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, 2010demonstrated the government’s renewed interest in restricting funding opportunities forhuman rights NGOs. Forced into a vulnerable position by registration requirements,whatever financial support these organizations are able to secure can be arbitrarilytargeted whenever the government feels that the organization has crossed the line ofofficial acceptability.Looking forward, it seems that the government intends to place further obstacles in theway of organizations seeking to solicit funding for human rights-related activities. OnDecember 25, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) issued a new set ofregulations which placed more stringent requirements on NGOs receiving foreignfunding. 26 These regulations went into effect on March 1, 2010. Article 5 of theRegulations singles out NGOs registered with the SAIC, requiring that theseorganizations submit a list of documents when receiving funds from overseas andrequiring banks to report to SAFE if they discover “suspicious or unusual” transfers.Aizhixing responded to the new regulations with a series of public letters in which itwarned that sections of the regulations were “vague,” and added that the regulationswould undoubtedly make it more difficult for NGOs to operate in China. 27Though the immediate threat to civil society organizations seemed to ease somewhatfollowing Xu’s release, the concerted actions to punish and intimidate these organizationsby various government departments, including the MCA, the PSB, the SAIC, SAFE, andthe State Administration of Taxation, have sent a stern message to members of the humanrights movement as well as the wider civil society in China. With the new restrictions onfundraising now in place adding to previous barriers to organizing, the immediate futureof the Chinese human rights movement remains tenuous and uncertain.B. The rights to freedom of expression and access to informationEveryone has the right, individually and in association with others:(a) To know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights andfundamental freedoms, including having access to information as to how those rightsand freedoms are given effect in domestic legislative, judicial or administrativesystems;(b) As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments,freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge onall human rights and fundamental freedoms;(c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and inpractice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and otherappropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.- Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Article 6Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop anddiscuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance.- Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Article 7Although the Chinese Constitution guarantees freedom of the press and the National12