Arbitrary detention of Mrs. Zheng Mingfang

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) about the arbitrary detention of Mrs. Zheng Mingfang, a petitioner and human rights defender in Ji County, Tianjin.

According to the information received, on the evening of October 19, 2007, Mrs. Zheng Mingfang was sleeping when policemen from the Ji County Public Security Bureau (PSB) came and asked her husband to step out to “have a talk”. When he returned, Mrs. Zheng had disappeared from her residence. On October 20, 2007, with help from friends, her husband was able to locate her: she had been taken into custody by the local police. Mrs. Zheng is now detained at the PSB Detention Centre, but her family has not received any formal detention order.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mrs. Zheng Mingfang’s arbitrary detention, as it seems to merely sanction her human rights activities. Indeed, shortly before her detention, Mrs. Zheng had reported about the psychiatric detention of a petitioner from Tianjin, Mr. Li Shuchun. The Observatory further fears for her 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.

In 2004, Mrs. Zheng had petitioned in Beijing and asked the permission to organise with other the “Tiananmen 9.18 Ten-Thousand-People March” but her request was denied and she was subsequently imprisoned for two years for “illegally operating” her computer business. Her shop was demolished and parts of forty computers were confiscated by the authorities. While in prison, Mrs. Zheng was allegedly mistreated and tortured. She was released in September 2006.

Mrs. Zheng’s arrest takes place in the context of a violent wave of repression against Chinese dissidents, in the framework of the 17th Communist Party Congress. In this regard, the Observatory recalls that on October 11, 2007, Ms. Liu Jie, an activist for the rights to complain and to seek justice, was arrested by the Beijing police. Ms. Liu was the lead organiser of a public letter signed by 12,150 petitioners calling on Chinese Communist Party leaders at the 17th Party Congress to implement political and legal reforms (See Urgent Appeals CHN 007/1007/OBS 129 and OBS 129.1, dated October 12 and 23, 2007). Furthermore, the whereabouts of Messrs. Yao Lifa and Lu Banglie, two activists promoting local democratic elections in Hubei Province, have remained unknown for several days (see Urgent Appeal CHN 006/1007/OBS 127, dated October 11, 2007); the whereabouts of Mr. Gao Zhisheng, a human rights lawyer and the director of the Beijing-based Shengzhi Law Office, have also remained unknown since his arrest, on September 22, 2007, by ten plainclothes State Security Protection officers (See Urgent Appeal CHN 009/1106/OBS 136.2, dated September 27, 2007). In addition, Mr. Li Heping, a Beijing-based human rights lawyer, was violently assaulted by a dozen plainclothes men, who are allegedly members of the National Security Protection Unit of the Beijing Public Security Bureau (See Urgent Appeal CHN 005/1007/OBS 121, dated October 2, 2007).

Insofar as President Hu Jintao pronounced the word “democracy” on 60 occasions at the opening ceremony of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on October 15, 2007, and as the National People’s Congress amended the Chinese Constitution in 2004 to include that “the State respects and safeguards human rights”, the Observatory wishes to insist on the fact that democracy and the respect for human rights go hand in hand with the existence of a free civil society. As the 17th Congress is coming to an end, the Observatory urges the Chinese authorities to implement their policies in favour of human rights and democracy and to refrain from resorting from any form of harassment against human rights defenders.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China, urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Zheng Mingfang;
2. Ensure her immediate release since her detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning her human rights activities;
3. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the People’s Republic of China;
4. 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 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”;
5. 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, October 23, 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29