China
12.03.03
Urgent Interventions
China: He Depu is the latest dissident to be formally detained
Case CHN 090103.2
Follow-up of Case 090103
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Risk of Torture / Freedom of expression
Geneva, March 12th, 2003
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.
New Information
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received further information from the Human Rights in China concerning the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of He Depu in Beijing.
According to the information received, He Depu, after being detained for four months, has formally been charged with inciting the overthrow of the state power. He was arrested on November 4, 2002 in conjunction with the signing of an open letter to the 16th Party Congress in Beijing. This letter was reportedly signed by 192 dissidents and called for political reform. He Depu was reportedly held in incommunicado detention for the period of time between November 4, 2002 and March 6, 2003. According to the information received, it was only on the evening of March 6th that his wife, Jia Jianying, was told of his detention. The police officer in charge of this case, Wang Yu, reportedly informed He Depu’s wife that he had been formally arrested some time ago, and had warrant papers issued by the Beijing Public Security Bureau on January 30, 2003, although no explanation about the delay in notifying his family about the formalization of his arrest was given.
The other persons that have reportedly been detained under the auspices of this crackdown include Ouyang Yi, Liu Di, Li Yibin, Tao Haidong, Zhao Changqing, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun and Han Lifa. OMCT has previously expressed its grave concerns for their physical and psychological integrity, due to their lengthy incommunicado detention periods. For more information see our previous urgent appeals on the subject (Case 090103.1 and Case 090103).
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal integrity of He Depu and the other signatories that are being detained, notably given that many of them are being detained incommunicado and therefore are at a heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture. OMCT calls on the Chinese authorities to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity and immediately release them in the absence of valid legal charges against them. OMCT also calls on the authorities to guarantee the internationally recognized right to the freedom of opinion and expression.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, the Government of China is cracking down on dissident activity during the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which are both being held in Beijing. It is reported that the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, Zhao Yongkang, is playing a large role in ensuring that the meetings are not disrupted by dissident activity. Many other activists have reportedly been detained and are being held incommunicado because of their participation in the signing of this letter.
According to the information received, the open letter made six political demands, including reassessment of the 1989 democracy movement; allowing political exiles to return to China; restoring political prisoner Zhao Ziyang’s political rights and releasing him from house arrest; releasing all prisoners of conscience; pushing the National People’s Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and bringing domestic law into conformity with international treaties; and expanding democratic elections from the villages and municipalities to national elections.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in the People's Republic of China, urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Ouyang Yi, Liu Di, Li Yibin, Tao Haidong, Zhao Changqing, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun, He Depu, Han Lifa and all other persons being detained in relation with the open letter, including the provision of adequate medical assistance as a matter of urgency;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of political dissidents;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· President Jiang Zemin, People's Republic of China; C/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008: Fax: + 01 202 588-0032
· President Jiang Zemin, People's Republic of China; c/o Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +4122 7937014, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
· President Jiang Zemin, Chinese Communist Party, Yongdingmen CK Street, Beijing 100032, PRC
Please also write to the embassies of in the People's Republic of China in your respective country.
Geneva, March 12th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up of Case 090103
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Risk of Torture / Freedom of expression
Geneva, March 12th, 2003
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.
New Information
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received further information from the Human Rights in China concerning the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention of He Depu in Beijing.
According to the information received, He Depu, after being detained for four months, has formally been charged with inciting the overthrow of the state power. He was arrested on November 4, 2002 in conjunction with the signing of an open letter to the 16th Party Congress in Beijing. This letter was reportedly signed by 192 dissidents and called for political reform. He Depu was reportedly held in incommunicado detention for the period of time between November 4, 2002 and March 6, 2003. According to the information received, it was only on the evening of March 6th that his wife, Jia Jianying, was told of his detention. The police officer in charge of this case, Wang Yu, reportedly informed He Depu’s wife that he had been formally arrested some time ago, and had warrant papers issued by the Beijing Public Security Bureau on January 30, 2003, although no explanation about the delay in notifying his family about the formalization of his arrest was given.
The other persons that have reportedly been detained under the auspices of this crackdown include Ouyang Yi, Liu Di, Li Yibin, Tao Haidong, Zhao Changqing, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun and Han Lifa. OMCT has previously expressed its grave concerns for their physical and psychological integrity, due to their lengthy incommunicado detention periods. For more information see our previous urgent appeals on the subject (Case 090103.1 and Case 090103).
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal integrity of He Depu and the other signatories that are being detained, notably given that many of them are being detained incommunicado and therefore are at a heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture. OMCT calls on the Chinese authorities to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity and immediately release them in the absence of valid legal charges against them. OMCT also calls on the authorities to guarantee the internationally recognized right to the freedom of opinion and expression.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, the Government of China is cracking down on dissident activity during the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which are both being held in Beijing. It is reported that the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, Zhao Yongkang, is playing a large role in ensuring that the meetings are not disrupted by dissident activity. Many other activists have reportedly been detained and are being held incommunicado because of their participation in the signing of this letter.
According to the information received, the open letter made six political demands, including reassessment of the 1989 democracy movement; allowing political exiles to return to China; restoring political prisoner Zhao Ziyang’s political rights and releasing him from house arrest; releasing all prisoners of conscience; pushing the National People’s Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and bringing domestic law into conformity with international treaties; and expanding democratic elections from the villages and municipalities to national elections.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in the People's Republic of China, urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Ouyang Yi, Liu Di, Li Yibin, Tao Haidong, Zhao Changqing, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun, He Depu, Han Lifa and all other persons being detained in relation with the open letter, including the provision of adequate medical assistance as a matter of urgency;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of political dissidents;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· President Jiang Zemin, People's Republic of China; C/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008: Fax: + 01 202 588-0032
· President Jiang Zemin, People's Republic of China; c/o Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland, fax: +4122 7937014, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
· President Jiang Zemin, Chinese Communist Party, Yongdingmen CK Street, Beijing 100032, PRC
Please also write to the embassies of in the People's Republic of China in your respective country.
Geneva, March 12th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.