Submission to the UN on Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping, and Li Sihua – 29 December 2013
Comments Off on Submission to the UN on Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping, and Li Sihua – 29 December 2013Submission to:
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Communique on Behalf of Three Citizens of the People’s Republic of China,
Alleging Arbitrary Detention, Torture,
Violation of Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association,
and Reprisals against Human Rights Defenders
I. IDENTITY (1)
1. Family name: Liu (刘)
2. First name: Ping (萍)
3. Sex: Female
4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): December 2, 1964
5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China
6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card
7. Address of usual residence: Yushui District, Xinyu City, Jiangsu Province
I. IDENTITY (2)
1. Family name: Wei (魏)
2. First name: Zhongping (忠平)
3. Sex: Male
4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): February 11, 1963
5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China
6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card
7. Address of usual residence: Yushui District, Xinyu City, Jiangsu Province
I. IDENTITY (3)
1. Family name: Li (李)
2. First name: Sihua (思华)
3. Sex: Male
4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): May 13, 1957
5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China
6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card
7. Address of usual residence: Yushui District, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province
8. Professions and/or activities of the three detainees (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):
Liu Ping is a retired employee of Xinyu Iron and Steel Group and a rights activist. Liu began her activism in 2009 by fighting for labor rights. In 2011, she ran for a seat in her local People’s Congress.
Wei Zhongping is a worker at a mental products company and a rights activist. Wei began his advocacy on issues of labor rights. He ran as an independent candidate for his local People’s Congress in 2006 and 2011. In addition, he has been involved in promoting housing and land rights through assisting others in their rights-defense efforts.
Li Sihua is a rights activist who ran for a seat in his local People’s Congress in 2011 along with Liu Ping and Wei Zhongping.
In 2013, Liu, Wei, and Li joined an anti-corruption campaign calling for top officials to disclose their wealth and demanded the Chinese government ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. They also have participated in the “New Citizens’ Movement,” a loose group of activists that promotes social justice and political and legal reforms.
II. Arrest
1. Date of arrest: April 27, 2013
2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible):
Ms. Liu and Mr. Wei were taken away from Ms. Liu’s residence ( Xinyu City, Jiangsu Province); Mr. Li was taken away at the school gate of Fine Arts School Affiliate of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts
3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out:
Yuanhe Branch of Xinyu Public Security Bureau (“Xinyu PSB”)
4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? (Yes) …….. (No).. √…….
5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision:
No warrant is known to have been issued.
6. Relevant legislation applied (if known): Since no warrant is known to have been issued, it is unclear what relevant legislation was used by the police to issue the arrests.
III. Detention
1. Date of detention: Ms. Liu, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Li were detained on April 27, 2013, and subsequently issued criminal detentions
2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): From April 27, 2013 through the present (i.e., their detentions are ongoing)
3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Yuanhe Branch of Xinyu PSB
4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Ms. Liu is being detained at the Xinyu City Detention Center; Mr. Wei and Mr. Li are being detained at the Fenyi County Detention Center in Xinyu City
5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Wangcheng Gongkuang District People’s Procuratorate in Xinyu City
6. Reasons for the detention imputed by the authorities:
Initially, Ms. Liu, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Li were only charged with “inciting subversion of state power” through joining an anti-corruption campaign calling for disclosure of top officials’ assets. On June 4, 2013, the charge was changed to “illegal assembly.” On September 23, two new charges were added against Ms. Liu and Mr. Wei —“gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place” and “using a cult to undermine implementation of the law” (through forwarding online posts about a trial of Falun Gong practitioners).
7. Relevant legislation applied (if known):
For the crime of “illegal assembly,” Article 296 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights to those who are in charge and the persons who are directly responsible for the assembly, procession or demonstration held with no application made in accordance with the provisions of law or no permission granted for the application or held not in accordance with the time for start and stop, venue and routes permitted by the competent authorities, and the order of dismission is disobeyed and public order seriously disrupted.
For the crime of “gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place,” Article 291 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance to those who are gathered to disturb order at railway stations or bus terminals, wharves, civil airports, marketplaces, parks, theaters, cinemas, exhibition halls, sports grounds or other public places, or to block traffic or undermine traffic order, or resist or obstruct public security administrators of the State from carrying out their duties according to law, if the circumstances are serious.
For the crime of “using a cult to undermine implementation of the law,” Article 300 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years to those who form or use superstitious sects or secret societies or weird religious organizations or use superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State.
IV. Describe the circumstances of the arrest and/or the detention and indicate precise reasons why you consider the arrest or detention to the arbitrary:
Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping, and Li Sihua were taken into police custody on April 27, 2013, after joining the call for top Chinese officials to disclose their financial wealth and for the government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China signed in 1998. Before their detentions, they had all been involved in a variety of human rights activities and had participated in the “New Citizens’ Movement,” a loose network of activists who have peacefully promoted social justice and political and legal reforms since 2011.
Weeks before their scheduled trial on October 28, Xinyu police began to put under soft detention activists in the area and some of Liu’s family members. Police also blocked activists in other parts of China from traveling to Xinyu and detained Liu Xizhen (刘喜珍), an activist who had planned to appear in court as a witness. The presiding judge at the Yushui District People’s Court reportedly did not allow the defendants to make their statements. According to Liu’s daughter, who attended the hearing, the judges gave warnings to the lawyers when they raised specific concerns and then prevented them from speaking altogether.
The court had to suspend the trial after the defendants and lawyers protested myriad violations of legal and procedural rights. The lawyers cited their defendants’ prolonged pre-trial detention, which had gone beyond the three-month limit allowed by Chinese law (Article 202(1) of the Criminal Procedure Law, CPL). The attorneys asked the presiding judges to step down from handling the cases after they had filed a lawsuit on October 15, pressing for criminal accountability for illegally prolonging the activists’ detention.
The long-delayed and suspended trial of Liu, Wei, and Li resumed on December 3 at the Yushui District People’s Court. The resumed trial, however, has been marred by similar violations, as a number of key witnesses and supporters of the defendants were put under house arrest or restricted in their movements in advance of the proceedings. In addition, police harassed the defense lawyers at a guesthouse where they were staying in Xinyu, and confiscated materials, including Li Sihua’s defense statement. On December 4, the second day of the trial, the scene outside the courthouse reportedly became chaotic at times, as a large number of plainclothes police officers and thugs attacked the defense lawyers and supporters, leading one lawyer to resign from the courtroom in protest over such blatant harassment. The four-day trial ended on December 6 without a verdict.
The proceedings in December were held behind closed doors, and only two family members were allowed to attend the first hearing (in October), making the proceedings tantamount to a closed trial. This is a clear violation of the CPL, which stipulates that first-instance trials shall be heard in public (Articles 11 and 152 of the 1996 CPL; Article 183 of the 2013 CPL).
Liu Ping was allegedly tortured not only after her arrest, but also over several months while in detention. When Liu was interrogated, police repeatedly shoved her head against metal bars, twisted her neck and arms, and also shackled her extensively. Her lawyer raised the issue of torture during the trial, but the court refused to dismiss evidence or a confession that may have been extracted from torture. The court also refused to file a case to investigate the allegation of torture.
Ms. Liu, Mr. Wei, and Mr. Li have been detained and tried solely on the basis of the peaceful exercise of their rights guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Specifically, under the Working Group’s criteria for determining when a deprivation of liberty is arbitrary, the circumstances of their detentions satisfy both Category II (i.e., when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights or freedoms guaranteed by articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of the UDHR and Category III (i.e., when the total or partial non-observance of the international norms relating to the right to a fair trial, spelled out in the UDHR and in the relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned, is of such gravity as to give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character).
V. Indicate internal steps, including domestic remedies, taken especially with the legal and administrative authorities, particularly for the purpose of establishing the detention and, as appropriate, their results or the reasons why such steps or remedies were ineffective or why they were not taken:
Rights activists nationwide have showed support for Liu, Wei, and Li and protested against authorities in various ways, including by: publishing joint statements online, taking to the streets to hold banners, going to Xinyu to advocate for justice, and asking to observe trial proceedings. In retaliation, authorities have detained or harassed many of these supporters. The three activists’ lawyers also published joint statements disclosing and protesting officials’ illegal conduct related to the case, including procedural violations that occurred at trial.
Date submitted: December 29, 2013
Related Documents:
Chinese government’s response on case of Liu Ping, December 8, 2014
Chinese government’s response on the case of Li Sihua, August 20, 2014