Mr. Zhu Chengzhi at risk of enforced disappearance

CHN 001 / 0113 / OBS 007

Incommunicadodetention /

Risk ofenforced disappearance

People’s Republic of China

January 11,2013

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme ofthe World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federationfor Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention on the followingsituation in the People’s Republic ofChina.

Brief description of the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) thathuman rights defender Mr. Zhu Chengzhi, who has been detained sinceJune 2012, is at risk of enforced disappearance.

According to the information received, on January 4, 2013, Mr. Zhu Chengzhi’slegal representative was informed that theShaoyang Public Security Bureau decided to subject him to six months of“residential surveillance” at an undisclosed location, beginning on January 4,in what may be the first use of Article 73 of the revised Criminal ProcedureLaw (CPL), which permits subjecting an individual to “enforced disappearance”[1]. Policein Hunan have merely notified Mr. Zhu Chengzhi’s family of the “residentialsurveillance” on the charge of “inciting subversion of State power”, butwithout disclosing his whereabouts or indicating exactly how long he willserve. Moreover, one of his lawyers, Mr. Liu Xiaoyuan, has been blocked fromvisiting him.

Mr. Zhu was arrested by the Shaoyang police on June 8, 2012after refusing to guarantee that he would stop investigating the cause of deathof labour activist Li Wangyang, who died under suspicious circumstances in June2012. He was formally arrested on July 25, 2012 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of State power”.

TheObservatory expresses its deep concern about the arbitrary detention and riskof enforced disappearance of Mr. Zhu Chengzhi, which seems to be aimed at sanctioninghis human rights activities. The Observatory fears for his physical andpsychological integrity, and calls upon the Chinese authorities to immediatelyand unconditionally disclose his whereabouts and to release him.

Actionsrequested:

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

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr.Zhu Chengzhi;

ii. Take prompt action in order to disclose the whereabouts of Mr. Zhu Chengzhi, andensure his immediate release, since his detention is arbitrary andseems to only aim at sanctioning his human rights activities;

iii. Put an end to all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level,against Mr. Zhu Chengzhi as well as against all human rights defendersin China;

iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, 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 theprotection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”, and Article 12.2, which provides that “theState shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by thecompetent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others,against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adversediscrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of hisor her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the presentDeclaration”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by the People’s Republic of China.

Addresses:

· Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister ofthe People’s Republic of China, Guojia Zongli, The State Council GeneralOffice, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of China,Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

· Ms. Wu Aiying, Minister of Justiceof the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie,Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65292345, Emails: minister@legalinfo.gov.cn / pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn

• Mr. Li Xiaokui Juzhang, Director of the Public Security Bureau of Shaoyang, 8 Hongqilu Qingyunjie, Shaoyang city, Hunan Province, 422000 People’s Republic of China. Tel/Fax: +86 0739 5163018. Email: webmaster@hunan.gov.cn
• Dai Huafeng Daijianchayuanzhang, Acting Chief Prosecutor of the People’s Procuratorate of Shaoyang, 27 Weiyuandong lu, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, 422006 People’s Republic of China. Fax: +86 0739 56927954

· Ambassador He Yafei, PermanentMission 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

· Embassyof the People’s Republic of China in Brussels, Avenue de Tervuren, 463 1160Auderghem, 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

Please also write to the diplomaticmission or embassy of the People’s Republic of China in your respectivecountry.

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Geneva-Paris, January 11, 2013

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

The Observatory, a OMCT and FIDH venture, is dedicated to the protection ofHuman Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time ofneed.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 4939 / + 41 22 809 49 29

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 2518 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

[1] Article 73 of the revised CPL,which went into effect on January 1, 2013, authorizes police to “designate aplace for residential surveillance” for certain criminal suspects, such asthose charged with “endangering State security” crimes, but to not inform thefamily if doing so could “interfere with the investigation”.