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

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<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010Though Wang’s case is an extreme example, it demonstrates the lengths to which theChinese government was willing to go in the past year both to deny human rightsdefenders their day in court and to punish those who seek to force officials to actaccording to the law.3. The right to complain: petitioning and administrative litigationIn the past year, citizens who sought to complain through two available channels—petitioning and administrative litigation—faced great difficulties in having theirgrievances resolved.a. PetitioningThere are an estimated 10 million petitioners in China, bringing grievances about abusesby lower-level government officials to higher authorities for redress. These complaintscommonly involve issues such as corruption, torture, wrongful convictions, and forcedland expropriation. Petitioners may demand that certain officials be sacked, that laws andregulations be followed, or that the courts alter their decisions to be more just.However, petitioners’ persistence in monitoring the government is rarely rewarded.Officially, the Chinese government runs an extensive bureaucracy, called Letters andVisits Offices, at various levels to handle these petitions. In practice, petitioners aretreated as nuisances by both central and local governments, who coordinate in ignoringtheir requests,intercepting them,detaining them in blackjails, forcibly sendingthem back to theirhometowns andretaliating against themfor speaking out.In 2009, as in previousyears, prior to importantnational or politicalevents, such as the annualsessions of the NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC)and the Chinese People'sPolitical ConsultativeFour petitioners from Hunan ProvinceConference (CPPCC) inMarch and the 60 thanniversary of the founding of the PRC in October, the government cleared Beijing ofpetitioners by using a mix of carrots and sticks. On one hand, the central and localgovernments tried to encourage petitioners to return to their hometowns, promising thattheir problems would be solved at the local level. 104 On the other hand, some local28
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010governments issued edicts detailing harsher measures, including RTL and criminaldetention, for those who “persist in petitioning improperly.” 105 “Improper petitioning”includes “gathering in public spaces outside of city government offices, shouting slogans,and unfurling banners during petitions.” 106 For example, petitioner Wang Zhanhe (), a village representative from Lanqi Village, Yushu City, Jilin Province was sent toone year of RTL for petitioning higher authorities in Beijing regarding corrupt activitiesby his village’s CCP Secretary. He is currently being held at the Yinmahe RTL Camp inChangchun City, Jilin.河占王Veteran petitioners, for the most part, have become used to repeated stints in black jails,RTL camps, or even prisons, and are undeterred by these punishments. During 2009,seasoned petitioners were very creative in generating opportunities for protests and indrawing attention to their plight. Petitioners turned the official “National Legal PublicityDay” 107 on December 4 into “Seeking Redress for Injustice Day,” gathering en masseoutside the State Council Letters and Visits Office and the CCTV headquarters. 108 OnNovember 16, during US President Obama’s visit to Beijing, about 90 Shanghaipetitioners traveled to his hotel to “welcome” him, and protest. 109The tenacity and persistence of petitioners sometimes resulted in small victories. In lateApril and early May, petitioners arrived in waves at the Beijing University campus toprotest against the claim by one of its professors, Sun Dongdong ( that “99% ofpetitioners suffer from mental illness.” Although these petitioners were all taken to blackjails and then forcibly sent home by interceptors and Beijing police, in the end Sunpublicly apologized for his statement. 110孙b. Administrative litigation), 东东In recent years, Chinese citizens appeared to be filing more and more lawsuits against thegovernment under the Administrative Litigation Law (ALL), as they became increasinglyaware of their rights and the channels they could use to seek redress for rightsviolations. 111 However, the latest statistics from 2009 suggest that ordinary people mightbe losing interest in the ALL system. According to statistics from the Supreme People’sCourt (SPC), the number of ALL cases went down by 11 percent in the first five monthsof 2009 compared with the same period the previous year. Interestingly, the SPCspeculated that such decline was the result of a lack of trust in the legal system amongordinary people. 112It remains very difficult for citizens to win these cases. An official estimate from 2007indicated that only 30% of plaintiffs in administrative litigation lawsuits prevail. 113 Theactual success rate is probably much lower, because in many instances courts simplyrefuse to accept ALL cases. In fact, CHRD documented a number of cases where lawyersor the plaintiffs were told explicitly that their cases could not be accepted because “higherauthorities” had ordered the courts not to accept particular types of ALL cases. Othertimes, the plaintiffs are threatened and persecuted for filing these cases against thegovernment.29
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