Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010Many organizers choose to circumvent these restrictive regulations and operate withoutregistration with the MCA, opting instead to registering as a for-profit organization withthe State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). However, suchorganizations (as well as organizations which simply do not register at all) are underconstant risk of being labeled “illegal,” at which point a number of law enforcementmeasures may be employed to close them down. SAIC-registered organizations that haveventured into the fields of promoting human rights and researching sensitive topics areparticularly vulnerable to being shut down. One high-profile example was that ofGongmeng, an NGO registered with SAIC which had been actively involved ininvestigating sensitive cases, such as the tainted milk scandal, and in assisting petitioners,particularly those detained in black jails.• On July 14, Gongmeng received notifications from both the State Administrationof Taxation and the local Bureau of Taxation in Beijing that they had been fined1.42 million RMB for “tax evasion.” Three days later, the Beijing MunicipalBureau of Civil Affairs declared the organization “illegal,” raided its office andformally shut it down. On July 21, Xu Zhiyong ( ), Gongmeng’s director,received separate calls from the landlord of Gongmeng’s office space and thelandlord of his home, both of whom urged him to move out as soon as possible.On July 29, Beijing police took Xu and Zhuang Lu ( a staff member, intocustody. While the two were detained, Gongmeng’s remaining organizers calledsupporters for donations to help pay the banned organization’s enormous fine.Complicating the process, however, was the refusal of tax authorities to issue thenecessary paperwork, and the fact that bank accounts belonging to theorganization and director were frozen. On August 18, Xu was formally arrestedfor “tax evasion.” 21 Fortunately, Xu Zhiyong was released on bail on August 23,and Zhuang was also subsequently released.庄 永 志 许璐 ),Gongmeng’s treatment was not an exception: many more civil society organizations existin this legal grey zone and are constantly negotiating the shifting and invisible line ofofficial tolerance. However, Gongmeng’s case was particularly significant because theorganization managed to operate openly for six years while being one of the few to takeon “sensitive” cases. The actions taken against Gongmeng, a trailblazer in China’s civilsociety, thus raised fears among observers that space for activist organizations wasrapidly shrinking. The fear grew when, in August, law enforcement officials harassedother prominent civil society organizations, such as Yirenping, 22 an organization thatfocuses on the rights of hepatitis patients and other health-related discrimination issues,Aizhixing, 23 an HIV/AIDS organization, and Mr. Democracy Research Center, 24 aBeijing legal aid organization. 25The closure of Gongmeng, and the harassment of Yirenping, Aizhixing, and the Mr.Democracy Research Center is also a violation of the right to solicit and receive resourcesfor the purpose of defending human rights. Central to the government’s case againstGongmeng was its alleged failure to pay taxes on grant money received from YaleUniversity, and the “tax investigations” of Yirenping and Aizhixing which followed11