<str<strong>on</strong>g>Annual</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Report</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> Situati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Defenders</strong> <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a (2009)April 26, 2010Table <strong>of</strong> C<strong>on</strong>tentsAbout this <str<strong>on</strong>g>Report</str<strong>on</strong>g>................................................................................................................ 5Scope and structure......................................................................................................... 5Methodology................................................................................................................... 6Part I: An Assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Essential for Defend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong>.......................... 7A. The rights to freedom <strong>of</strong> assembly and associati<strong>on</strong> ................................................... 71. Freedom <strong>of</strong> assembly .............................................................................................. 82. Freedom <strong>of</strong> associati<strong>on</strong> ......................................................................................... 10B. The rights to freedom <strong>of</strong> expressi<strong>on</strong> and access to <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong>............................... 121. Pr<strong>in</strong>t media and publicati<strong>on</strong>s................................................................................. 132. The <strong>in</strong>ternet ........................................................................................................... 143. O<strong>the</strong>r forms <strong>of</strong> expressi<strong>on</strong>..................................................................................... 184. The danger <strong>of</strong> access<strong>in</strong>g and dissem<strong>in</strong>at<strong>in</strong>g human rights <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong>................ 19C. The rights to participate <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> government and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>duct <strong>of</strong> public affairs .... 211. Open letters and legislative proposals................................................................... 212. Village electi<strong>on</strong>s.................................................................................................... 22D. The right to a benefit from an effective remedy when a right is violated............... 241. The right to <strong>of</strong>fer and provide pr<strong>of</strong>essi<strong>on</strong>ally qualified legal assistance .............. 252. The provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> legal assistance to deta<strong>in</strong>ed human rights defenders................. 263. The right to compla<strong>in</strong>: petiti<strong>on</strong><strong>in</strong>g and adm<strong>in</strong>istrative litigati<strong>on</strong> .......................... 28Part II. The Ch<strong>in</strong>ese Government’s Failure to Promote <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> andProtect <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Defenders</strong>...................................................................................... 32A. Failure to promote human rights educati<strong>on</strong> ............................................................. 32B. Failure to protect human rights defenders................................................................ 351. Harassment and threats from police and <strong>of</strong>ficials................................................. 352. Restricti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> movement: “s<strong>of</strong>t detenti<strong>on</strong>” and “forced travel”............................ 383. Violence aga<strong>in</strong>st human rights defenders: disappearances, attacks, and torture .. 404. Arbitrary detenti<strong>on</strong>................................................................................................ 43Recommendati<strong>on</strong>s............................................................................................................. 48Appendix I: <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Defenders</strong> Arbitrarily Deta<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> 2009 ............................... 494
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Annual</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Report</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> Situati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Defenders</strong> <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a (2009)April 26, 2010Scope and structureAbout this <str<strong>on</strong>g>Report</str<strong>on</strong>g>This report exam<strong>in</strong>es <strong>the</strong> extent to which <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese government has or has not fulfilledits obligati<strong>on</strong>s to protect <strong>the</strong> rights <strong>of</strong> human rights defenders, which are guaranteed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>Declarati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Defenders</strong> 1 (hereafter referred to as “<strong>the</strong> Declarati<strong>on</strong>”),adopted by <strong>the</strong> United Nati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>in</strong> 1998. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> Declarati<strong>on</strong>, human rightsdefenders are def<strong>in</strong>ed as “<strong>in</strong>dividuals, groups and associati<strong>on</strong>s… c<strong>on</strong>tribut<strong>in</strong>g to…<strong>the</strong>effective elim<strong>in</strong>ati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> all violati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> human rights and fundamental freedoms <strong>of</strong>peoples and <strong>in</strong>dividuals.” The same def<strong>in</strong>iti<strong>on</strong> will be used for <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong> this report.The Declarati<strong>on</strong> provides for <strong>the</strong> protecti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> rights key to <strong>in</strong>dividualsdefend<strong>in</strong>g human rights, which can be grouped <strong>in</strong>to five broad categories:• The rights to promote and seek <strong>the</strong> protecti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> human rights and to be protected forexercis<strong>in</strong>g this right (Articles 1, 11 and 12);• The rights to freedom <strong>of</strong> assembly and associati<strong>on</strong>, which <strong>in</strong>clude <strong>the</strong> rights to carryout human rights work toge<strong>the</strong>r with o<strong>the</strong>rs; to form, jo<strong>in</strong> and participate <strong>in</strong> NGOs;and to solicit and receive resources for human rights activities (Articles 5 and 13);• The rights to freedom <strong>of</strong> expressi<strong>on</strong> and access to <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong>, which <strong>in</strong>clude <strong>the</strong>rights to seek and dissem<strong>in</strong>ate <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> about human rights, discuss <strong>the</strong> extent towhich <strong>the</strong> government has promoted <strong>the</strong>se rights, and draw public attenti<strong>on</strong> to humanrights issues (Articles 6 and 7);• The right to participate <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> government and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> c<strong>on</strong>duct <strong>of</strong> public affairs, which<strong>in</strong>cludes <strong>the</strong> right to submit criticisms and proposals for improvement to governmentagencies (Article 8); and• The right to compla<strong>in</strong> to <strong>the</strong> government regard<strong>in</strong>g human rights violati<strong>on</strong>s, toprovide legal assistance <strong>in</strong> defense <strong>of</strong> human rights, to attend public hear<strong>in</strong>gs, to beprovided with an effective remedy, and to have free access to NGOs and<strong>in</strong>tergovernmental organizati<strong>on</strong>s (Article 9).Although <strong>the</strong>se rights are already enshr<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternati<strong>on</strong>al human rights treaties andcore documents, <strong>the</strong> Declarati<strong>on</strong> articulates <strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong> ways that make <strong>the</strong>m more tailored to<strong>the</strong> work <strong>of</strong> defend<strong>in</strong>g human rights. In additi<strong>on</strong> to protect<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se rights, <strong>the</strong> state has<strong>the</strong> resp<strong>on</strong>sibility to promote and educate <strong>the</strong> public about human rights, which <strong>in</strong>cludes<strong>the</strong> establishment <strong>of</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al human rights <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s, and to promote human rightseducati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> formal educati<strong>on</strong> (Articles 14 and 15).Part I addresses <strong>the</strong> status <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se five rights <strong>in</strong> detail. It c<strong>on</strong>cludes that 2009 was yetano<strong>the</strong>r year <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese government failed to make any c<strong>on</strong>crete improvementsto promote or protect <strong>the</strong>se rights, and that <strong>the</strong> situati<strong>on</strong> was worse <strong>in</strong> 2009 than it was <strong>in</strong>2008. Part II discusses <strong>the</strong> myriad ways <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> government retaliated aga<strong>in</strong>st<strong>in</strong>dividuals seek<strong>in</strong>g to promote human rights.5