Amnesty International Report 1997 - China

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of suspected opponents of the government were arrested during the year, while thousands of political prisoners detained in previous years remained imprisoned. Many were prisoners of conscience. Some were sentenced after unfair trials. Others were administratively detained without charge or trial. Torture and ill-treatment continued to be widespread, in some cases resulting in death. Mass summary executions were carried out. At least 6,000 death sentences and 3,500 executions were recorded during the year, but the real figures were believed to be much higher. In March, the National People's Congress (NPC) adopted a new Administrative Punishment Law and amendments to the Criminal Procedure Law, which introduced new protections for detainees and of defendants' rights. In March, the NPC also repealed legislation providing for summary trials in death penalty cases, effective from January 1997. A new Martial Law was adopted, providing for the suspension of constitutional rights during a state of emergency. Despite the legal reforms, numerous instances of arbitrary and summary justice were recorded. An anti-crime campaign, known as "strike hard", which was launched by the authorities in April and accompanied by a crack-down on suspected nationalist opponents and religious groups in Tibet and Xinjiang, was marked by mass summary trials and executions on a scale unprecedented since 1983. Outbreaks of violence by armed opposition groups were reported in Xinjiang during the crack-down. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of suspected dissidents and opponents of the government, including prisoners of conscience, were detained during the year. Some were sentenced to prison terms after unfair trials, others were held under various forms of administrative detention. They included human rights and pro-democracy activists, members of religious groups not approved by the state, and members of ethnic groups who sought greater autonomy or religious freedom. Political dissidents who addressed petitions to the authorities were immediately arrested. They included Wang Donghai and Chen Longde, pro-democracy activists from Zhejiang province who were detained in May after issuing a petition calling for the release of political prisoners; Wang Hui, the wife of prisoner of conscience Zhou Guoqiang, who was detained in September in connection with an open letter calling for help for her husband who was in poor health; and Liu Xiaobo, a leading dissident who was detained in October after co-signing a letter calling for political reforms. Wang Hui was released in October. Wang Donghai, Chen Longde and Liu Xiaobo were assigned terms of three years' "re-education through labour". "Re-education through labour", a form of administrative detention imposed by local government committees without charge or trial, was increasingly used to arbitrarily detain dissidents for up to three years in labour camps. Liu Xiaobo's administrative sentence was imposed a few hours after his arrest, in breach of the safeguards for a fair and public hearing guaranteed by the new Administrative Punishment Law which had come into force one week before his arrest. Others assigned three years' "re-education through labour" included Liu Nianchun, a labour activist from Beijing detained since 1995 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). Members of religious groups not approved by the state continued to be detained. Scores of Roman Catholics and Protestants were arrested in various provinces. In Anhui province, for example, 14 Roman Catholics were detained in April, and many beaten, after petitioning local officials for the return of church property. Eleven of them were subsequently released, but Dong Yimin, Zhang Zhongxiao and Zhou Guang'e reportedly remained in detention. There was no news of them at the end of the year. In May, up to 5,000 troops, supported by armoured cars and helicopters, reportedly surrounded the village of Donglu, Hebei province, to prevent Roman Catholics from attending an annual pilgrimage there. Several people were arrested, including Hu Duo and Wei Jingkun, both Roman Catholic priests, and Zhang Dapeng, a lay leader who had been imprisoned previously for peaceful religious activities. Others were placed under house arrest or subjected to severe restrictions. Up to 80 Roman Catholics were also reportedly arrested in Jiangxi province in November. A crack-down on suspected nationalists and religious groups in Tibet was carried out during the "strike hard" anti-crime campaign. Early in the year the authorities had ordered the closure of monasteries in Tibet which had "political problems". In May, enforcement of a ban on photographs of the Dalai Lama led to clashes between government officials and monks at the Ganden monastery. Several monks were injured when security forces intervened; one reportedly later died of his injuries. The monastery was closed and up to 90 Ganden monks and novices were reportedly detained or "disappeared" in the following days. At least 15 were reportedly still detained at the end of the year and 45 others remained unaccounted for. Between May and October, a political "re-education" campaign carried out in Tibetan monasteries by official propaganda teams resulted in the arrest of at least 15 monks and the expulsion of many others from several monasteries. Those arrested included Ngawang Tharchin, who was reportedly imprisoned for three years in October for arguing with officials during a political lecture at Drepung monastery, and Tenchog Tenphel, who was arrested during a "re-education" session in September at Sakya monastery, southwest of Shigatse, and died in a local prison two weeks later. Police reportedly said he had committed suicide, but there was no inquest into his death. Lay Tibetans suspected of supporting Tibetan independence were also arrested, although few cases were publicly reported. They included five Tibetans accused of calling for Tibet's independence who were sentenced to up to five years' imprisonment at a public rally in Shigatse in May. A similar crack-down on suspected Muslim nationalists, alleged "terrorists" and those accused of "illegal religious activities" was carried out in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Those jailed included Abduvahit Ahmedi, a Uighur accused of writing "reactionary" material "seeking to split the motherland", who was sentenced in May to three years' imprisonment for "counter-revolutionary incitement". According to official sources, 2,773 suspected "separatists", alleged "terrorists" and ordinary criminal suspects were arrested in Xinjiang between the start of the "strike hard" anti-crime campaign in April, and early June. The authorities did not indicate how many were held on political grounds and denied claims by exiled Uighur opposition leaders that 18,000 Muslim nationalists had been arrested in Xinjiang between May and July. A crack-down on religious groups in Xinjiang resulted in the closure of "illegal" mosques and Koranic schools; the confiscation of "reactionary" or "illegal" religious materials; and, according to unofficial sources, up to 180 arrests. Those held included Aisha Awazy, a local people's representative for Kezhou, who was arrested in June in Akto county for "long-standing illegal religious activities". His fate was unknown at the end of the year. In July and August, 19 religious schools were closed and 98 people detained during a large-scale police operation against "illegal" religious schools near Hotan city in southwest Xinjiang. An official later claimed that the 98 were held for a "re-education" course, but, according to unofficial sources, by October 12 of them had been sentenced to terms of detention or imprisonment, 15 were still being held for investigation, 68 had received "administrative punishments" and three had been released. The crack-down on religious groups was continuing at the end of the year. Thousands of political prisoners detained without trial or convicted after unfair trials in previous years remained imprisoned. They included many prisoners of conscience serving long sentences for their part in the 1989 pro-democracy movement and others jailed for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. Hada and Tegexi, two ethnic Mongol intellectuals detained in Inner Mongolia since December 1995 for promoting the concept of autonomy for China's ethnic minorities, were charged in March with "counter-revolutionary" offences. They were sentenced in December to 15 and 10 years' imprisonment respectively. Over 600 political prisoners were believed to remain in prison in Tibet. In July, prisoner of conscience Ngawang Sangdrol, a Tibetan nun held in Drapchi prison in Lhasa, reportedly had her sentence doubled to 18 years' imprisonment for shouting "Free Tibet" while undergoing punishment for a breach of prison rules. Several prisoners of conscience were released on completion of their sentences. They included Fu Shenqi and Zhang Xianliang, both detained in Shanghai since 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994), who were released in April and June respectively; and Tong Yi (see Amnesty International Report 1995), who was released in October. Political trials continued to fall far short of international fair trial standards; verdicts and sentences were routinely decided by the authorities before trial. For example, prisoner of conscience Wang Dan, a student leader during the 1989 pro-democracy protests, was sentenced in October to 11 years' imprisonment after being convicted of "conspiring to overthrow the government". The charge, brought against Wang Dan after he had been illegally detained without charge for nearly 17 months, was based on accusations that he had "endangered state security" by writing articles critical of the government which had been published overseas, receiving financial assistance from abroad, and having contacts with dissidents in China and abroad. Despite prior official statements that the trial would be public, foreign journalists and independent observers were excluded and no witnesses were called during the four-hour trial. Wang Dan's appeal against the verdict and sentence was rejected by a high court in November after a 10-minute hearing. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners held in detention centres, prisons or labour camps remained widespread, in some cases resulting in death. In March, information came to light about Wang Jingbo, a factory worker in Beijing, who was reportedly beaten to death while in police custody in late November 1995. An autopsy showed he had 12 broken ribs and had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Police claimed that he had been beaten by other prisoners. No judicial investigation into his case was known to have been carried out. In mid-August, prisoner of conscience Chen Longde (see above) was reportedly kicked, punched and beaten with an electric baton by a prison officer at the Luoshan labour camp in Zhejiang province, and jumped from a third-storey window in order to escape the beating. He suffered serious injuries, including hip and leg fractures, and was hospitalized. He was reportedly beaten to make him "acknowledge his guilt". The continued use of torture by police to speed up confessions was acknowledged in November by the official newspaper Guangming Daily in an article denouncing increasing corruption among the judiciary. Prison conditions were often harsh, with inadequate food and medical care, and many prisoners suffered from serious illnesses as a result. Prisoner of conscience Kelsang Thutob, a Tibetan monk serving an 18-year prison sentence at Drapchi prison in Lhasa, was reported to have died in prison in July owing to lack of medical care. No investigation into his death was known to have been carried out. Medical parole, which is possible under Chinese law, was rarely granted to political prisoners. One prominent prisoner of conscience, Chen Ziming, was released on bail for medical treatment in November, but placed under virtual house arrest. Previously paroled in 1994, he had been sent back to jail in 1995 to serve the rest of his sentence (see Amnesty International Report 1996). According to his family, he had received no medical treatment after returning to prison despite suffering from cancer and needing continuous medical care. The death penalty continued to be used extensively. At least 68 criminal offences, many of them non-violent, were punishable by death. At least 6,000 death sentences and 3,500 executions were recorded by Amnesty International, but the true figures were believed to be far higher. The number of executions increased dramatically after the launch of the "strike hard" anti-crime campaign in April. Well over 200,000 arrests and at least 2,500 executions were believed to have been carried out within the first four months of the campaign. Most of those executed were summarily tried following official instructions to the judiciary to speed up prosecutions and trials and to impose "severe" punishments, including the death penalty. The state media publicized arrests and executions daily. Across the country, groups of people were executed immediately after mass rallies and public trials held "to pronounce" death sentences. Some such "trials" were held jointly by several courts. In Gansu province, for example, 14 people were executed on 16 May immediately after being sentenced to death at a "joint open trial" held by two courts in Lanzhou. Some people were executed days after the crimes were allegedly committed. In Jilin province, for example, three men were executed on 31 May, seven days after their arrest for allegedly committing a robbery on 21 May. Their trial, sentencing, as well as the hearing of the appeal lodged by one of the three men, and the review and approval of the three death sentences by a high court, all took place between 24 May and 28 May. Prisoners condemned to death were paraded in public at mass rallies, some in shackles and with ropes around their necks. Zheng Jian, a condemned prisoner who had attempted to commit suicide by jumping from a two-storey building, was reportedly taken on a stretcher onto the stage of a mass rally in Shenzhen, where his sentence was announced, and then carried to the execution ground. He was among 62 people executed on 30 October in three cities in Guangdong province. Amnesty International repeatedly urged the Chinese authorities to release all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair trials for other political prisoners; take steps to stop torture and executions; and review the use of the death penalty. In March, Amnesty International launched an international campaign to draw attention to continuing massive human rights violations in China and published a report, China: No one is safe – political repression and abuse of power in the 1990s. The government did not respond to requests for representatives of the organization to discuss human rights concerns with authorities in China. Amnesty International published 10 other reports during the year including: in May, China: State secrets – a pretext for repression; in June, China: Repression in the 1990s – a directory of victims; and in July, Religious repression in China and Women in China: Detained, victimized but mobilized. In September, an Amnesty International delegation attending the 96th Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Beijing held informal talks with Chinese representatives at the Conference. In March, Amnesty International raised its concerns on China in statements at the UN Commission on Human Rights. Yet again, discussion on a draft resolution was halted by the adoption of a procedural motion to take no action. In May, the UN Committee against Torture examined China's second periodic report and made a number of recommendations. These included the enactment of a law defining the crime of torture in terms consistent with the definition provided in the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the establishment of a comprehensive system to investigate complaints of ill-treatment effectively; changes in the methods for carrying out executions, improvements in prison conditions, prompt access to legal counsel for detainees, as well as to their families and to a medical doctor, and measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary.