Chinese Leader Is Urged to Reverse ‘Crackdown’
October 3, 2006
By JOSEPH KAHN/The New York Times
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| Gao Zhisheng, renowned human and civil rights lawyer. Gao has been praised as “the conscience of Chinese lawyers” and “a great hero.” (Verna Yu/AFP) |
The petition letter, organized by Human Rights Watch of the United States, called on Mr. Hu to take steps to enforce China’s public commitment to the rule of law, and to rein in officials who retaliate against those who challenge party authority and stand up for citizens’ rights.
“We note with concern the sharp increase in official retaliation against such advocates and their families through persistent harassment, banishment, detention, arrest and imprisonment,” the letter said. “We note, too, the frequent use of state-secrets charges to discourage social activism.”
The joint letter was signed by a diverse array of prominent China watchers, including leading experts at Harvard, Princeton, and the University of California, signaling an unusual level of concern among many people who pay close attention to political affairs in China that Mr. Hu has presided over a sharp deterioration in political freedom.
The letter was also signed by Richard Goldstone, the former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
The experts cited four recent cases that they said suggested abuse of China’s legal system.
The four are Gao Zhisheng, an outspoken lawyer who is currently being detained by state security agents; Chen Guangcheng, an advocate who was convicted of obstructing traffic and destroying property in August; Zhao Yan, an employee of the New York Times Beijing bureau who was convicted on a fraud charge in August; and Hu Jia, who has campaigned on behalf of numerous dissidents and was forcibly detained for interrogation in September.
The letter said that each of them suffered retaliation after trying to help people use China’s inchoate legal system to enforce their rights against the state.
“It is urgent that China’s central leadership not look the other way when local courts and law enforcement officials ignore China’s laws and legal procedures with impunity,” the letter said.
Chinese officials have claimed that all of the cases mentioned are being handled “according to law.” There was no immediate official response to the open letter.