert). A trial opened on June 8 for Peng Lanlan (彭兰岚), a Hunan activist involved in this campaign, who was detained on a charge of “obstructing official business” in August 2012 and reportedly tortured by police. In an MFA reply to an application for public disclosure that Cao Shunli submitted in October 2012, an official stated that UPR information involved “state secrets” and could not be shared with the public.

In another recent effort to promote advocacy related to the UPR, Shanghai activists on June 17 publicly handed out copies of the “UPR Recommendations” to China, which were made by other UN member States during UPR in 2009 (see these recommendations in English with a Chinese translation by CHRD). After reading the list of recommendations, some Shanghai residents reportedly expressed hope that more countries could make recommendations to the Chinese government in the upcoming UPR, including on the rights of disadvantaged groups and issues of forced demolition and land expropriation.[3]

Special Notice

CHRD Releases Handbook on Civil Society Participation in Review of China’s Record on Protecting Children’s Rights

CHRD has released a Chinese-language handbook about how Chinese NGOs can take part in a review of China’s compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). China, which ratified the CRC in 1992, will face a review by the UN Committee on Rights of the Child in September or October of this year. The handbook is intended to encourage more civil society participation in pinpointing concerns tied to Chinese children’s rights, including in the areas of discrimination in education and health, sexual violence, and human trafficking. For the review of China, CHRD has submitted to the Committee a report that includes issues and recommendations about China’s record of compliance with the CRC.[4]