Submission to UN on FU Changguo, LI Zhan, LIU Penghua, MI Jiuping and YU Juncong, – March 13, 2019

April 1, 2019 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 torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders

Communiqué on Behalf of FU Changguo, LI Zhan, LIU Penghua,

MI Jiuping, and YU Juncong,

Citizens of the People’s Republic of China,

Alleging Arbitrary Detention and Deprivation of Rights to Expression, Assembly, and Association

I. IDENTITY

A) Fu Changguo

1. Family name: Fu (付)

2. First name: Changguo (常国)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): October 6, 1985

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

6. Identity document (if any): National ID Card No.

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):

Fu Changguo is a staff member of Shenzhen Dagongzhe Migrant Workers (深圳打工者中心), a non-governmental organization that has supported migrant workers in Shenzhen by helping defend their labor rights. Chinese state media accused Fu of being a “leader” of labor protests held at a Jasic Technology, Ltd. Plant, an accusation the NGO refutes.

8. Address of usual residence: Chenzhou City, Hunan Province

B) Li Zhan

1. Family name: Li (李)

2. First name: Zhan (展)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): June 4, 1992

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

6. Identity document (if any): National ID Card No.

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):

Li Zhan is a worker/activist formerly employed by the Jasic Technology, Ltd. factory in Shenzhen City, Guangdong. Along with Liu Penghua, Mi Jiuping and Yu Juncong, Li Zhan assumed a leading role in trying to form a union at the Jasic factory.

8. Address of usual residence: Suzhou City, AnhuiProvince

C) Liu Penghua

1. Family name: Liu (刘)

2. First name: Penghua (鹏华)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): October 8, 1987

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

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

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):

Liu Penghua is a worker/activist formerly employed by the Jasic Technology, Ltd. factory in Shenzhen City, Guangdong. Along with Li Zhan, Mi Jiuping and Yu Juncong, Liu Penghua assumed a leading role in trying to form a union at the Jasic factory.

8. Address of usual residence: Weinan City, Shaanxi Province

D) Mi Jiuping

1. Family name: Mi (米)

2. First name: Jiuping (久平)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): June 28, 1982

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

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

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):

Mi Jiuping is a worker/activist formerly employed by the Jasic Technology, Ltd. factory in Shenzhen City, Guangdong. Along with Li Zhan, Liu Penghua and Yu Juncong, Mi Jiuping assumed a leading role in trying to form a union at the Jasic factory. Mi is believed to have drafted the workers’ original petition for a union.

8. Address of usual residence: Huaihua City, Hunan Province

E)Yu Juncong

1. Family name: Yu (余)

2. First name: Juncong (浚聪)

3. Sex: Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): November 12, 1993

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

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

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):

Yu Juncong is a worker/activist formerly employed by the Jasic Technology, Inc. factory in Shenzhen City, Guangdong. Along with Li Zhan, Liu Penghua and Mi Jiuping, Yu Juncong assumed a leading role in trying to form a union at the Jasic factory.

8. Address of usual residence: Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province

II. Arrest

A) Fu Changguo

1. Date of arrest: August 10, 2018

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Ailian Police Station in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Officers of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? Unknown

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: Unknown

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities:“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”

7. Legal basis for the arrest including relevant legislation applied (if known): Article 293 of China’s Criminal Law (“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”) stipulates a fixed-term imprisonment of up to five years to those who (1) willfully attacking another person and the circumstances are serious; (2) chasing, intercepting, or cursing another person, and the circumstances are serious; (3) forcibly taking away, demanding, or willfully damaging or seizing public or private property; and the circumstances are serious; or (4) creating a disturbance in a public place, causing serious disorder.

B) Li Zhan

1. Date of arrest: July 27, 2018

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Jasic Technology, Inc. factory (No. 3, Qinglan One Road, Pingshan New District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province)

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Officers of Pingshan District Sub-bureau and tactical security forces hired by Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? No (officers made an oral announcement during a demonstration)

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities:“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”

C) Liu Penghua

Date of arrest: July 27, 2018

Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Jasic Technology, Inc. factory (No. 3, Qinglan One Road, Pingshan New District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province)

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Officers of Pingshan District Sub-bureau and tactical security forces hired by Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? No (officers made an oral announcement during a demonstration)

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities:“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”

D) Mi Jiuping

1. Date of arrest: July 27, 2018

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Jasic Technology, Inc. factory (No. 3, Qinglan One Road, Pingshan New District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province)

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Officers of Pingshan District Sub-bureau and tactical security forces hired by Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? No (officers made an oral announcement during a demonstration)

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities:“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”

E) Yu Juncong

1. Date of arrest: July 27, 2018

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible): Jasic Technology, Inc. factory (No. 3, Qinglan One Road, Pingshan New District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province)

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out: Officers of Pingshan District Sub-bureau and tactical security forces hired by Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority? No (officers made an oral announcement during a demonstration)

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities:“Picking quarrels and provoking trouble”

III. Detention

A) Fu Changguo

1. Date of detention: September 8, 2018

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Fu Changguo has been detained since August 10, 2018 (over 7 months at the time of this communication)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Unknown (the office of the Pingshan District Procuratorate called Fu Changguo’s lawyer on September 18, 2018 to inform the lawyer that Fu had been arrested, but no notice was issued)

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Previously Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center, current location unknown (Fu’s family member deposited funds into his account at the Shenzhen No. 2 Detention Center on February 1 and February 6, 2019, but the money was returned on the grounds that there was no person of that name in the center).

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Unknown

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”

7. Legal basis for the arrest including relevant legislation applied (if known):Article 290 of China’s Criminal Law (“Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”) stipulates: “Where people are gathered to disturb public order to such a serious extent that work in general, production, business operation, teaching or scientific research cannot go on and heavy losses are caused, the ringleaders shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years; the active participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.”

B) Li Zhan

1. Date of detention: Exact date of formal arrest unknown (no notification given to family or lawyer)

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Li Zhan has been detained since July 27, 2018 (over 7 months at the time of this communication)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Unknown

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Unknown

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”

C) Liu Penghua

1. Date of detention: August 28, 2018 (formally arrested)

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Liu Penghua has been detained since July 27, 2018 (over 7 months at the time of this communication)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”

D) Mi Jiuping

1. Date of detention: August 28, 2018 (formally arrested)

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Mi Jiuping has been detained since July 27, 2018 (over 7 months at the time of this communication)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center (previously Shenzhen Longgang District Detention Center)

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Pingshan District Sub-bureau of Shenzhen City Public Security Bureau

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”

E) Yu Juncong

1. Date of detention: Exact date of formal arrest unknown (no notification given to family or lawyer)

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Yu Juncong has been detained since July 27, 2018 (over 7 months at the time of this communication)

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody: Unknown

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center

5. Authorities that ordered the detention: Unknown

6. Reasons for the arrest imputed by the authorities: “Gathering a crowd to disturb public order”

IV. Describe the circumstances of the arrests

The four detained worker/activists were among 30 individuals, including other dismissed workers and a student supporting the laborers, taken into custody by police in Pingshan District of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province on July 27, 2018. NGO staff member Fu Changguo was detained in Shenzhen on August 10, 2018. The four workers had been involved in advocating for labor rights at a Jasic Technology plant, where workers began collectively seeking better working conditions in May 2018, actions that had led to dismissal of several factory workers. Fu Changguo reportedly had shared news on the workers’ activities on social media and once visited the protest scene as an observer.

In total, more than 50 individuals associated with the Jasic factory labor movement were detained, disappeared, or put under house arrest. These include other Jasic workers and two local trade union officials, as well as many university students or graduates, mostly from prestigious universities in China (in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, etc). The students, who had united behind the movement under the name Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group, were seized in police actions between August 2018 and January 2019. In January 2019, Chinese authorities released videos of four of these students who had been disappeared in which they “admitted” so-called illegal behavior. These “confessions” were likely coerced as the students’ whereabouts, wellbeing, and access to legal counsel could not be independently confirmed.

All of the above incidents have occurred during a surge of labor unrest in Shenzhen and other parts of southern China, the country’s industrial hub, as workers at many other companies have gone on strike and protested labor conditions, leading to further detentions.

V. Indicate reasons why you consider the arrests and/or detentions to be arbitrary

Detainees in this communication have been subjected to retaliation and rights deprivation for their efforts to advocate for labor rights, including in the form of physical abuse, deprived rights to their exercise of peaceful expression, assembly, and association, and blocked access to legal counsel.

The detainees had been lawfully participating in a labor advocacy movement by workers at a Jasic Technology plant. The workers had gone on strike seeking better wages and working conditions, as the environment at the factory had reportedly deteriorated to the point where workers were compelled to act in order to even ensure a living wage.

Direct retaliation against workers in the labor movement reportedly began in May 2018, following complaints over labor conditions that workers expressed in April to the Pingshan District Federation of Trade Unions (Pingshan FTU) office.Yu Juncong had complained to management about poor working conditions as far back as July 2017, so he was known to management for speaking up about issues that he had observed at the factory. Yu was beaten on May 8, 2018 by his team leader. A Jasic personnel manager informed Yu Juncong on May 10 that he was dismissed from his position.

On May 10, a small group of workers, including Li Zhan, Liu Penghua, and Mi Jiuping, took a petition with a list of grievances signed by 28 workers about alleged long-term ill-treatment and a request to form a labor union to the Pingshan FTU and the Pingshan District Human Resources Department. In the complaints, they accused the company of, among other abuses, restricting pay each month by arbitrarily changing their schedules, underpaying contributions into their social insurance and housing funds, formulating an arbitrary system for fining workers, leaking employee identity information, illegally establishing employee blacklists, and infringing on worker privacy.

The Pingshan FTU informed the three men that they needed the official seal of Jasic management in order for their request for a union to be approved. Following this instruction, Li, Liu, and Mi returned to the factory with their letter to ask for their management’s approval, but their request was rejected. When they contacted the Pingshan FTU for further assistance, the men were told to first recruit 100 individuals as “union members” and hold an assembly to select a union preparation committee. On July 12-13, 2018, while only able to contact most workers between 9:30 PM and midnight (since so many of them worked overtime), Liu and Mi collected 89 signatures—about 10 percent of the factory’s labor force.

Unbeknownst to the workers, the Pingshan FTU and Jasic plant management had been colluding since June 2018 to set up a separate union (worker representatives committee) that did not include any candidates proposed by the workers. Never intending to allow the workers to form their own union, Jasic management started to take direct retaliation against Liu and Mi. Jasic personnel reportedly interfered with the signature campaign on July 14 and began to slander Liu and Mi, claiming they were “deceiving workers,” and management falsely accused them of telling workers they were signing a document to take part in a fire prevention training, not one about establishing a union. Management made threats against workers who had signed in support of forming a union and also prevented Liu and Mi from collecting more signatures.

Management threatened Liu and Mi with dismissal if they did not move to different work posts, with the apparent aim to physically isolate the two men. Liu agreed to shift to a temporary post in a corner of the factory, but Mi refused to comply. When Mi complained to the Pingshan FTU about the threat of dismissal, Pingshan FTU staff told him that the union was already communicating with Jasic and that he should not contact the union about any problems. After Mi released an open letter about how he was slandered for attempting to help unionize workers, Jasic executives berated him, and the Pingshan FTU deputy chair told Mi that his activities to try to form a union, which he had conducted according to the Pingshan FTU’s instructions, were illegal.

Jasic management subsequently ramped up retaliation against Liu Penghua and Mi Jiuping, in the forms of physical assault, dismissal from their jobs, and detention. On July 16, two unidentified thugs assaulted Liu Penghua at his isolated work location in the plant, and the two men were reportedly escorted out of the factory and driven away. Liu was formally dismissed from his job. He reported the violent assault to police, who held him overnight in a police station. Similarly, on July 18, Mi Jiuping was roughed up by security guards and also fired. Both Liu and Mi, along with other workers who had been dismissed, were barred from re-entering the factory. When the two men and other dismissed workers tried to enter the plant on July 20, guards stopped them at the gates and an altercation erupted, and police intervened and detained a few workers. Colleagues of the detained individuals subsequently gathered in front of the police station and protested the detentions, and all the seized workers were released. However, on July 27, Liu Penghua, Li Zhan, Mi Jiuping, and Yu Juncong were detained, along with 25 other workers and one student activist, outside the Jasic factory.

On August 10, 2018, police detained Fu Changguo and Huang Qingnan (黄庆南), both staff members of the NGO Shenzhen Dagongzhe Migrant Workers Center (DGZ).China’s state media attempted to portray the labor unrest at the Jasic plant as being orchestrated by an “illegal” NGO—meaning DGZ—that was receiving overseas funding (referring to a Hong Kong-based organization called Worker Empowerment). Police released Huang, the organization’s legal representative, on bail on September 5, 2018, but Fu remained detained. Worker Empowerment, the group based in Hong Kong, confirmed in a statement on August 27, 2018, that it had previously collaborated with DGZ, but it said it had not provided support to Jasic workers related to the strike. A subsequent statement from Worker Empowerment and DGZ on September 13, 2018 rejected the accusation that Fu Changguo was involved in organizing workers or their supporters and stated that Fu had circulated news about the protests, links to fundraising sites set up by the workers, and visited the protest once as an observer, in his capacity as the labor law consultant of DGZ. DGZ had previously faced suppression from police for advocating for labor rights and assisting migrant workers. Government authorities for years have blocked the DGZ from registering as a social organization, which is required under Chinese law for the group to operate legally.

The five detainees in this communication have been deprived of their right to access legal counsel of their or their families’ choosing. Lawyers representing some of the detainees dropped their cases, including after authorities intervened in the lawyers’ efforts to defend their clients. None of the five detainees have been allowed to see their family members since being taken into custody.

Fu Changguo has had three different lawyers, all of which have withdrawn from the case. The first lawyer received a phone call from the Guangdong Judicial Bureau on August 23, 2018, requesting the lawyer withdraw from the case. The second lawyer quit out of fear in September 2018. The third lawyer was informed by a phone call from Shenzhen police on September 18, 2018 that Fu had been formally arrested on September 8 and was allowed to meet Fu once on September 20 but was denied further meetings. This lawyer withdrew from the case in November, and informed Fu’s sister that a legal aid lawyer would be provided.

Li Zhan has had two lawyers. The first lawyer appointed by Li Zhan’s family had quit under pressure from the Henan Judicial Bureau. Li Zhan met his second lawyer on September 18, 2018 during which the lawyer confirmed that Li had been formally arrested and that the criminal charge had been changed from “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” to “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.” The lawyer was not granted another meeting with Li. The lawyer attempted to meet with Li Zhan on February 25, 2019 but the detention center handed him a letter stating that Li Zhan had terminated his representation and did not want legal counsel before the trial. When the second lawyer pushed for a face-to-face meeting with Li to confirm that this was his choice, authorities would not let him meet with Li but showed him a short video on February 26 of Li repeating the same claim.

Liu Penghua has had two lawyers. Liu met once with the first lawyer hired by his family, not long after being formally arrested in August 2018. On October 24, 2018, authorities denied the meeting request made by Liu’s second lawyer appointed by his family, stating that Liu was being interrogated. On December 17, 2018 and January 4, 2019, the second lawyer’s meeting request were refused again. The reason given by Pingshan Public Security Bureau was that Liu’s case involved state secrets.

Mi Jiuping has had three lawyers. He met with the first lawyer appointed by his family on August 30, 2018 and met with the second lawyer appointed by his family on September 28, 2018. The second lawyer confirmed that Mi would be formally arrested, and the criminal charge was changed from “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” to “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.” The second lawyer withdrew from the case after pressure the judicial bureau soon after the September meeting. On November 12, 2018 and January 25, 2019, the third lawyer appointed by Mi’s family requested meetings with Mi, but police refused the requests on the grounds that Pingshan Public Security Bureau had stated that the case involves state secrets.

Yu Juncong has had two lawyers. His first lawyer appointed by his family met him once, on August 30, 2018. After the meeting, the lawyer withdrew representation of Yu under pressure from the judicial bureau. The second lawyer has not been able to meet him.

The detentions and other mistreatment of these detainees constitute violations of their rights to exercise peaceful assembly and free association, which are protected under Article 35 of China’s Constitution. The suppression of the workers’ right to form a labor union violates provisions of the Trade Union Law of the People’s Republic of China. Furthermore, the circumstances of these individuals’ detentions constitute violations of their rights to peacefully exercise free expression, assembly, and association guaranteed under Categories I, II, and III of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (i.e., when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of the rights under Articles 1, 7, 9, 15, 19, 21, and 22), and freedoms guaranteed by Articles 3, 5, 9, 19, 20, and 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

VI. 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.

On December 2, 2018, the elder sister of Fu Changguo submitted an application requesting Fu be released on “bail pending investigation” to the Pingshan District Public Security Bureau in Shenzhen. Police rejected the application on December 25, 2018, responding that Fu “may destroy or fabricate evidence,” which they said would constitute interference with witness testimony, and that releasing him on bail may lead to “social harm.” Fu’s family had submitted the application in December as his mother’s health was deteriorating. Fu’s mother passed away on January 10, 2019; Fu Changguo was not allowed to see her for a final time before her death, nor allowed to attend her funeral.

See above for attempts by lawyers to visit their clients.

Date: March 13, 2019

More details

Independent expert of special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council inquiries to China on violations of the rights of Jasic workers

联合国人权理事会特别程序独立专家要求中国政府就侵犯佳士工人权利事宜答问