China
12.11.04
Urgent Interventions
China: Unfair treatment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Zheng Enchong
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
CHN 001 / 0803 / OBS 041.4
Arbitrary detention / Unfair treatment
China
November 12, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in China.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by Human Rights in China (HRIC) of the following developments into the situation of Mr. Zheng Enchong, a Shanghai lawyer involved in the defence of economic and social rights of displaced persons, who is currently detained at Shanghai’s Tilanqiao Prison.
According to the information received, Mr. Zheng Enchong’s wife, Mrs. Jiang Meili, went to visit him on November 10, 2004, along with other family members. During the visit, Mr. Zheng said he had been visited a number of times by the director of the Shanghai’s Judicial Bureau and Prisons Bureau, Mr. Miao Xiaobao, who told him that if he admitted wrongdoing, his three-year sentence would be reduced by one year. However, Mr. Zheng Enchong refused to do so.
According to information from HRIC, since the beginning of his imprisonment, Mr. Zheng has not been allowed to see his lawyer, as a result of which he has not been able to file an appeal application against his sentence before the Shanghai Supreme People’s Court. His wife has filed an application on his behalf but the Court has not acknowledged it.
Moreover, Mr. Zheng reportedly also told his visitors that in spite of his relatively light sentence, he has been housed in the prison’s high security section, where he is obliged to share his 3.5 square meter cell with two other prisoners. In addition, Mr. Zheng said that repeated requests to telephone his family have also been denied.
According to the information received, during the prison visit, Mr. Zheng asked his wife to urge displaced residents to persevere in their legal action against Mr. Zhou Zhengyi, a wealthy property developer, and others involved in a redevelopment project. When he began speaking about this subject, prison guards immediately ended the visit, and five or six guards grabbed Mr. Zheng and carried him out of the visiting room.
After the visit, Mr. Zheng’s wife and other family members have written an open letter to the Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, and Prime Minister, Mr. Wen Jiabao, calling for their intervention to grant him an appeal through the Supreme People’s Court.
The Observatory recalls that it considers his detention as arbitrary since the sentence pronounced against him only aims at sanctioning his activities in favour of economic and social rights in China.
Background information :
Mr. Zheng Enchong had been arrested on June 6, 2003 and taken to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau Detention Centre, after assisting displaced families in more than 500 cases relating to Shanghai’s urban redevelopment projects. In particular, Mr. Zheng had been advising families involved in a lawsuit alleging corrupt collusion between officials and a wealthy property developer, Mr. Zhou Zhengyi, despite the revocation of his licence as a lawyer in 2001.
At the court hearing on August 28, 2003, Mr. Zheng’s wife, Mrs. Jiang Meili, and other observers had been barred from the courtroom on the grounds that the case involved state secrets. However, it was reported that the proceedings were monitored by representatives of the Shanghai municipal government. Represented in court by his lawyers, Mr. Zheng pleaded not guilty in the trial.
Mr. Zheng Enchong was eventually sentenced, on October 28, 2003, to three years in prison and deprivation of his political rights for one year, on charges of “illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China” (article 111 of the Criminal Law) by the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court. He had been accused of sending two communications to HRIC, the name of the organisation being referred to 12 times in the judgement. The first one referred to a message from Mr. Zheng about the surrounding by 500 policemen of more than 500 workers who were striking on 9 May 2003 following the announcement that three-quarters of Shanghai Yimin Food Product No. 1 factory’s workers would be laid-off. The second document, on which the conviction was based, was a copy of an internal article of Xinhua News agency entitled “Reporters covering conflict sparked by forced removal come under attack”. Although HRIC never received this article from him and the Court acknowledged that this document never reached the organisation, the content of both communications was considered as “state secrets” by the Shanghai State Secrets Bureau.
The Shanghai appeal court upheld the sentence on December 18, 2003.
Mrs. Jiang Meili, the wife of Mr. Zheng Enchong, has been illegally detained for three days until March 1, 2004. Mrs. Jiang had gone to Beijing on February 28, 2004 to petition the National People's Congress on behalf of her husband. On the same day, shortly after 1:00 a.m., five women and two men burst into her hotel room and bound and gagged her. She was forced into a vehicle and taken to another hotel in Hubei's Canzhou City. The next day, five people took her back to Shanghai, where she was held in the Guangdi Hotel in Hutai Road. During this time, Mrs. Jiang Meili was not presented with an arrest warrant or given any reason for her detention. According to the information received, the persons involved in her detention included officials of the Shanghai Representative Office in Beijing, the Shanghai Letters and Petitions Office and the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB). Mrs. Jiang Meili was finally released on March 1.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of China urging them to :
i. Guarantee in all circumstances Mr. Zheng Enchong’s physical and psychological integrity;
ii. Guarantee Mr. Zheng’s right to meet with his lawyer as well as his right to file an appeal application before the Shanghai Supreme People’s Court, so that the charges against him be dropped;
iii. Put an end to all forms of harassment against lawyers and human rights defenders in China;
iv. Conform to the provisions of the Declaration on Humans Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
v. Conform with the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers;
vi. Conform to the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and international human rights standards;
Addresses :
Paris - Geneva, November 12, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
CHN 001 / 0803 / OBS 041.4
Arbitrary detention / Unfair treatment
China
November 12, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in China.
New information :
The Observatory has been informed by Human Rights in China (HRIC) of the following developments into the situation of Mr. Zheng Enchong, a Shanghai lawyer involved in the defence of economic and social rights of displaced persons, who is currently detained at Shanghai’s Tilanqiao Prison.
According to the information received, Mr. Zheng Enchong’s wife, Mrs. Jiang Meili, went to visit him on November 10, 2004, along with other family members. During the visit, Mr. Zheng said he had been visited a number of times by the director of the Shanghai’s Judicial Bureau and Prisons Bureau, Mr. Miao Xiaobao, who told him that if he admitted wrongdoing, his three-year sentence would be reduced by one year. However, Mr. Zheng Enchong refused to do so.
According to information from HRIC, since the beginning of his imprisonment, Mr. Zheng has not been allowed to see his lawyer, as a result of which he has not been able to file an appeal application against his sentence before the Shanghai Supreme People’s Court. His wife has filed an application on his behalf but the Court has not acknowledged it.
Moreover, Mr. Zheng reportedly also told his visitors that in spite of his relatively light sentence, he has been housed in the prison’s high security section, where he is obliged to share his 3.5 square meter cell with two other prisoners. In addition, Mr. Zheng said that repeated requests to telephone his family have also been denied.
According to the information received, during the prison visit, Mr. Zheng asked his wife to urge displaced residents to persevere in their legal action against Mr. Zhou Zhengyi, a wealthy property developer, and others involved in a redevelopment project. When he began speaking about this subject, prison guards immediately ended the visit, and five or six guards grabbed Mr. Zheng and carried him out of the visiting room.
After the visit, Mr. Zheng’s wife and other family members have written an open letter to the Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, and Prime Minister, Mr. Wen Jiabao, calling for their intervention to grant him an appeal through the Supreme People’s Court.
The Observatory recalls that it considers his detention as arbitrary since the sentence pronounced against him only aims at sanctioning his activities in favour of economic and social rights in China.
Background information :
Mr. Zheng Enchong had been arrested on June 6, 2003 and taken to the Shanghai Public Security Bureau Detention Centre, after assisting displaced families in more than 500 cases relating to Shanghai’s urban redevelopment projects. In particular, Mr. Zheng had been advising families involved in a lawsuit alleging corrupt collusion between officials and a wealthy property developer, Mr. Zhou Zhengyi, despite the revocation of his licence as a lawyer in 2001.
At the court hearing on August 28, 2003, Mr. Zheng’s wife, Mrs. Jiang Meili, and other observers had been barred from the courtroom on the grounds that the case involved state secrets. However, it was reported that the proceedings were monitored by representatives of the Shanghai municipal government. Represented in court by his lawyers, Mr. Zheng pleaded not guilty in the trial.
Mr. Zheng Enchong was eventually sentenced, on October 28, 2003, to three years in prison and deprivation of his political rights for one year, on charges of “illegally providing state secrets to entities outside of China” (article 111 of the Criminal Law) by the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court. He had been accused of sending two communications to HRIC, the name of the organisation being referred to 12 times in the judgement. The first one referred to a message from Mr. Zheng about the surrounding by 500 policemen of more than 500 workers who were striking on 9 May 2003 following the announcement that three-quarters of Shanghai Yimin Food Product No. 1 factory’s workers would be laid-off. The second document, on which the conviction was based, was a copy of an internal article of Xinhua News agency entitled “Reporters covering conflict sparked by forced removal come under attack”. Although HRIC never received this article from him and the Court acknowledged that this document never reached the organisation, the content of both communications was considered as “state secrets” by the Shanghai State Secrets Bureau.
The Shanghai appeal court upheld the sentence on December 18, 2003.
Mrs. Jiang Meili, the wife of Mr. Zheng Enchong, has been illegally detained for three days until March 1, 2004. Mrs. Jiang had gone to Beijing on February 28, 2004 to petition the National People's Congress on behalf of her husband. On the same day, shortly after 1:00 a.m., five women and two men burst into her hotel room and bound and gagged her. She was forced into a vehicle and taken to another hotel in Hubei's Canzhou City. The next day, five people took her back to Shanghai, where she was held in the Guangdi Hotel in Hutai Road. During this time, Mrs. Jiang Meili was not presented with an arrest warrant or given any reason for her detention. According to the information received, the persons involved in her detention included officials of the Shanghai Representative Office in Beijing, the Shanghai Letters and Petitions Office and the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB). Mrs. Jiang Meili was finally released on March 1.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of China urging them to :
i. Guarantee in all circumstances Mr. Zheng Enchong’s physical and psychological integrity;
ii. Guarantee Mr. Zheng’s right to meet with his lawyer as well as his right to file an appeal application before the Shanghai Supreme People’s Court, so that the charges against him be dropped;
iii. Put an end to all forms of harassment against lawyers and human rights defenders in China;
iv. Conform to the provisions of the Declaration on Humans Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
v. Conform with the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers;
vi. Conform to the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and international human rights standards;
Addresses :
- President Hu Jintao, 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 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
- Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65 292345
Paris - Geneva, November 12, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch