WHRDIC condemns closure of women’s legal aid center in China
The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRDIC), of which OMCT is a member, is a resource and advocacy network supportingwomen human rights defenders worldwide.
WHRDIC condemns closure of women’s legal aid center in China
On 29 January, the Chinese governmenttargeted for closure a renowned women’s legal aid center in Beijing. Not only does this action undermine thegovernment’s own efforts to advance women’s rights and gender equality, it runsin direct opposition to the government’s stated priorities and itsinternational obligations. The Women Human Rights Defenders InternationalCoalition (WHRDIC) denounces these efforts to curb space for civil society, andurges respect for those who do the critical work of defending human rights andaccountability when they face reprisals.
The Beijing Zhongze Women’s Legal Counselingand Service Centre (the Centre) was a widely acclaimed civil societyorganization, both nationally and internationally, which made significantcontributions to the promotion and advancecement of women’s rights. Its staffand researchers conducted important work to improve rural women’s access tojustice, to fight domestic violence and sexual harassment in the workplace, andremedy to women victims.
In 2007, the media outlet of the ChineseMinistry of Justice voted the Centre’s director, Guo Jianmei, one of the ‘topten Annual Legal Persons of Note’ and in 2011, popular press outlet NanfangDaily called the Centre one of China’s ‘top public service organizations’. In 2014, it collaborated with Chinese Women’sUniversity and other established organizations to submit reports ahead of theperiodic review of China by the Committee on the Elimination of Discriminationagainst Women (CEDAW).
The WHRDIC is concerned at escalatingthreats for women human rights defenders, and the wider civil society in China.The forced closure of the Centre comes at a time of unprecedented hardship forthose calling for more respect for human rights in the country, whether lawyers,bloggers, NGO workers, religious practitioners, or even ordinary citizens.
The Centre – which is in its seconditeration, after the shutdown of its predecessor at Peking University – is alsoa direct legacy of the 1995 UN World Conference on Women. Attacking that legacyseems a counter-narrative to the Chinese government’s celebrations in September2015 of the 20th anniversary of the conference. Co-hosted by UNWomen, these festivities included an opening statement by President Xi Jinpingwhere he urged the international community to make ‘greater efforts to promotegender equality’ and pledged that China would ‘enhance gender equality as basicstate policy’.
By shutting down the Zhongze Centre theChinese government, rather than promoting the status of women, implementing theBeijing Platform of Action, or even meeting minimum obligations to implementrecommendations from UN experts on women’s rights, has acted in contradictionto its own laws and policies, and its international human rights obligations.
The other issue we would suggest mentioning isthe policy environment. The recent national security law and the draft charityand foreign NGO management laws (under review) have deeply affected the waycivil society operates because of the restrictions they impose, their vaguedefinitions, and the questions linked to their implementation. This isconcerning to the human rights movement (and other sectors) and is part of thegovernment's attempt to provide more obstacles to curtail activities among civilsociety actors.
The WHRDIC reiterates its call for thegovernment to halt its harassment of human rights defenders and to facilitatean enabling environment for women defenders and civil society. The WHRDIC alsourges the government of China to fully respect the right of individuals andorganizations to engage with the UN mechanisms, and to refrain from andpromptly investigate any reprisals against those who do. As the WHRDIC, we recognize the committedwork of inspiring Chinese WHRDs, and are in solidarity with them at a timearbitrary restrictions are put forward by the Chinese government to curb theirlegitimate human rights work.