Submission to UN on Liu Yuandong, Guo Feixiong – February 5, 2014

February 28, 2014 Comments Off

Submission 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 Liu Yuandong & Yang Maodong, 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: Yuandong (远东)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): March 30, 1978

5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China

6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card

I. IDENTITY (2)

1. Family name: Yang (杨)

2. First name: Maodong (茂东)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): August 2, 1966

5. Nationality/Nationalities: People’s Republic of China

6. (a) Identity document (if any): ID Card

8. Professions and/or activities of the detainees (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention): Liu Yuandong is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who owns a biotechnology company in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, and a longstanding supporter of democracy activists, especially in southern China. Prior to his current detention, Liu participated in a solidarity protest outside Southern Weekly’s headquarters in Guangzhou on January 9, 2013, and also in a protest against North Korea’s nuclear test that was conducted in February 2013.

Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong, 郭飞雄) began his activism in 2003 by defending many cases of rights violations, and has worked with the prominent lawyer and dissident Gao Zhisheng. Most recently, Guo has been a part of the “New Citizens’ Movement,” a loose group of activists working towards social justice and political and legal reforms. Guo also helped organize a campaign calling on the government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Like Liu Yuandong, Guo was involved with rallies in front of the Southern Weekly headquarters in Guangzhou in January 2013.

II. Arrest (1)

1. Date of arrest: Liu Yuandong was taken away on February 23, 2013.

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Liu was taken away from Guangzhou’s People’s Park.

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out:

Police from the Yuexiu District branch of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (“Guangzhou 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 that police used to issue the arrests.

III. Detention (1)

1. Date of detention: Liu Yuandong was placed under administrative detention on February 23, 2013, and under criminal detention on March 11, 2013, and formally arrested on April 4, 2013.

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): From February 23, 2013 through the present (i.e., his detention is ongoing)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Tianhe District branch of the Guangzhou PSB

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Liu was initially detained at Yuexiu District Detention Center in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province for a 15-day administrative detention on February 23, 2013, and then transferred to Tianhe District Detention Center in Guangzhou on March 11, 2013, where he is currently detained.

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Tianhe District People’s Procuratorate of Guangzhou City

6. Reasons for the detention imputed by the authorities: “Fraudulent reporting of capital during the incorporation of a company” when reporting capital to the governmental department in registering his company, and “gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place” through participating in a solidarity protest outside Southern Weekly’s headquarters in Guangzhou on January 9, 2013.

7. Relevant legislation applied (if known): For the crime of “fraudulent reporting of capital during the incorporation of a company,” Article 158 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention to those who, when applying for company registration, obtain the registration by deceiving the competent company registration authority through falsely declaring the capital to be registered with falsified certificates or by other deceptive means shall, if the amount of the falsely registered capital is huge, and the consequences are serious or if there are other serious circumstances.

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.

II. Arrest (2)

1. Date of arrest: Yang Maodong was taken away on August 8, 2013.

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Yang was seized and taken away secretly by police.

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Police from Tianhe District branch of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (“Guangzhou 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 police used to issue the arrests.

III. Detention (2)

1. Date of detention: Yang Maodong was detained on August 8, 2013, and subsequently issued a criminal detention. He was formally arrested on September 11, 2013.

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): From August 8, 2013 through the present (i.e., his detention is ongoing)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Tianhe District branch of the Guangzhou PSB

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Tianhe District Detention Center in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Tianhe District People’s Procuratorate of Guangzhou City

6. Reasons for the detention imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place” through organizing rallies in front of the Southern Weekly headquarters in January 2013, organizing a campaign calling on the government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and leading an anti-corruption campaign.

7. Relevant legislation applied (if known): 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.

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

Seized in February 2013, Liu was among the very first members of China’s civil society to be detained in a nationwide crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression that began in earnest the following month. Police informed Liu Yuandong’s wife on April 2, 2013, that he had been arrested, but she still has not received any formal notification. While in police custody, Mr. Liu reportedly was subjected to mistreatment such as sleep deprivation.

Yang Maodong was criminally detained in August 2013 and formally arrested a month later, also as part of the nationwide crackdown on civil society. Alleging that Mr. Yang’s case involves “state security,” police at Tianhe District Detention Center in Guangzhou repeatedly prevented lawyers to meet with Yang. Yang was not allowed access to a lawyer until mid-November, when his lawyer reported that Yang had staged a hunger strike for over 20 days to protest the criminal charge against him. Under these circumstances, Yang’s criminal detention well exceeded the 37-day legal limit allowed by Chinese law without his either being released or formally arrested. On December 18, 2013, Mr. Yang was reportedly indicted, though authorities did not directly notify his lawyers of this development.

Mr. Liu was tried on January 24, 2014, by the Tianhe District People’s Court in Guangzhou. The proceedings were held behind closed doors. Before and during the trial, the court building was under strict control by Guangzhou police. Police seized and took away more than 30 people who tried to attend the trial and support Liu, including human rights lawyers Liu Shihui (刘士辉) and Chen Jinxue (陈进学). They were detained in a middle school and released in the afternoon after the trial ended. Lawyer Liu was even sent to Tianhe District Detention Center and detained there until the evening. Foreign diplomats were also blocked from entering the courtroom. During the trial, Mr. Liu’s lawyer Liu Zhengqing (刘正清) said that only some of the planned defense witnesses were allowed to testify; however, they were not cross-examined by lawyer Liu and reportedly only remained in the courtroom for the time that they were allowed to read their statements. Only Liu’s wife and uncle were allowed to attend the entire trial proceedings.

All of these violations made the proceedings tantamount to a closed trial and constitute clear violations of the Criminal Procedure Law (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). The trial ended without a verdict.

In retaliation for their advocacy activities, Mr. Liu and Mr. Yang 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

Yang Maodong’s lawyers have published online updates on his case, and a joint statement calling for his release has been signed by hundreds of supporters. Other lawyers also released a statement disclosing and protesting officials’ illegal conduct related to the case, including blocking Yang’s lawyers from meeting their client. Hundreds of citizens from all sectors of Chinese society have organized a group to track the case and support Mr. Yang.

Rights activists nationwide have also showed support for Liu Yuandong and protested against authorities in various ways, including by: taking to the streets to hold banners, going to Guangzhou to advocate for justice, and asking to observe trial proceedings for his case. In retaliation, authorities have detained or harassed many of these supporters.

Date submitted: February 5, 2014

Related Documentations:

April 1, 2016 － Update to UN on case of Guo Feixiong
July 14, 2015 － Update to UN on case of Guo Feixiong