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, 2010• In August, the family of Liu Fengqin ( ), a 66-year-old petitioner fromTangshan City, Hebei Province, who was serving an RTL sentence for petitioning,attempted to challenge her detention through administrative litigation. When thefamily went to the district court to file the suit, the presiding judge told them that“higher authorities” had issued guidelines forbidding courts from hearing casesfiled by petitioners challenging their RTL decisions. Liu, whose health was verypoor, died in the RTL camp on September 23. 114• On July 29, a group of human rights defenders from Guiyang City, GuizhouProvince filed an administrative litigation lawsuit against the Guiyang City PSBat the Guiyang City Intermediate People’s Court. The activists alleged that theyhad suffered beatings, illegal detention and other illegal treatment at the hands ofthe police. The court told the group that the application could not be accepted刘凤芹because it was not in the correct format. Eventually, the court took the applicationand told the group to come back a week later. The group returned in a week, onlyto be told that the court could not accept the case because they could not file anadministrative lawsuit with diverse complaints and that they lacked the legaldocuments supporting the case, such as summons and detention warrants. Theactivists pointed out that they were suing the police partly because the policefailed to produce these documents when detaining them. 115With experiences like these, it comes as little surprise that citizens have begun toabandon the ALL system. However, should this trend continue into the future, it wouldbe damaging not only for citizens seeking resolution of administrative complaints, but forall citizens who attempt to hold government officials accountable for rights abuses.c. The right to attend public hearings, proceedings and trialsExcept for cases which involve state secrets, privacy, or juvenile defendants, hearings ofcriminal cases are open to the public. 116 Any Chinese citizen except those who are“mentally ill, drunk, or a minor without the approval of the People’s Court” can attendpublic court hearings, according to provisions issued by the Supreme People’s Court. 117However, CHRD has documented numerous cases in which policemen and court officialsprevented supporters from entering the courthouse to attend “public” hearings ofdissidents and human rights activists.Several standard explanations are given to the frustrated supporters: that they have notapplied to attend the trial beforehand, that they have been listed as “witnesses” so theycannot observe the trial unless summoned, and that the court is already full. Policemenare mobilized by local governments and, depending on the sensitivity of the case, one ormore of the following tactics are used by the police to physically prevent supporters fromattending the trial: some of the known supporters are subjected to “soft detention” athome before the trial starts; other supporters are prevented from reaching the court bycheckpoints setup on the roads leading to the court; others are taken into custody outsideof the courthouse, or threatened and assaulted if they try to enter the courthouse.30
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010• During the November 11 trial of three Fujian human rights activists—FanYanqiong ( ), Wu Huaying ( ), and You Jingyou ( )—for“making false accusations,” officials allowed only the lawyers and two familymembers of each defendant to attend the trial, which was held at the MaweiDistrict People’s Court in Fuzhou City. The courtroom was otherwise filled withplainclothes police or government officials. Meanwhile, outside of the courthouse,uniformed officers blocked the entrances and patrolled the surrounding area toprevent others from attempting to enter. Journalists were also reportedly takenaway by officials to prevent them from reporting on the trial. 118• The trial of Liu Xiaobo (范)燕was琼also essentially closed to the public, eventhough it was supposed to be a public hearing. With the exception of two familymembers—Liu’s younger brother and his brother-in-law—all other spectators inthe small courtroom were young males in plain clothes, who were believed to be吴华英游精佑officials. Dozens of supporters, as well as reporters and diplomats, were barredfrom observing the trial by security guards who blocked the entrance to the court.The guards told the group that all permits to observe the trial had been given刘out.Liu’s wife, Liu Xia ( was also denied a permit to attend as well after theauthorities listed her as a witness for the prosecution. Police stood outside herapartment to block her from leaving or receiving visitors during her husband’strial. Several dozen prominent Beijing-based activists and dissidents wereprevented from leaving their homes, and a晓波dozen or so other supporters weredetained on their way to the trial. 119刘Even when they stop short of physically restraining attendees, the government relies onother underhanded tactics to hold “open” trials without actually allowing the public toobserve. In pursuing these means of limiting access to trials, the government not onlydenies defendants their right to a public hearing, it also undermines its stated goal ofincreasing legal education. If members of the public and the media are barred fromobserving and reporting on trials of human rights defenders, society as a whole isdeprived of critical knowledge of the workings of their legal system.霞 ),31
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