URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
CHN 010 / 1107 / OBS 145
Arbitrary detention / Risk of torture or ill-treatment
People's Republic of China
November 21, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention on the following situation in the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by "Chinese Human Rights Defenders" (CRD) that Mr. Li Guohong, a laid-off workers' representative at Zhongyuan Oil Field, has been sent to a Re-education Through Labour (RTL) camp for one and a half years by the Zhongyuan Oil Field Public Security Bureau (PSB).
According to the information received, on October 31, 2007, Mr. Li Guohong had gone to Puyang City, Henan Province, where Zhongyuan Oil Field is headquartered, to learn about a lawsuit dismissed workers are going to file in Beijing against the oil field. Mr. Li went to Zhongyuan Oil Field PSB to learn more about the earlier detention of Zhongyuan Oil Field workers. There, he was himself promptly administratively detained for fifteen days. He was due to be released on November 16, 2007, but the authorities instead sent him to RTL. As of issuing this urgent appeal, no information could be obtained on the exact reasons for his detention.
Since 2001, Zhongyuan Oil Field, which is owned by China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), has dismissed 10,000 workers without proper compensation. Since last year, representatives of the dismissed workers have petitioned higher authorities and, as a result, have suffered beatings and detention. Mr. Li is one of these representatives.
RTL is an administrative detention measure, according to which, without any proper legal procedures or trial, the PSB can send individuals to detention facilities for a maximum of four years. Detainees sent to RTL are deprived of their rights to legal counsel and appeal.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Li Guohong and recalls that the denial of his rights to due process, free and fair trial and legal counsel is a flagrant violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 9), which China has signed but not yet ratified, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 9-11). His detention is also a flagrant violation of the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular of its Article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration".
The Observatory also fears for Mr. Li Guohong's physical and psychological integrity as an increasing number of human rights defenders have been subjected to torture or ill-treatments by the authorities over the past years.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in the People's Republic of China, urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Li Guohong;
ii. Ensure his immediate release since his detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning his human rights activities;
iii. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the People's Republic of China;
iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", and above-mentioned Article 12.2;
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the People's Republic of China.
Addresses:
･ President Hu Jintao, People's Republic of China, c/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008, USA, Fax: +01 202 588-0032;
･ Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, Wu Aiying, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345;
･ Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Buzhang Waijiaobu, Mr. Yang Jiechi, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn;
･ Ambassador Sha Zukang, Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, P.O. Box 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int;
･ Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Brussels, Avenue de Tervuren, 463 1160 Auderghem, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 663 30 10 / + 32 2 663 30 17 / +32 2 771 14 97 / +32 2 779 43 33; Fax: +32 2 762 99 66 / +32 2 779 28 95; Email: chinaemb_be@mfa.gov.cn.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the People's Republic of China in your respective country.
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Geneva - Paris, November 21, 2007
