[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
=======================================================================
EXCERPTED
from the
2011 ANNUAL REPORT
of the
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 10, 2011
__________
Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
71-190 WASHINGTON : 2011
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center, U.S. Government Printing Office. Phone 202�09512�091800, or 866�09512�091800 (toll-free). E-mail, [email protected].
CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
House Senate
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, SHERROD BROWN, Ohio, Cochairman
Chairman MAX BAUCUS, Montana
CARL LEVIN, Michigan
DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon
SUSAN COLLINS, Maine
JAMES RISCH, Idaho
EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
SETH D. HARRIS, Department of Labor
MARIA OTERO, Department of State
FRANCISCO J. SANCHEZ, Department of Commerce
KURT M. CAMPBELL, Department of State
NISHA DESAI BISWAL, U.S. Agency for International Development
Paul B. Protic, Staff Director
Lawrence T. Liu, Deputy Staff Director
(ii)
Criminal Justice
Findings
During the Commission's 2011 reporting year,
the Chinese government waged a broad-scale crackdown on
human rights advocates, lawyers, bloggers, writers, and
democracy activists. In early 2011, Chinese public
security officials detained more than 200 advocates in
a campaign that appeared related to official
sensitivity over recent protests in the Middle East and
North Africa and to an anonymous online call for so-
called ``Jasmine'' protests within China.
Harassment and intimidation of human rights
advocates and their families by Chinese government
officials continued during this reporting year. Public
security authorities and unofficial personnel illegally
monitored and subjected to periodic illegal home
confinement human rights defenders, petitioners,
religious adherents, human rights lawyers, and their
family members. Such mistreatment and abuse were
evident particularly in the leadup to sensitive dates
and events, such as the Nobel Peace Prize award
ceremony in December 2010 and the ``Jasmine'' protests
of early 2011.
Chinese officials continued to use various
forms of extralegal detention against Chinese citizens,
including human rights advocates, petitioners, and
peaceful protesters. Those arbitrarily detained were
often held in psychiatric hospitals or extralegal
detention facilities and subjected to treatment
inconsistent with international standards and
protections found in China's Constitution and the PRC
Criminal Procedure Law.
Chinese criminal defense lawyers continue to
confront obstacles to practicing law without judicial
interference or fear of prosecution. In cases that
officials deemed ``politically sensitive,'' criminal
defense attorneys routinely faced harassment and abuse.
Some suspects and defendants in sensitive cases were
not able to have counsel of their own choosing and some
were compelled to accept government-appointed defense
counsel. Abuses of Article 306 of the PRC Criminal Law,
which prescribes criminal liability to lawyers who
force or induce a witness to change his or her
testimony or falsify evidence, continue to hinder
effective criminal defense.
In February 2011, the National People's
Congress Standing Committee reviewed and passed the
eighth amendment to the PRC Criminal Law, which reduced
the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty to
55 crimes. The reduction signaled the first time the
Chinese government has reduced the number of crimes
punishable by capital punishment since the PRC Criminal
Law was enacted in 1979. International organizations
and the state-run media pointed out that courts rarely,
if ever, applied the death penalty for the 13 crimes no
longer eligible for capital punishment.
Recommendations
Members of the U.S. Congress and Administration officials
are encouraged to:
Press the Chinese government to release
immediately advocates who are in prison or detention
and to adhere to fair trial standards and ensure
procedural protections for the approximately 40 human
rights advocates in cases that have already gone to
trial.
Support the establishment of exchanges between
Chinese provincial law enforcement agencies and U.S.
state law enforcement agencies to study policing,
evidence collection, inmate rights, and other criminal
justice reforms currently underway in China.
Press the Chinese government to adopt the
recommendation of the United Nations (UN) Committee
against Torture to investigate and disclose the
existence of ``black jails'' and other secret detention
facilities as a first step toward abolishing such forms
of extralegal detention. Ask the Chinese government to
extend an invitation to the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention to visit China.
Call on the Chinese government to commit publicly
to a specific timetable for its ratification of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which the Chinese government signed in 1998 but has not
yet ratified. Press the Chinese government to implement
the principles asserted in its 2009-2010 National Human
Rights Action Plan, and request that the Chinese
government implement additional plans to advance human
rights and the rule of law.
Urge the Chinese government to amend the PRC
Criminal Procedure Law to reflect the enhanced rights
and protections for lawyers and detained suspects
contained in the 2008 revision of the PRC Lawyers Law.
Encourage Chinese officials to commit to a specific
timetable for revision and implementation of the
revised PRC Criminal Procedure Law.
Introduction
During the Commission's 2011 reporting year, the Chinese
government's failure to uphold legal protections for criminal
suspects and defendants, promote transparency of the judicial
process, and implement legal reforms highlighted ongoing
problems within the criminal justice system. Chinese public
security officials continue to contravene international
standards by detaining, interrogating, and investigating
criminal suspects without adequate due process protections.
Closed trial proceedings and unfair trial procedures continue
to contravene Chinese and international legal protections and
demonstrate the lack of an independent judiciary.
During the year, the Chinese government signaled its
resolve to protect what it deemed to be ``social stability''
through targeted crackdowns on rights advocates and continued
reliance on an array of arbitrary and extrajudicial detention
measures. In early 2011, Chinese public security officials
implemented a harsh crackdown on government critics and rights
advocates, including lawyers, bloggers, writers, and democracy
activists. In the months that followed, Chinese authorities
employed a range of illegal and arbitrary detention measures--
including home confinement and enforced disappearances--to
``maintain stability'' and silence rights advocates.
International human rights groups have called the 2011
crackdown one of the most severe in years.
Abuse of Police Powers: Suppression of Dissent
During this past year, the Commission observed reports of
Chinese law enforcement personnel engaged in a range of abuses
targeting human rights advocates, lawyers, writers, and their
families.\1\ These abuses included harassment, assault,
detention, kidnappings, and illegal surveillance.\2\ Reported
incidents of abuse increased during periods of heightened
official sensitivity. Beginning in February 2011, public
security officials and plainclothes security personnel
detained, harassed, ``disappeared,'' and placed under illegal
surveillance prominent rights defenders. The campaign appeared
related to official concern over protests in the Middle East
and North Africa and to an anonymous online call for so-called
``Jasmine'' protests within China.\3\ By April 18, the non-
governmental organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders
reported that public security officials had criminally detained
39 rights advocates and that more than 20 individuals remained
``disappeared.'' \4\ For example, Chinese police detained
Beijing-based lawyer Tang Jitian on February 16 after he
attended a meeting to discuss the ongoing ``soft detention'' of
the self-trained legal advocate Chen Guangcheng.\5\ Beijing
police summoned and detained human rights lawyer and university
lecturer Teng Biao on February 19 before searching his
residence and confiscating property, including two computers,
politically themed books, and documentaries.\6\ In February,
the Guardian reported that five domestic security protection
officers allegedly beat human rights lawyer Liu Shihui after he
attempted to attend a planned protest in Guangzhou city,
Guangdong province.\7\ The Commission also noted increased
police abuses against rights defenders and advocates
surrounding other politically sensitive events, such as the
Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in December 2010 and the annual
meetings of the National People's Congress and Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference in March 2011.\8\ Such
arbitrary restrictions on personal liberty, freedom of
expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly and association
contravene the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well
as China's Constitution and domestic laws.\9\
Pretrial Detention and Prisons: Torture and Abuse in Custody
Although the Chinese government formally outlawed torture
in 1996 with amendments to the PRC Criminal Procedure Law and
the PRC Criminal Law,\10\ torture and abuse by law enforcement
officers remain widespread. In November 2008, the UN Committee
against Torture (UNCAT) stated it ``remains deeply concerned
about the continued allegations . . . of routine and widespread
use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects in police custody,
especially to extract confessions or information to be used in
criminal proceedings.'' \11\ Although China objected to the
UNCAT report's findings in its November 2009 followup report,
in October 2010, UNCAT submitted a letter to the Chinese
government requesting clarification on issues including the
legal safeguards to prevent torture, the harassment of lawyers
and rights defenders, and the lack of statistical information
related to torture.\12\
During this reporting year, the Commission observed
multiple reports in which public security officials allegedly
employed various torture measures, including beatings, electric
shock, cigarette burnings, and sleep deprivation.\13\ In
January 2011, the Guardian reported on the December 2010 death
of local police chief Xie Zhigang in Benxi city, Liaoning
province, who reportedly died from a heart attack within a day
of his detention. Xie's wife disputed the police account and
claimed Xie died as a result of torture, stating, ``There were
bruises all over [Xie's] body, and deep scars on his wrist and
ankles. Five of his ribs were broken.'' \14\ In March 2011,
human rights lawyer Zhang Kai released a video of Qian Chengyu,
a witness to the murder of village leader and petitioner Qian
Yunhui. In the February 2011 video, Qian Chengyu described how
public security officials beat him for five hours and deprived
him of sleep for thirty hours and explained that the injuries
prevented him from standing for a month.\15\
In response to a spate of high-profile suspicious deaths
and increased public scrutiny since 2009, Chinese law
enforcement agencies reportedly have ordered an overhaul of
prisons and detention centers. In 2009 and 2011, Chinese
agencies released various guidelines intended to improve
oversight responsibilities and enhance supervision of detainees
in detention centers.\16\ In early 2011, the Ministry of Public
Security reportedly delivered a draft revision of the Detention
Regulations, the first revision since the Detention Regulations
were enacted in 1990.\17\ In February 2011, Xinhua reported
that in a nationwide campaign to improve oversight of detention
centers, prosecutors found 2,207 detention center ``bullies''
and prosecuted 123 suspected crimes.\18\ In a March 2011 China
News Weekly interview, Sun Qian, Deputy Procurator-General of
the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said that abnormal deaths
in recent years had ``exposed problems in prison administration
law enforcement'' and had resulted in reportedly ``thorough''
official investigations into prisons and detention centers.\19\
Arrest and Trial Procedure Issues
ACCESS TO COUNSEL
The right to legal counsel in criminal trials is not a
guaranteed legal right for all defendants in China, even though
the PRC Criminal Procedure Law (CPL) and the PRC Lawyers Law
provide guidelines for legal representation in criminal
trials.\20\ Chinese law grants all criminal defendants the
right to hire an attorney, but only guarantees legal defense if
the defendant is a minor, faces a possible death sentence, or
is blind, deaf, or mute. Although the Chinese government has
increased funding for legal assistance in recent years, most
criminal defendants approach the legal system without access to
legal assistance. [For more information on developments in
China's legal aid system, see Section III--Access to Justice.]
This remains counter to provisions under Article 14(3)(d) of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
grant the right to defend oneself in person or through legal
assistance.\21\
Chinese criminal defendants face two primary obstacles--
referred to on occasion as the ``two lows'' (liang di)--in
securing criminal defense counsel: The low rate of active
representation by lawyers in criminal cases and the low quality
of criminal defense.\22\ Most Chinese defendants confront the
criminal process without the assistance of an attorney.\23\
According to a February 2011 Beijing Review article, a
professor at China University of Political Science and Law
noted that 80 to 90 percent of criminal defendants in China are
unable to hire a lawyer.\24\ In addition, the higher proportion
of risks associated with criminal defense work--as compared
with those of civil and commercial work--continues to impact
the quality of criminal representation.\25\ In recent years,
lawyers have been illegally detained, criminally punished,
beaten, summoned, and disbarred for performing their legal
responsibilities.\26\
Chinese lawyers also remain vulnerable to prosecution under
Article 306 of the PRC Criminal Law (commonly referred to as
the ``lawyer-perjury'' statute), a legal provision on evidence
fabrication that specifically targets criminal defense
attorneys.\27\ While harassment of lawyers takes many forms in
China, from prosecution for corruption to threats and physical
violence, a disproportionately high number of such cases
involve charges of evidence fabrication.\28\ Many evidence
fabrication cases are brought under Article 306, which makes it
a crime for defense attorneys or other defense agents to
``destroy or forge evidence, help any parties destroy or forge
evidence, or coerce or entice witnesses into changing their
testimony in defiance of the facts or giving false testimony.''
\29\ Because of the risks presented by Article 306, most
defense attorneys reportedly engage in passive defense: they
focus on finding flaws and weaknesses in the prosecutors'
evidence rather than actively collecting evidence or conducting
their own investigations.\30\ Chinese criminal defense lawyers
acknowledge that the threat of Article 306 of the PRC Criminal
Law--also commonly referred to as ``Big Stick 306''--gives
prosecutors ``unlimited power'' to intimidate lawyers and
derail criminal defense work.\31\
Specific cases involving Article 306 of the PRC Criminal
Law continued to be featured prominently in national Chinese
news and in ongoing debates over Article 306. In June 2011, for
instance, leading Chinese scholars and lawyers criticized the
high profile case against four criminal defense lawyers--Yang
Zaixin, Yang Zhonghan, Luo Sifang, and Liang Wucheng--in Beihai
city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.\32\ The four criminal
defense attorneys were representing criminal suspect Pei Jinde,
accused in a murder trial, when the testimonies of three
defense witnesses challenged the prosecution's case.\33\
Authorities later detained the four attorneys on suspicion of
committing ``witness tampering'' under Article 306 and arrested
the defense witnesses, who were indicted on perjury charges. On
June 28, 2011, public security officials formally arrested
rights lawyer Yang Zaixin on suspicion of violating Article
306.\34\ The three remaining criminal defense lawyers were
reportedly released on bail pending trial on suspicion of
similar charges.\35\ In July 2011, China University of
Political Science and Law Professor Chen Guangzhong told
Oriental Outlook Magazine that the formal arrest of Yang Zaixin
was ``wrongful'' and that, based on disclosed information, the
four lawyers were fulfilling their professional
obligations.\36\ In July 2011, the Global Times, which operates
under the official People's Daily, reported that more than 30
unidentified persons attacked lawyers from Beijing municipality
and Shandong and Yunnan provinces who had travelled to Beihai
to represent lawyer Yang Zaixin.\37\ According to the Global
Times article, the assailants reportedly demanded the lawyers
not represent client Yang and that they leave immediately.\38\
Chinese legal scholars this past year continued to urge
revision of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law, which is reportedly
on the National People's Congress agenda, to address the
problem of Article 306 and other longstanding issues related to
criminal defense counsel. Such longstanding issues include the
commonly referred to ``three difficulties'' (san nan) of
criminal defense: Gaining access to detained clients, reviewing
the prosecutors' case files, and collecting evidence.\39\
Although authorities amended the 2008 PRC Lawyers Law to
address these issues, inconsistencies between the PRC Lawyers
Law and the 1997 PRC Criminal Procedure Law remain. In January
2011, several criminal defense lawyers, interviewed by the
Legal Weekly, expressed growing frustrations over limitations
within criminal defense work. In addition to the widely
discussed ``three difficulties,'' prominent Beijing criminal
defense lawyer Xu Lantang raised ``ten difficulties''--
including the difficulty of getting witnesses to appear in
court, the difficulty of getting a hearing for trial on appeal,
and the difficulty of participating in the death penalty review
process.\40\ According to the article, criminal defense
lawyers' primary obstacle is having innocence claims accepted
by people's courts.\41\ A January 2011 Legal Daily article said
that the challenges to successfully representing criminal
defendants have led to a decline in the rate of legal
representation of criminal defendants in China.\42\
FAIRNESS OF CRIMINAL TRIALS
Chinese lawyers and criminal defendants continue to face
numerous obstacles in ensuring the application of the right to
a fair trial. Although judicial independence is enshrined in
the 1997 PRC Criminal Procedure Law, Chinese judges regularly
receive political guidance on pending cases, including
instructions on how to rule, from both the government and the
Communist Party.\43\ Closed trials, undue political influence,
and a lack of transparency in judicial decisionmaking remain
commonplace within the justice system. For criminal suspects
that reach the trial stage, the likelihood of a guilty verdict
is great. According to 2010 official statistics from the
Supreme People's Court, the conviction rate for criminal cases
was 98.12 percent.\44\ Chinese officials routinely sentence
defendants in trials that fall far short of fair trial
standards set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.\45\
During this reporting year, the Commission has observed
several notable cases in which Chinese judicial authorities
failed to provide transparency and uphold defendants' fair
trial rights in accordance with domestic and international law.
In March 2011, for instance, the Suining Intermediate People's
Court in Sichuan province sentenced democracy advocate Liu
Xianbin, a signatory to Charter 08 (a treatise advocating
political reform and human rights), to 10 years' imprisonment
for ``inciting subversion of state power.'' \46\ Authorities
reportedly denied Liu access to a lawyer for months, which
appeared to contravene protections in the PRC Lawyers Law.\47\
[For more information about Liu Xianbin, see Section III--
Institutions of Democratic Governance.] In August 2011, the
Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing city tried rights
advocate Wang Lihong for ``creating a disturbance'' in
connection with her role in organizing a protest outside of a
Fujian province courthouse on April 16, 2010.\48\ It was not
until March 2011, nearly 12 months after the protest, that
Chinese authorities criminally detained Wang.\49\ At Wang's own
trial in August, Wang's criminal defense lawyer, Han Yicun,
maintained that the trial was ``unfair,'' since the judge
interrupted Wang's final statement and did not permit defense
attorney Han to finish his defense statement.\50\ In addition,
the criminal defense attorneys were unable to photocopy court
documents or present arguments before the indictment.\51\ In
September, the court sentenced Wang to nine months in prison
for ``creating a disturbance.'' \52\ Additionally, in the past
year, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released
Opinion No. 15/2011, which found that the December 2009
criminal case against prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo ``was
organized in [a] way which constitutes a breach of fairness.''
\53\
In June 2010, two regulations took effect that prohibit
convictions based on illegally obtained evidence.\54\ According
to a November 2010 Oriental Outlook Weekly article, however,
fewer than 20 percent of lawyers surveyed had used the
regulations, and many alleged that the regulations lacked
enforceability.\55\ In January 2011, a Procuratorial Daily
article addressed the reasons behind enforcement obstacles and
why the implemented guidelines lack force.\56\ The article
noted that the evidence regulations ``possess their own
inherent flaws,'' ``easily result in different
interpretations,'' and suffer from the prejudices of judicial
officials.\57\
Human Rights Lawyers and Defenders
Amid a broad crackdown against human rights advocates that
began in February 2011, authorities in Beijing municipality and
Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, detained at least five
prominent human rights lawyers in late February or early March
2011, including Teng Biao, Tang Jitian, Jiang Tianyong, and
Tang Jingling.\58\ Chinese officials detained other human
rights lawyers, such as Li Fangping and Li Xiongbing, for
briefer periods in April and May 2011.\59\ In at least some
instances, authorities required those released to sign
``letters of guarantee.'' \60\ According to one unnamed human
rights lawyer, the ``letters'' required that those released
guarantee not to commit certain acts, including criticizing the
Communist Party, participating in training by overseas
organizations, and communicating with overseas
organizations.\61\ As a result, released human rights lawyers
declined to speak to the media about their detentions.\62\
The following are examples from the past year of official
mistreatment of Chinese human rights lawyers and defenders.
In February 2011, security officials in
Shandong province reportedly beat self-trained legal
advocate Chen Guangcheng and his wife Yuan Weijing. The
reported beatings followed the couple's covert
recording of video footage in which they described the
official surveillance, intimidation, harassment, and
abuse their family has endured since Chen's release
from prison after serving his full sentence on
September 9, 2010.\63\
In April 2011, Beijing-based human rights
lawyer Jin Guanghong disappeared amid a number of
apparently politically motivated disappearances.\64\
After a Beijing psychiatric hospital reportedly
released Jin 10 days later, he was in an ``extremely
weak physical and mental state.'' \65\ Jin alleged he
was beaten and vaguely recalled receiving injections
while tied to a bed.\66\ He was unable to fully recall
the circumstances surrounding his detention.\67\ In
recent years, Jin had defended a member of the banned
Falun Gong spiritual movement in Guangzhou city,
Guangdong province, and had participated on the legal
defense team in a high-profile 2010 criminal defamation
case in Fujian province.\68\ [For more information on
conditions for Falun Gong practitioners, see Section
II--Freedom of Religion--Falun Gong.]
In April 2011, public security officials in
Beijing detained housing rights advocate and former
lawyer Ni Yulan on suspicion of ``creating a
disturbance.'' \69\ The criminal detention of Ni and
the disappearance of her husband followed months of
police harassment, which included surveillance and
disruptions in their electricity, water, and Internet
services.\70\ Ni is confined to a wheelchair reportedly
due to chronic medical conditions and alleged official
torture suffered over the past decade.\71\
In 2011, Chinese authorities have continued to pressure
human rights lawyers who take on sensitive cases by denying
annual professional license renewals during the ``annual
inspection and assessment process'' (niandu jiancha kaohe),
which justice departments throughout the country completed in
July 2011.\72\ Lawyers that participate in politically
``sensitive'' cases--including those involving workers' rights,
religious freedom, and political reform--frequently fail to
have their professional licenses renewed during the annual
assessment.\73\ As of mid-July 2011, justice departments failed
to renew the professional licenses of at least four human
rights lawyers, including Liu Xiaoyuan, Cheng Hai, Li Jinglin,
and Li Baiguang.\74\ In July 2011, a Caijing article reported
that some lawyers viewed the annual assessment system as a
``tool to suppress disobedient lawyers.'' \75\ The article
claimed that prominent rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan failed to
pass the 2011 ``annual inspection and assessment process'' as a
result of offending officials.\76\ In a subsequent posting on
his personal blog, however, Liu denied offending any
individuals prior to failing to have his professional license
renewed.\77\
The whereabouts and condition of prominent human rights
lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who angered Chinese authorities by
exposing human rights abuses and representing marginalized
citizens and religious practitioners, remain unknown. Weeks
after reportedly reappearing publicly in late March 2010, Gao
``disappeared'' again in mid-April 2010.\78\ In January 2011,
the Associated Press released information from an April 2010
interview with Gao in which he confirmed being tortured
extensively during detention.\79\ In February 2011, Freedom
Now, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization that represents
individual prisoners of conscience, publicly released a
November 2010 statement from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention in which the UN agency demanded the Chinese
government ``proceed to an immediate release of [Gao] and
provide for reparation of the harm caused as a result of his
situation.'' \80\
Arbitrary Detention
Arbitrary detention in China takes many forms and continues
to be widely used by Chinese authorities to quell local
petitioners, government critics, and rights advocates. Among
the forms of arbitrary extralegal and illegal detention are:
``enforced disappearances'';
``soft detention'' (ruanjin), a range of
extralegal controls under which individuals may be
subjected to home confinement, surveillance, restricted
movement, and limitations on contact with others;
reeducation through labor, an administrative
detention of up to four years for minor offenses;
``black jail'' (hei jianyu) detentions; and
forcible detention in psychiatric hospitals
for non-medical reasons.
``Shuanggui,'' another form of extralegal detention, is used by
the Communist Party for investigation of Party members, most
often in cases of suspected corruption. The UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) defines the deprivation of
personal liberty to be ``arbitrary'' if it meets one of the
following criteria: (1) There is no clear legal basis for the
deprivation of liberty; (2) an individual is deprived of his
liberty for having exercised rights guaranteed under the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
or (3) there is grave non-compliance with fair trial standards
set forth in the UDHR and other international human rights
instruments.\81\ In addition, many forms of arbitrary detention
also appear to contravene protections within China's
Constitution and domestic laws.\82\ In this past year, for
example, UNWGAD issued two opinions declaring that the Chinese
government's imprisonment of prominent intellectual Liu Xiaobo
and house arrest of his wife Liu Xia contravene the UDHR and
amount to arbitrary detentions. The opinions call on Chinese
officials to immediately release Liu Xiaobo, immediately end
Liu Xia's house arrest, and provide reparations to both
persons.\83\
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES
During the 2011 reporting year, the Commission observed
numerous reported cases of Chinese citizens who went
``missing'' or ``disappeared'' into official custody with
little or no information about their whereabouts or potential
charges against them. In an April 8, 2011, press release, the
UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
(UNWGEID) expressed ``serious concern at the recent wave of
enforced disappearances that allegedly took place in China over
the last few months,'' adding that it had received ``multiple
reports of a number of persons having [been] subject to
enforced disappearance . . . .'' \84\ Article 2 of the
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance defines ``enforced disappearance'' as
follows: ``the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form
of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons
or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or
acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge
the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or
whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a
person outside the protection of the law.'' \85\ In late May,
Chinese Human Rights Defenders reported that at least 22
prominent Chinese rights advocates--including well-known artist
and public advocate Ai Weiwei, petitioner Zhou Li, and writer
Gu Chuan--had been subjected to enforced disappearances, some
for as long as 70 days.\86\ In June, UNWGEID issued a press
release expressing ``serious concern'' over all persons
subjected to enforced disappearance in China, including the 300
Tibetan monks whom security personnel allegedly removed from
Kirti Monastery, Aba county, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous
Prefecture, Sichuan province, on April 21, 2011.\87\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draft Amendment to the PRC Criminal Procedure Law
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
In August 2011, the National People's Congress Standing Committee
(NPCSC) reviewed a draft amendment to the PRC Criminal Procedure Law
(CPL), which includes 99 amendments to the current CPL.\88\ Chinese
state-run media has reported that any revised draft amendment approved
by the NPCSC will likely be deliberated upon and passed by the plenary
session of the National People's Congress in March 2012.\89\
According to state-run media reports, legal scholars have said the CPL
draft revisions ``will help improve the protection of criminal
suspects' human rights'' \90\ and have said the draft amendment
complies with international standards.\91\ The CPL draft amendment
includes revisions that would aim to prohibit forced self-
incrimination,\92\ and bar collecting evidence obtained through
torture.\93\ The draft amendment explicitly states that Chinese
criminal defense attorneys are not to be monitored when meeting
criminal defendants in custody.\94\
International organizations and news media outlets have raised
concerns that specific amendment revisions, however, would legalize the
current practice of forcibly ``disappearing'' rights advocates in
violation of international standards.\95\ The revisions allow Chinese
police, in cases involving national security, terrorism, or major
instances of bribery, to keep criminal suspects under residential
surveillance at a fixed location outside of their homes, with approval
from an upper level procuratorate or security organ, for up to six
months, if keeping them at their homes would likely ``hinder an
investigation.'' \96\ The revisions also would permit Chinese police to
withhold information about this form of ``house arrest'' in the case of
suspected state security or terrorism cases, if they believed that
notifying relatives, as normally required, could ``hinder the
investigation.'' \97\ Under the International Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, a state commits
a crime of enforced disappearance when its agents arrest, detain,
abduct, or otherwise deprive a person of liberty and then deny holding
the person or conceal the fate or whereabouts of the person.\98\
Chinese lawyers and media organizations have also criticized these
provisions for having the potential to undermine human rights
protections.\99\ In September 2011, for instance, an editorial in the
official newspaper China Daily acknowledged potential loopholes: ``For
one thing, the crime of endangering state security is a vague and
sprawling conception. Without proper definition and limitations, it is
highly vulnerable to abuse. The impossibility of notification and the
possibility of impeding investigations are even harder to define and
clarify.'' \100\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
``SOFT DETENTION'' AND CONTROL
During this reporting year, the Commission noted various
reports of law enforcement authorities continuing to use ``soft
detention'' (ruanjin) to control and intimidate Chinese
citizens.\101\ Those under ``soft detention'' may be subject to
various forms of harassment, including home confinement,
surveillance, restricted movement, and limited contact with
others.\102\ The ``soft detention'' that numerous human rights
defenders, advocates, and their family members are subjected to
has no basis in Chinese law and constitutes arbitrary detention
under international human rights standards.
In the period surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize award
ceremony in late 2010, Chinese authorities used ``soft
detention'' measures on more than 100 prominent human rights
advocates and associates of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award
recipient Liu Xiaobo.\103\ The Commission also noted that in
2011, authorities placed many rights defenders under ``soft
detention'' after releasing them from official custody. The
following are some notable ``soft detention'' cases from the
past year:
From October 2010 to December 2010, state
security officials in Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, and
Beijing municipality held Ding Zilin, a representative
of the Tiananmen Mothers (an advocacy organization of
1989 Tiananmen protest victims' relatives), and her
husband Jiang Peikun under ``soft detention'' for a
period of 74 days. The couple was unable to access all
forms of communication and unable to contact relatives,
friends, and fellow rights advocates.\104\
In February 2011, a publicly released homemade
video of legal advocate Chen Guangcheng showed Chen and
his family under ``soft detention'' in Dongshigu
village, Linyi city, Shandong province.\105\ Chen and
his family have been under ``soft detention'' since
September 2010, when he completed a 51-month sentence
for disturbing public order and destroying public
property.\106\
In April 2011, public security officers
reportedly placed Jin Tianming, a Protestant pastor,
and 500 members of the Shouwang Church in Beijing under
``soft detention'' after several outdoor worship
services organized by the Shouwang Church.\107\
REEDUCATION THROUGH LABOR (RTL)
Public security officers continued to use the reeducation
through labor (RTL) system to silence critics and to circumvent
the criminal procedure process. RTL is an administrative
measure that allows Chinese law enforcement officials to order
Chinese citizens, without legal proceedings or due process, to
serve a period of administrative detention of up to three
years, with the possibility of up to one year extension.\108\
While the Bureau of Reeducation Through Labor Administration
maintains that the RTL system has been established ``to
maintain public order, to prevent and reduce crime, and to
provide compulsory educational reform to minor offenders,''
\109\ authorities frequently use RTL to punish, among others,
dissidents, drug addicts, petitioners, Falun Gong adherents,
and religious practitioners who belong to religious groups not
approved by the government.\110\
During this reporting year, the Commission observed
numerous accounts of RTL orders violating the legal rights of
Chinese citizens, specifically their right to a fair trial and
right to be protected from arbitrary detention. In November
2010, an RTL committee in Henan province ordered rights
defender Cheng Jianping (who uses the pseudonym Wang Yi) to
serve one year of RTL. Authorities alleged that Cheng
``disturbed social order'' when, in October 2010, she re-
tweeted a Twitter message from her fiance regarding anti-
Japanese protests following a fishing incident between China
and Japan in disputed waters.\111\ The tweet was reportedly
satirical in tone and urged demonstrators to protest at the
Japanese pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.\112\ In
March 2011, Chinese authorities ordered rights advocate Yang
Qiuyu to serve two years of RTL for ``creating a disturbance.''
\113\ The RTL order claimed that Yang had ``incited''
petitioners to go to Tiananmen Square, Wangfujing Street, and
other locations in Beijing to cause ``trouble.'' \114\ In July
2011, Shanghai authorities released Shanghai petitioner Mao
Hengfeng after she served 18 months of RTL for ``disturbing the
social order.'' \115\ According to her husband Wu Xuewei, Mao
was subjected to physical and mental torture while serving her
RTL order.\116\ After her release, Wu said that Mao, who
arrived home in a wheelchair, was unable to speak and did ``not
have the strength to walk.'' \117\ Mao was initially released
on medical parole in February 2011, but officials detained Mao
again two days later for unspecified ``illegal activities.''
\118\
Human rights advocates and legal experts in China have been
calling for an end to RTL for decades. In August 2010, on the
eve of the 53rd anniversary of the establishment of China's RTL
system, a number of Chinese scholars, lawyers, and advocates
publicly released a ``civil rights advocacy letter'' calling on
the government to immediately abolish the ``Decision of the
State Council Regarding the Question of Reeducation Through
Labor'' and other administrative regulations that form the
legal basis for RTL.\119\ The letter stated that current RTL
provisions that permit detention without a judicial trial are
unconstitutional and violate Chinese domestic laws and
regulations, including the PRC Legislation Law and the PRC
Administrative Punishment Law.\120\ In February 2011, the
advocates reportedly planned to send the signed letter, with
over 1,000 signatures, to the National People's Congress
Standing Committee.\121\
``BLACK JAILS'': SECRET DETENTION FACILITIES
Chinese authorities continued to use ``black jails'' (hei
jianyu)--secret detention sites established by local
officials--to detain and punish petitioners who travel to
Beijing and provincial capitals to voice complaints and seek
redress for injustices.\122\ Those detained are denied access
to legal counsel and often denied contact with family members
or associates.\123\ A December 2010 Human Rights Watch report
detailed conditions for prisoners in ``black jails'': ``Once
detained, petitioners are subjected to abuses including
physical and sexual violence, food and sleep deprivation,
denial of medical care, and intimidation.'' \124\ [For more
information about China's petitioning, or xinfang (letters and
visits), system, see Section III--Access to Justice.]
In recent years, the Commission has observed reports by
international and domestic Chinese media organizations on
``black jails,'' as well as on the network of personnel that
intercept and abuse petitioners.\125\ In one prominent example
of domestic reporting, in September 2010, the Southern
Metropolitan Daily reported on a private security company,
Anyuanding, which was accused of assisting local governments in
abducting and detaining petitioners in ``black jails.'' \126\
The New York Times reported in late September 2010 that the
``system of interceptors and black jails has flourished in
recent years,'' as Chinese petitioners have sought official
redress in the face of illegal land grabs, official misconduct,
and other injustices.\127\ In April 2011, the Southern
Metropolitan Daily reported on the experiences of Sun Yinxia
and two individuals forcibly detained in a ``black jail'' in
Sihong county, Jiangsu province, after refusing to sign an
agreement allowing the local government to demolish their
houses without adequate compensation.\128\ Village and township
leaders reportedly watched as unidentified guards forcibly
detained the ``nail household'' \129\ residents, who reportedly
were later ``beaten,'' ``sexually harassed,'' and tortured
during their 12 days of detention.\130\ According to the
article, local residents said that local officials had detained
nearly 200 people in the ``black jail'' since it opened in
2006.\131\ In August 2011, Chinese media reported on a ``black
jail'' in Changping district, Beijing municipality, after a
petitioner surnamed Zhou revealed information about her four-
day detention.\132\ According to the Beijing News, several
``black jail'' ``retrievers'' forcibly detained Zhou after she
visited a local government office in Beijing.\133\ The ``black
jail'' personnel reportedly held Zhou and more than 50
detainees in tight quarters without beds, depriving the
detainees of their mobile phones and beating some who resisted
the detention center management. Zhou said that the detainees,
from several provinces, had been forcibly detained or lured
into detention.\134\
SHUANGGUI: EXTRALEGAL INVESTIGATORY DETENTION OF COMMUNIST PARTY
MEMBERS
During this reporting year, the Commission continued to
observe Chinese media reporting on the Communist Party's use of
shuanggui (often translated as ``double regulation'' or
``double designation''), a form of extralegal detention that
involves summoning Party members under investigation to appear
at a designated place at a designated time.\135\ Notable cases
of high-ranking officials placed under shuanggui included: Liu
Xiquan, a deputy head of Beijing's Chaoyang district; \136\
Zhang Wanqing, Shandong Provincial People's Government
Secretary-General; \137\ and Zhang Rui, a deputy director at
the Department of Exchequer in the Ministry of Finance.\138\
Shuanggui investigations often precede formal Party
disciplinary sanctions or the transfer of suspects to law
enforcement agencies if there has been a violation of the
criminal law.\139\ The investigations at undisclosed locations
usually last several months, and officials may extend the
investigations for over a year.\140\ Those under investigation
are ``generally held incommunicado and denied some of the
protections to which criminal suspects are entitled at least in
principle.'' \141\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal Scholar Questions Anti-Crime Campaign's Excesses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This past year, authorities in Chongqing municipality, Sichuan
province, continued a massive, public ``anti-crime'' sweep (known in
Chinese as ``striking organized crime and uprooting evil'' [dahei
chu'e]) of criminal syndicates and corrupt officials that netted
thousands of arrests and raised various concerns about judicial
independence and procedural rights.\142\ In an April 2011 public
letter, circulated widely, Beijing-based human rights advocate and
university professor He Weifang compared the ``movement-style''
campaign to the turbulent period of the Cultural Revolution.\143\ Of
the campaign, He writes, ``the Cultural Revolution is being replayed,
and the ideal of rule of law is right now being lost.'' \144\ He
publicly questioned the lack of independent adjudicative and
prosecutorial powers and criticized the public security agencies'
emphasis on order above all.\145\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Parole
During this reporting year, Chinese authorities denied
medical parole and adequate medical treatment to prisoners,
particularly human rights advocates. The U.S. State Department
observed in its report on China's human rights situation for
2010 that ``[a]dequate, timely medical care for prisoners
remained a serious problem, despite official assurances that
prisoners have the right to prompt medical treatment.'' \146\
In January 2011, Zeng Jinyan, a rights advocate and the wife of
human rights defender Hu Jia, applied for medical parole on
behalf of Hu, who suffers from hepatitis and
cholelithiasis.\147\ As was the case with previous requests,
authorities denied the appeal for medical parole, despite Hu's
deteriorating condition.\148\ The Commission noted at least one
case where untimely medical parole release had likely
contributed to a decline in a prisoner's medical condition. In
December 2010, rights advocate Zhang Jianhong, who wrote under
the pen name Li Hong, died after being released on medical
parole on June 5, 2010.\149\ Authorities had repeatedly denied
Zhang medical parole, which resulted in an apparent worsening
of his condition.\150\
In addition, authorities appeared to use medical parole as
a measure to silence rights advocates and defenders. In
December 2010, authorities released rights advocate Zhao
Lianhai, the head of an advocacy group for parents of children
sickened by melamine-tainted milk, on medical parole.\151\ Some
supporters, however, feared that Zhao's release was intended to
keep him silent.\152\ In April 2010, Zhao reportedly broke this
public silence to comment on the broad crackdown on rights
advocates and to detail the intense pressure he and his family
were living under.\153\ Police reportedly then threatened to
rescind Zhao's medical parole if he continued to comment on the
treatment of human rights advocates.\154\ In February 2011,
Shanghai authorities terminated the medical parole release of
Shanghai petitioner Mao Hengfeng, two days after her release
from a reeducation through labor (RTL) center.\155\ Although
authorities cited ``illegal activities inconsistent with [the
stipulations of] medical parole'' as the rationale, they
reportedly did not specify the alleged ``illegal activities.''
\156\ Mao reportedly suffered torture and ill treatment
throughout her RTL detention.\157\
Capital Punishment
During this reporting year, the Chinese government
maintained its policy of not releasing details on the thousands
of prisoners reportedly executed annually and continued to keep
information on the death penalty a state secret. Chinese
officials also maintained the stated goal of limiting the
number of executions. In March 2011, for instance, Supreme
People's Court (SPC) President Wang Shengjun emphasized the
state policy of ``strictly controlling and carefully applying
the death penalty'' and urged ``improving the death penalty
review process'' in his report to the annual session of the
National People's Congress.\158\ In May 2011, the SPC stated in
its annual 2010 work report that courts should suspend death
sentences for two years, if the criminal circumstances do not
require an ``immediate execution.'' \159\ On February 25, 2011,
the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC)
passed the eighth amendment to the PRC Criminal Law, which
reduced the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty
from 68 to 55.\160\ As the revision was the first time the
Chinese legislature reduced the number of crimes subject to
capital punishment since enacting the PRC Criminal Law in 1979,
the country's official media heralded the reform as a step ``to
restructure its penalty system and better protect human
rights.'' \161\ In an August 2010 Southern Weekend article on
the then proposed amendment, a member of the National People's
Congress Legal Committee pointed out that authorities rarely,
if ever, applied the death penalty for the 13 crimes under
consideration for reclassification as non-capital
offenses.\162\
Endnotes
\1\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Twenty-Two Years After
Tiananmen Massacre, Worst Repression in a Generation,'' 2 June 11;
Tania Branigan, ``Crackdown in China Spreads Terror Among Dissidents,''
Guardian, 31 March 11.
\2\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``U.S. Must Voice Concerns Over
China's Assault on Human Rights Lawyers During the Upcoming Legal
Experts Dialogue With China,'' 7 June 11; ``China Cracking Down on
Rights Lawyers: Amnesty,'' Agence France-Presse, 29 June 11; Andrew
Jacobs and Jonathan Ansfield, ``China's Intimidation of Dissidents Said
To Persist After Prison,'' New York Times, 17 February 11.
\3\ ``Authorities Crack Down on Rights Defenders, Lawyers, Artists,
Bloggers,'' Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 3 May 11.
\4\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Individuals Affected by the
Crackdown Following Call for `Jasmine Revolution,' '' 18 April 11.
\5\ Tania Branigan, ``Fears Grow After Chinese Human Rights Lawyer
Detained,'' Guardian, 18 February 11.
\6\ Human Rights in China, ``Lawyers and Activists Detained,
Summoned, and Harassed in `Jasmine Rallies' Crackdown,'' 23 February
11; ``China Releases Detained Activist,'' New York Times, 29 April 11.
\7\ Tania Branigan, ``Chinese Lawyer Beaten Ahead of Jasmine
Revolution Protests,'' Guardian, 21 February 11.
\8\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Chinese Reactions to Liu
Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize--From Both Sides,'' 3 January 11; Human
Rights in China, ``Lawyers and Activists Detained, Summoned, and
Harassed in `Jasmine Rallies' Crackdown,'' 23 February 11.
\9\ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed
by UN General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 48, arts.
3, 5, 9, 19, 20 [hereinafter UDHR]; International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI)
of 16 December 66, entry into force 23 March 76, arts. 7, 9(1), 19(1),
19(2), 21, 22(1) [hereinafter ICCPR]; PRC Constitution, enacted and
effective 4 December 82, amended 12 April 88, 29 March 93, 15 March 99,
14 March 04, arts. 35 (freedom of speech, press, assembly), 37 (freedom
of person), 41 (right to criticize state organ or functionary).
\10\ PRC Criminal Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xingfa], enacted 1
July 79, amended 14 March 97, effective 1 October 97, amended 25
December 99, 31 August 01, 29 December 01, 28 December 02, 28 February
05, 29 June 06, 28 February 09, 25 February 11, arts. 247, 248; PRC
Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xingshi susong fa],
enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96, effective 1 January 97, art.
43.
\11\ UN Committee against Torture, 41st Session, Consideration of
Reports Submitted by State Parties Under Article 19 of the Convention:
Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture--China, CAT/C/
CHN/CO/4, 12 December 08, para. 11.
\12\ UN Committee against Torture, ``Request for Further
Clarification,'' 29 October 10.
\13\ See, e.g., ``Chinese Dissident Writer, Freed After 5 Years in
Jail, Says Treatment Was `Beyond Imagination,' '' Associated Press,
reprinted in Washington Post, 14 September 11; Peter Foster, ``Chinese
Dissidents Describe Physical and Mental Torture at Hands of Regime,''
Telegraph, 14 September 11; ``Missing China Dissident Recounted
Abuse,'' Agence France-Presse, reprinted in Taipei Times, 12 January
11; Tania Branigan, ``Chief's Widow Alleges Torture After He Dies in
Custody,'' Guardian, 14 January 11; ``Benxi City `Xie Zhigang Incident'
Interview With the Joint Investigation Team Leader'' [Benxi shi
``xiezhigang shijian'' lianhe diaocha zu fuze ren jieshou jizhe
caifang], Northeast News, 13 January 11; Tania Branigan, ``Chinese
Activists Seized in Human Rights Crackdown Accuse Authorities of
Torture,'' Guardian, 13 September 11; Jiang Li, ``State Tax Cadre
`Commits Suicide' in Prison; Prison Refuses to Accept Responsibility''
[Guoshui ganbu jianyu zhong ``bei zisha,'' jianyu ju bu chengdan
zeren], Boxun, 25 January 11.
\14\ Tania Branigan, ``Chief's Widow Alleges Torture After He Dies
in Custody,'' Guardian, 14 January 11; ``Benxi City `Xie Zhigang
Incident' Interview With the Joint Investigation Team Leader'' [Benxi
shi ``xie zhigang shijian'' lianhe diaocha zu fuze ren jieshou jizhe
caifang], Northeast News, 13 January 11.
\15\ Yan Jianbiao, `` `Yueqing Case' Witness Suffers Torture To
Extract Confession'' [``Yueqing an'' zhengren zhi zao xingxun bigong],
Caijing, 24 March 11.
\16\ Wang Quanbao, ``SPP Sun Qian, Deputy Procurator General: Do
Not Allow Unexpected Deaths in the Detention Centers'' [Zuigao jian fu
jiancha zhang sun qian: bu yunxu kanshousuo chuxian yiwai siwang],
China News Weekly, reprinted in Sina, 10 March 11.
\17\ Wang Lina, `` `Detention Regulations' Draft Revision
Submitted: To Respect Prisoners as Human'' [``Kanshousuo tiaoli''
xiuding cao'an yi shangbao: ba fanren dang ren lai zunzhong], China
Youth On line, 9 March 11.
\18\ ``China Pushes Forward Judicial Reform by Enhancing
Supervision, Person-Centered Care,'' Xinhua, 20 February 11.
\19\ Wang Quanbao, ``SPP Sun Qian, Deputy Procurator General: Do
Not Allow Unexpected Deaths in the Detention Centers'' [Zuigao jian fu
jiancha zhang sun qian: bu yunxu kanshousuo chuxian yiwai siwang],
China News Weekly, reprinted in Sina, 10 March 11.
\20\ According to Article 34 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law, the
court ``shall designate a lawyer that is obligated to provide legal aid
to serve as a defender'' if the defendant does not have a lawyer and is
blind, deaf, mute, a minor, or facing the possibility of a death
sentence. In cases in which the criminal defendant ``has not entrusted
anyone to be his defender due to financial difficulties or other
reasons, the People's Court may designate a lawyer that is obligated to
provide legal aid to serve as a defender.'' Article 42 of the PRC Law
on Lawyers states that lawyers must fulfill their obligations to
provide legal aid services. For more information see the texts: PRC
Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xingshi susong fa],
enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96, effective 1 January 97, art.
34; PRC Lawyers Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo lushi fa], enacted 15
May 96, amended 29 December 01, revised 28 October 07, effective 1 June
08, art. 42.
\21\ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted
by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 66, entry
into force 23 March 76.
\22\ Zhang Youyi, ``High Risks Result in Low Defense Rates,
Criminal Defense Lawyers Face Six Problems'' [Gao fengxian zhishi
bianhu lu di xingshi bianhu lushi mianlin liu nanti], Legal Daily,
reprinted in Xinhua, 6 January 08.
\23\ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department
of State, Country Report on Human Rights Practices--2009, China
(includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau), 11 March 10.
\24\ Yuan Yuan, ``Aiding in Defense,'' Beijing Review, 6 February
11.
\25\ Zhang Youyi, ``High Risks Result in Low Defense Rates,
Criminal Defense Lawyers Face Six Problems'' [Gao fengxian zhishi
bianhu lu di xingshi bianhu lushi mianlin liu nanti], Legal Daily,
reprinted in Xinhua, 6 January 08.
\26\ Amnesty International, ``Against the Law: Crackdown on China's
Human Rights Lawyers Deepens,'' June 2011, 3, 24-27, 45-50; Paul
Mooney, ``Silence of the Chinese Dissidents,'' South China Morning
Post, 4 July 11; Zhang Youyi, ``High Risks Result in Low Defense Rates,
Criminal Defense Lawyers Face Six Problems'' [Gao fengxian zhishi
bianhu lu di xingshi bianhu lushi mianlin liu nanti], Legal Daily,
reprinted in Xinhua, 6 January 08.
\27\ Patrick Kar-wai Poon, China Human Rights Lawyers Concern
Group, ``Rights Defense Lawyers and the Rule of Law in China,'' 18 May
11. For CECC analysis on Article 306, see, e.g., ``Defense Lawyers
Turned Defendants: Zhang Jianzhong and the Criminal Prosecution of
Defense Lawyers in China,'' Congressional-Executive Commission on
China, 27 May 03.
\28\ Yanfei Ran, ``When Chinese Criminal Defense Lawyers Become the
Criminals,'' Fordham International Law Journal, Vol. 32, Issue 3
(2008), 988, 1023; `` `Big Stick 306' and China's Contempt for the
Law,'' New York Times, 5 May 11.
\29\ PRC Criminal Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo xingfa], enacted 1
July 79, amended 14 March 97, effective 1 October 97, amended 25
December 99, 31 August 01, 29 December 01, 28 December 02, 28 February
05, 29 June 06, 28 February 09, 25 February 11, art. 306.
\30\ ``Ignoring Facts and Law as a Concession to Popular Will
Actually Contravenes the Will of the People'' [``Weile qianjiu minyi
bugu shishi he falu cai shi zhenzheng weibei minyi''], China Youth
Daily, 18 June 09. For more information about Article 306, see CECC,
2010 Annual Report, 10 October 10, 90.
\31\ `` `Big Stick 306' and China's Contempt for the Law,'' New
York Times, 5 May 11.
\32\ Human Rights in China, ``Guangxi Rights Defense Lawyer Yang
Zaixin Formally Arrested,'' 5 July 11.
\33\ Ibid.; Li Jiayu, ``Mob Storms Into Hotel, Beats Up Two Defense
Lawyers,'' Global Times, 20 July 11.
\34\ Human Rights in China, ``Guangxi Rights Defense Lawyer Yang
Zaixin Formally Arrested,'' 5 July 11.
\35\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``China Human Rights Briefing
June 29-July 6, 2011,'' 6 July 11; Human Rights in China, ``Guangxi
Rights Defense Lawyer Yang Zaixin Formally Arrested,'' 5 July 11.
\36\ Chen Guangzhong, ``I Think Arresting These Four Lawyers Is
Wrong'' [``Wo renwei zhua zhe si ming lushi shi cuowu de''], Oriental
Outlook, July 2011.
\37\ Li Jiayu, ``Mob Storms Into Hotel, Beats Up Two Defense
Lawyers,'' Global Times, 20 July 11. For more information on the
assault, see ``Lawyers Group Representing Yang Zaixin Attacked and
Unable To Work'' [Yang zaixin daibiao lushi tuan zao weigong wufa
gongzuo], Radio Free Asia, 19 July 11.
\38\ Li Jiayu, ``Mob Storms Into Hotel, Beats Up Two Defense
Lawyers,'' Global Times, 20 July 11.
\39\ Sun Jibin, ``How `Three Difficulties' of Criminal Defense
Became `10 Difficulties' '' [Xingshi bianhu ``san nan'' weihe bian
``shi nan''], Legal Weekly, 20 January 11; `` `Big Stick 306' and
China's Contempt for the Law,'' New York Times, 5 May 11.
\40\ Sun Jibin, ``How `Three Difficulties' of Criminal Defense
Became `10 Difficulties' '' [Xingshi bianhu ``san nan'' weihe bian
``shi nan''], Legal Weekly, 20 January 11; Dui Hua Foundation
``Translation: How `Three Difficulties' of Criminal Defense Became `10
Difficulties,' '' 2 February 11.
\41\ Sun Jibin, ``How `Three Difficulties' of Criminal Defense
Became `10 Difficulties' '' [Xingshi bianhu ``san nan'' weihe bian
``shi nan''], Legal Weekly, 20 January 11.
\42\ Ibid.
\43\ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department
of State, ``Country Report on Human Rights Practices--2010 Human Rights
Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau),'' 8 April 11.
\44\ Supreme People's Court,``Table on Circumstances for Accused in
2010 China Court Criminal Case Judgments'' [2010 Nian quanguo fayuan
shenli xingshi anjian beigao ren panjue shengxiao qingkuang biao], 24
March 11. According to official 2010 criminal adjudication statistics,
Chinese authorities approved 999 individual acquittals and 17,957
exemptions from criminal punishment. Chinese authorities imposed
criminal penalties on 1,007,419 criminal defendants.
\45\ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted
by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 66, entry
into force 23 March 76.
\46\ Andrew Jacobs, ``Chinese Democracy Advocate Is Sentenced to 10
Years,'' New York Times, 25 March 11; Human Rights in China, ``Activist
Sentenced to Ten Years for Inciting Subversion; Essays Cited as
Evidence,'' 25 March 11; Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Liu Xianbin
Case Trial Oral Judgment Announcement of 10 Years, Family and Lawyers
Cannot Visit'' [Liu xianbin an fating koutou xuanpan shi nian xingqi,
jiaren lushi wufa huijian], 25 March 11; Gillian Wong, ``China
Sentences Democracy Activist to 10 Years,'' Associated Press, reprinted
in Yahoo!, 25 March 11.
\47\ Andrew Jacobs, ``Chinese Democracy Advocate Is Sentenced to 10
Years,'' New York Times, 25 March 11.
\48\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``China Human Rights Briefing
August 10-15, 2011,'' 16 August 11; Human Rights in China, ``Lawyers
Report Procedural Irregularities at Trial of Rights Activist Wang
Lihong,'' 13 August 11.
\49\ Peter Foster, ``Chinese Internet-Activist on Trial,''
Telegraph, 12 August 11; ``Chinese Citizens Support Jailed Activist
Wang Lihong,'' New Tang Dynasty Television, 9 August 11.
\50\ Human Rights in China, ``Rights Defender Wang Lihong Sentenced
to Nine Months,'' 9 September 11; Peter Foster, ``Chinese Internet-
Activist on Trial,'' Telegraph, 12 August 11; Human Rights in China,
``Lawyers Report Procedural Irregularities at Trial of Rights Activist
Wang Lihong,'' 13 August 11; ``Wang Lihong's `Creating a Disturbance'
Lawyer Denounces Unfair Trial'' [Wang lihong ``zishi an'' lushi chi
tingshen bugong], BBC, 12 August 11.
\51\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``China Human Rights Briefing
August 10-15, 2011,'' 16 August 11; Peter Foster, ``Chinese Internet-
Activist on Trial,'' Telegraph, 12 August 11; ``Wang Lihong's `Creating
a Disturbance' Lawyer Denounces Unfair Trial'' [Wang lihong ``zishi
an'' lushi chi tingshen bugong], BBC, 12 August 11.
\52\ Human Rights in China, ``Lawyers Report Procedural
Irregularities at Trial of Rights Activist Wang Lihong,'' 13 August 11;
Human Rights in China, ``Rights Defender Wang Lihong Sentenced to Nine
Months,'' 9 September 11.
\53\ Freedom Now, ``UN Declares Detention of Imprisoned Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate and Wife Illegal; Calls for Immediate Release,'' 1
August 11.
\54\ Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate,
Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, and Ministry
of Justice Circular Regarding the Issue of ``Provisions Concerning
Questions About Examining and Judging Evidence in Death Penalty Cases''
and ``Provisions Concerning Questions About Exclusion of Illegal
Evidence in Handling Criminal Cases'' [Zuigao renmin fayuan zuigao
renmin jiancha yuan gongan bu guojia anquan bu sifa bu yinfa ``guanyu
banli sixing anjian shencha panduan zhengju ruogan wenti de guiding''
he ``guanyu banli xingshi anjian paichu feifa zhengju ruogan wenti de
guiding'' de tongzhi], issued 13 June 10; Provisions Concerning
Questions About Exclusion of Illegal Evidence in Handling Criminal
Cases [Guanyu banli xingshi anjian paichu feifa zhengju ruogan wenti de
guiding], effective 1 July 10, arts. 1, 7; Provisions Concerning
Questions About Examining and Judging Evidence in Death Penalty Cases
[Guanyu banli sixing anjian shencha panduan zhengju ruogan wenti de
guiding], effective 1 July 10, arts. 18(4), 19, 34; Yang Ming and Zhang
Hailin, ``Staggered Start to `Illegal Evidence Exclusion' '' [Feifa
``zhengju paichu'' panshan qibu], Oriental Outlook Weekly, November
2011.
\55\ Yang Ming and Zhang Hailin, ``Staggered Start to `Illegal
Evidence Exclusion' '' [Feifa ``zhengju paichu'' panshan qibu],
Oriental Outlook Weekly, November 2011.
\56\ Li Guomin, ``Why the Illegal Evidence Exclusionary Regulations
Cannot Be Strictly Enforced'' [Feifa zhengju paichu guize weihe buneng
yange zhixing], Procuratorial Daily, 10 January 11.
\57\ Ibid.
\58\ Edward Wong, ``Human Rights Advocates Vanish as China
Intensifies Crackdown,'' New York Times, 11 March 11.
\59\ ``China Frees Rights Lawyer but Another Disappears,'' Agence
France-Presse, reprinted in Google, 5 May 11.
\60\ ``Human Rights Lawyers Suppressed in Different Ways'' [Weiquan
lushi shou butong xingshi daya], Radio Free Asia, 26 May 11; ``Friend
Says Chinese Civil Rights Lawyer Resurfaces,'' Associated Press,
reprinted in Google, 4 May 11; Chris Buckley, ``China Dissident
Released After U.S. Official's Visit,'' Reuters, 29 April 11.
\61\ ``Human Rights Lawyers Suppressed in Different Ways'' [Weiquan
lushi shou butong xingshi daya], Radio Free Asia, 26 May 11.
\62\ Ibid.; ``Friend Says Chinese Civil Rights Lawyer Resurfaces,''
Associated Press, reprinted in Google, 4 May 11; Chris Buckley, ``China
Dissident Released After U.S. Official's Visit,'' Reuters, 29 April 11.
\63\ ChinaAid, ``Urgent! Chen and Wife Beaten Severely, Chinese
Citizens Appeal to America,'' 10 February 11; Ding Xiao, ``Blind
Activist, Wife Beaten,'' Radio Free Asia, 11 February 11; ChinaAid,
``Detained Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng's Wife Reveals Details of
Torture,'' 16 June 11. For CECC analysis, see ``Chen Guangcheng, Wife
Reportedly Beaten After Release of Video Detailing Official Abuse,'' 11
March 11.
\64\ John Zhang, ``The Silencing of China's Human Rights Lawyers,''
Epoch Times, 3 March 11.
\65\ Rona Rui, ``Beijing Rights Lawyer Suffers Memory Loss After
Ten-Day Detention,'' Epoch Times, 27 April 11; Chinese Human Rights
Defenders, ``Lawyer Jin Guanghong Tortured, Cannot Remember the Facts
Surrounding His Disappearance,'' 23 April 11.
\66\ Clear Harmony, ``Lawyer Jin Guanghong Persecuted and Now
Suffering From Partial Amnesia,'' 21 May 11.
\67\ Rona Rui, ``Beijing Rights Lawyer Suffers Memory Loss After
Ten-Day Detention,'' Epoch Times, 27 April 11; Chinese Human Rights
Defenders, ``Lawyer Jin Guanghong Tortured, Cannot Remember the Facts
Surrounding His Disappearance,'' 23 April 11.
\68\ ``Concern Over Rights Lawyer,'' Radio Free Asia, 13 April 11.
\69\ Feng Weimin, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Beijing Human
Rights Lawyer Ni Yulan Criminally Detained'' [Beijing weiquan lushi ni
yulan bei xingshi juliu], 14 April 11.
\70\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Activist Ni Yulan Becomes
Latest Victim of `Jasmine' Crackdown,'' 14 April 11.
\71\ Ibid.
\72\ For CECC analysis, see ``Authorities Deny Human Rights Lawyers
Professional License Renewals,'' Congressional-Executive Commission on
China, 10 December 10.
\73\ China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, ``Four Human Rights
Lawyers Barred From Passing the Annual Assessment,'' 19 July 11;
Aizhixing, ``Aizhixing Strongly Concerned That Many Lawyers Still Have
Not Passed Annual Assessment for Professional Lawyers'' [Ai zhi xing
qianglie guanzhu duo ming lushi shangwei tongguo lushi zhiye niandu
kaohe], reprinted in Boxun, 28 June 11.
\74\ China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, ``Four Human Rights
Lawyers Barred From Passing the Annual Assessment,'' 19 July 11.
\75\ Xu Kai, `` `Chinese Characteristics' of Lawyers Association''
[``Zhongguo tese'' de luxie], Caijing Magazine, 18 July 11.
\76\ Ibid.
\77\ Liu Xiaoyuan, `` `Chinese Characteristics' of Lawyers
Association'' [``Zhongguo tese'' de luxie], Liu Xiaoyuan's Blog,
reprinted in Sina, 19 July 11.
\78\ ``Chinese Human Rights Defender Gao Zhisheng Disappears
Again,'' CECC China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update, No. 5, 4 June
10, 2.
\79\ Charles Hutzler, ``AP Exclusive: Missing Chinese Lawyer Told
of Abuse,'' Associated Press, reprinted in Bloomberg, 10 January 11.
\80\ Edward Wong, ``U.N. Rights Group Calls on China To Release
Lawyer,'' New York Times, 28 March 11; Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,
Opinion No. 26/2010 (People's Republic of China), reprinted in Freedom
Now, 6 July 10.
\81\ Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, Fact Sheet No. 26, May 2000, sec. IV;
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted
by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 66, entry
into force 23 March 76, arts. 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, and 27;
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by UN
General Assembly resolution 217A (III) of 10 December 48, arts. 7, 10,
13, 14, 18, 19, and 21. The ICCPR provides that the deprivation of an
individual's liberty is permissible only ``on such grounds and in
accordance with such procedure as are established by law,'' and that an
individual must be promptly informed of the reasons for his detention
and any charges against him or her. See ICCPR, arts. 9(1), 9(2).
\82\ See, e.g., PRC Constitution, enacted and effective 4 December
82, amended 12 April 88, 29 March 93, 15 March 99, 14 March 04, arts.
35, 37, 41; PRC Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo
xingshi susong fa], enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96, effective 1
January 97, art. 3; PRC Public Security Administration Punishment Law
[Zhonghua renmin gongheguo zhian guanli chufa fa], enacted 28 August
05, effective 1 March 06, arts. 3, 9, 10, 16; PRC Legislation Law
[Zhonghua renmin gongheguo lifa fa], enacted 15 March 00, effective 1
July 00, art. 8(v).
\83\ Freedom Now, ``UN Declares Detention of Imprisoned Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate and Wife Illegal; Calls for Immediate Release,'' 1
August 11; ``UN Group Calls for Immediate Release of Liu Xiaobo and
Wife Liu Xia,'' Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 12 August
11.
\84\ Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ``China:
UN Expert Body Concerned About Recent Wave of Enforced
Disappearances,'' 8 April 11.
\85\ International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
From Enforced Disappearance, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution
A/RES/61/177 of 20 December 06, entry into force 23 December 10, art.
2.
\86\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Individuals Affected by the
Crackdown Following Call for `Jasmine Revolution,' '' 30 May 11.
\87\ Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ``China:
UN Expert Body Seriously Concerned About Tibetan Monks Reportedly
Subjected to Enforced Disappearance,'' 8 June 11. For more information,
see ``After Monk's Suicide: Coerced Removal and `Education' for Monks;
Possible Murder Charges,'' Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
17 August 11.
\88\ ``China To Amend Criminal Procedural Law,'' Xinhua, reprinted
in China Daily, 24 August 11; National People's Congress, ``Criminal
Procedure Law Amendments (Draft): Explanation of Provisions and Draft''
[Xingshi susongfa xiuzheng'an (cao'an) tiaowen ji cao'an shuoming], 30
August 11; PRC Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo
xingshi susongfa], enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96, effective 1
January 97. For more information on reviews of draft laws, see Article
27 of the PRC Legislation Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo lifafa],
issued 15 March 00, effective 1 July 00, art. 27.
\89\ ``Procedural Justice,'' China Daily, 25 August 11.
\90\ ``China To Amend Criminal Procedural Law To Prevent Forced
Confessions,'' Xinhua, 24 August 11.
\91\ ``China's Draft Law Amendment in Conformity With International
Conventions: Experts,'' Xinhua, 30 August 11.
\92\ National People's Congress, ``Criminal Procedure Law
Amendments (Draft): Explanation of Provisions and Draft'' [Xingshi
susongfa xiuzheng'an (cao'an) tiaowen ji cao'an shuoming], 30 August
11, item 14; PRC Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin gongheguo
xingshi susongfa], enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96, effective 1
January 97, art. 43.
\93\ National People's Congress, ``Criminal Procedure Law
Amendments (Draft): Explanation of Provisions and Draft'' [Xingshi
susongfa xiuzheng'an (cao'an) tiaowen ji cao'an shuoming], 30 August
11, item 17.
\94\ Ibid., item 7; PRC Criminal Procedure Law [Zhonghua renmin
gongheguo xingshi susongfa], enacted 1 July 79, amended 17 March 96,
effective 1 January 97, art. 36.
\95\ For more information on the international organizations and
experts' criticism of the draft amendment's treatment of residential
surveillance, see, e.g., Human Rights Watch, ``China: Don't Legalize
Secret Detention,'' 1 September 11; Michael Wines, ``More Chinese
Dissidents Appear to Disappear,'' New York Times, 2 September 11; Jaime
FlorCruz, ``Proposed Legal Changes in China Cause Jitters,'' CNN, 3
September 11.
\96\ National People's Congress, ``Criminal Procedure Law
Amendments (Draft): Explanation of Provisions and Draft'' [Xingshi
susongfa xiuzheng'an (cao'an) tiaowen ji cao'an shuoming], 30 August
11, item 30.
\97\ Ibid.
\98\ International Convention for the Protection of All Persons
From Enforced Disappearance, adopted by UN General Assembly resolution
A/RES/61/177 of 12 January 07, entry in force 23 December 10, item 2.
\99\ See, e.g., Michael Wines, ``More Chinese Dissidents Appear To
Disappear,'' New York Times, 2 September 11; Jaime FlorCruz, ``Proposed
Legal Changes in China Cause Jitters,'' CNN, 3 September 11; ``Amend
Legal Procedures,'' China Daily, 1 September 11.
\100\ ``Amend Legal Procedures,'' China Daily, 1 September 11.
\101\ Human Rights Watch, ``China: Free Unlawfully Detained Legal
Activists, Relatives,'' 22 February 11; Didi Kirsten Tatlow, ``Out of
Jail in China, but Not Free,'' New York Times, 9 March 11; Chinese
Human Rights Defenders, ``Elections Expert Yao Lifa Abused and Beaten
During Soft Detention Period,'' reprinted in Boxun, 13 December 10.
\102\ Human Rights Watch, ``China: Free Unlawfully Detained Legal
Activists, Relatives,'' 22 February 11; Didi Kirsten Tatlow, ``Out of
Jail in China, but Not Free,'' New York Times, 9 March 11; ``China
Nobel Laureate Wife Fears Going `Crazy': Activists,'' Agence France-
Presse, reprinted in Google, 26 February 11.
\103\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Chinese Reactions to Liu
Xiaobo's Nobel Peace Prize--From Both Sides,'' 3 January 11.
\104\ Human Rights in China, ``Prominent Rights Activists Detail
Life in 74-Day House Arrest,'' 30 December 10.
\105\ Andrew Jacobs and Jonathan Ansfield, ``China's Intimidation
of Dissidents Said To Persist After Prison,'' New York Times, 17
February 11.
\106\ Michael Wines, ``A Chinese Advocate Is Freed, but Stays Under
Surveillance,'' New York Times, 9 September 10; Ian Johnson and
Jonathan Ansfield, ``Chinese Officials Beat Activist and His Wife,
Group Says,'' New York Times, 17 June 11.
\107\ Andrew Jacobs, ``China Detains Church Members at Easter
Services,'' New York Times, 24 April 11.
\108\ CECC, 2007 Annual Report, 10 October 07, 39-41; Dui Hua
Foundation, ``Reference Materials on China's Criminal Justice System,
Vol. 2 (June 2009), iv; CECC, 2008 Annual Report, 31 October 08, 36-37;
Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Re-Education Through Labor Abuses
Continue Unabated: Overhaul Long Overdue,'' 4 February 09, 4.
\109\ Bureau of Reeducation Through Labor Administration, ``A Brief
Description of China's Reeducation Through Labor System'' [Zhongguo
laodong jiaoyang zhidu jianjie], accessed 14 July 11.
\110\ Xiaobing Li, Civil Liberties in China, (Santa Barbara,
California: ABC-CLIO, 2010), 118; Human Rights in China, ``Reeducation
Through Labor: A Summary of Regulatory Issues and Concerns,'' 1
February 01; Jim Yardley, ``Issue in China: Many in Jails Without
Trial,'' New York Times, 9 May 05; Chinese Human Rights Defenders,
``Re-Education Through Labor Abuses Continue Unabated: Overhaul Long
Overdue,'' 4 February 09, 3.
\111\ ``News Update: Rights Advocate Wang Yi (Cheng Jianping)
Ordered To Serve One Year of Reeducation Through Labor'' [Kuaixun:
Weiquan renshi wang yi (cheng jianping) bei laojiao yi nian], Boxun, 15
November 10; Human Rights in China, ``Lawyers Appeal to Twitter CEO for
Help,'' 9 January 11.
\112\ Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Update: Human Rights
Defender Wang Yi Sent to RTL'' [Kuaixun: weiquan renshi wang yi zheng
yao bei song qu laojiao], reprinted in Boxun, 15 November 10.
\113\ Human Rights in China, ``Two Years of Reeducation-Through-
Labor for Rights Activist Yang Qiuyu,'' 14 April 11.
\114\ Ibid.
\115\ ``China: Mao Hengfeng Released From Prison in a Wheelchair,''
Asia News, reprinted in Spero News, 30 July 11.
\116\ Ibid.
\117\ Human Rights in China, ``Petitioner Mao Hengfeng Released
From Reeducation-Through-Labor in Serious Condition,'' 28 July 11.
\118\ ``China: Mao Hengfeng Released From Prison in a Wheelchair,''
Asia News, reprinted in Spero News, 30 July 11; Human Rights in China,
``Petitioner Mao Hengfeng Released From Reeducation-Through-Labor in
Serious Condition,'' 28 July 11.
\119\ Hai Yan, ``Thousands of Chinese Citizens Jointly Sign Letter
To Abolish Reeducation Through Labor System'' [Zhongguo qian gongmin
lian shu yaoqiu feichu laojiao zhidu], Voice of America, 16 February
11.
\120\ Ibid.
\121\ Ibid.
\122\ Liu Chang, ``Controversy Over `Black Jails' Continues,''
Global Times, 4 May 11; ``Campaigner Detained in Beijing,'' Radio Free
Asia, 2 February 11; Chris Buckley, ``China's Wen Meets Petitioners in
Show of Worry Over Discontent,'' Reuters, 25 January 11.
\123\ Human Rights Watch, ``An Alleyway in Hell: China's Abusive
`Black Jails,' '' 12 November 09.
\124\ Human Rights Watch, ``Closing China's Network of Secret
Jails,'' 9 December 10.
\125\ See, e.g., Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Jilin Petitioner
Qu Yanjiang Is Tricked Back Into Black Jail Custody by Retrievers''
[Jilin fang min qu yanjiang bei jie fang ren pian hui guan hei jianyu],
reprinted in Boxun, 24 October 10; Gan Hao, ``Petitioner Reports to
Police That He Was `Detained and Beaten' '' [Fangmin baojing cheng zao
``guanya ouda''], Beijing News, 12 January 11; ``Black Jails,
Petitioners on Eve of Spring Festival: 13 Big Stories of Beijing
Petitioning in 2010'' [Hei jianyu, fang min chunwan: 2010 nian zaijing
fang min 13 da xinwen], Boxun, 3 January 11; Liu Chang, ``Controversy
Over `Black Jails' Continues,'' Global Times, 4 May 11; ``After All,
Where Is Jiangsu Sihong County's `Petitioner Study Class'? '' [Jiangsu
si hong xian de ``xinfang xuexi ban'' jiujing shige shenme difang?],
Southern Metropolitan Daily, 28 April 11; Andrew Jacobs and Jonathan
Ansfield, ``Well-Oiled Security Apparatus in China Stifles Calls for
Change,'' New York Times, 28 February 11; Melinda Liu and Isaac Stone
Fish, ``Portrait of the Gulag,'' Newsweek, 26 June 11; ``Veterans
Protest Over Welfare,'' Radio Free Asia, 29 June 11.
\126\ Long Zhi, ``Anyuanding: Investigation Into Beijing's `Black
Jails' To Stop Petitioners'' [Anyuanding: beijing jie fang ``hei
jianyu'' diaocha], Southern Metropolitan Daily, 24 September 10;
``China Police Investigate `Black Jails' for Protesters,'' BBC, 27
September 10.
\127\ Andrew Jacobs, ``China Investigates Extralegal Petitioner
Detentions,'' New York Times, 27 September 10; Susan Stumme, ``China PM
First To Meet Petitioners in 60 Years,'' Agence France-Presse,
reprinted in Google, 25 January 11.
\128\ Zhan Caiqiang, `` `Study Sessions' Nightmare'' [``Xuexi ban''
mengyan], Southern Metropolitan Daily, 27 April 11. See also Liu Chang,
``Controversy Over `Black Jails' Continues,'' Global Times, 4 May 11.
\129\ The term ``nail household'' (dingzi hu) is commonly used to
refer to tenants who refuse to leave their households despite the
demolition of structures around them.
\130\ Zhan Caiqiang, `` `Study Sessions' Nightmare'' [``Xuexi ban''
mengyan], Southern Metropolitan Daily, 27 April 11. See also Liu Chang,
``Controversy Over `Black Jails' Continues,'' Global Times, 4 May 11.
\131\ Zhan Caiqiang, `` `Study Sessions' Nightmare'' [``Xuexi ban''
mengyan], Southern Metropolitan Daily, 27 April 11; Zhang Xuanchen,
``Officials Accused of Opening Illegal `Jail,' '' Shanghai Daily, 28
April 11.
\132\ An Ying and Yi Fangxing, ``Woman Detained in Black Jail After
Coming to Beijing To Handle Affairs'' [Laijing banshi nu bei guan
heijianyu], Beijing News, 2 August 11; Wang Huazhong, ``Former Inmate
Reveals Existence of `Black Jail,`'' China Daily, 3 August 11.
\133\ Ibid.
\134\ Ibid.
\135\ Dui Hua Foundation, ``Official Fear: Inside a Shuanggui
Investigation Facility,'' 5 July 11.
\136\ Li Yanhui, ``Chaoyang Deputy Director Allegedly Detained for
Bribery,'' Global Times, 2 June 11; Zhang Lu, ``Beijing's Chaoyang
District Deputy Mayor Liu Xiquan Investigated,'' Caijing, 1 June 11.
\137\ ``Shandong Provincial Government Secretary-General Zhang
Wanqing Dismissed, Had Been Detained Under Shuanggui'' [Shandong sheng
zhengfu mishu zhang zhang wanqing bei ti qing chezhi ci qian bei
shuanggui], People's Daily, 26 May 11.
\138\ Zhang Yuzhe, ``High-Ranking Ministry of Finance Official
Detained,'' Caixin Net, 18 January 11.
\139\ ``Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China,'' CECC Hearing,
20 September 06, Testimony of Jerome A. Cohen, Professor of Law, New
York University Law School, Co-Director of U.S.-Asia Law Institute.
\140\ Dui Hua Foundation, ``Official Fear: Inside a Shuanggui
Investigation Facility,'' 5 July 11.
\141\ ``Human Rights and the Rule of Law in China,'' CECC Hearing,
20 September 06, Testimony of Jerome A. Cohen, Professor of Law, New
York University Law School, Co-Director of U.S.-Asia Law Institute.
\142\ CECC, 2010 Annual Report, 10 October 10, 96.
\143\ He Weifang, ``For the Rule of Law, for the Ideal in Our
Hearts--A Letter to Chongqing Colleagues'' [Weile fazhi, weile women
xinzhongde di na yi fen lixiang--zhi chongqing falu jie de yifeng
gongkaixin], China Media Project, 12 April 11.
\144\ Ibid.
\145\ Ibid.
\146\ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department
of State, ``Country Report on Human Rights Practices--2010 Human Rights
Report: China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau),'' 8 April 11.
\147\ ``Jailed Activist's Health Failing,'' Radio Free Asia, 17
January 11.
\148\ Ibid.; Chinese Human Rights Defenders, ``Zeng Jinyan Once
Again Applies for Medical Parole for Hu Jia's Condition in Prison,'' 17
January 11.
\149\ PEN International, ``CHINA: Death Announced of Prominent
Writer Zhang Jianhong (aka Li Hong),'' 12 January 11.
\150\ Ibid.
\151\ ``China Frees Father Zhao Lianhai Jailed for Milk Protest,''
Associated Press, reprinted in Australian, 29 December 10.
\152\ Ibid.
\153\ Will Clem and Choi Chi-yuk, ``Beijing's Silence an Ominous
Signal,'' South China Morning Post, 6 April 11; ``Milk Activist Told
`Be Quiet or Go Back to Jail,' '' South China Morning Post, 8 April 11.
\154\ ``Milk Activist Told `Be Quiet or Go Back to Jail,' '' South
China Morning Post, 8 April 11.
\155\ Human Rights in China, ``Petitioner Recounts Abuses During
RTL; Medical Parole Rescinded,'' 24 February 11.
\156\ Ibid.
\157\ ``Mao Hengfeng: Amnesty Urgent Action,'' Guardian, 25 June
11.
\158\ ``Supreme People's Court Work Report'' [Zuigao renmin fayuan
gongzuo baogao], Xinhua, reprinted in National People's Congress of the
People's Republic of China, 19 March 11.
\159\ Supreme People's Court, ``2010 Annual Work Report on the
People's Courts'' [Renminfayuan gongzuo niandu baogao (2010 nian)], 25
May 11. For more information on the death penalty in the 2010 Annual
Work Report, see, e.g., Michael Bristow, ``China Orders Suspension of
Death Sentences,'' BBC News, 25 May 11; Wang Qiushi, ``SPC Requests
Uniform Suitable Standards for the Death Penalty; Try Utmost To Not
Immediately Implement the Death Penalty'' [Zuigao fa yaoqiu tongyi
sixing shiyong biaozhun jinliang bu pan sixing liji zhixing], People's
Daily, 25 May 11.
\160\ Zhao Yinan, ``13 Crimes Removed From Death Penalty List,''
China Daily, 26 February 11; Robert Saiget, ``China Scraps Death
Penalty for Some Crimes,'' Agence France-Presse, reprinted in Google,
26 February 11.
\161\ Zhao Yinan, ``13 Crimes Removed From Death Penalty List,''
China Daily, 26 February 11; ``China Mulls Lessening Number of Crimes
Punishable by Death,'' Xinhua, 23 August 10.
\162\ Zhao Lei, ``Greater Steps Can Be Taken To Reduce the Death
Penalty'' [Jianshao sizui, buzi keyi zai da yixie], Southern Weekend,
26 August 10. For more information, see ``Chinese Government Considers
Reducing Number of Crimes Punishable by Death,'' Congressional-
Executive Commission on China, 23 February 11.