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, 2010possession of state secrets” on November 23. It is believed that Huang wasimprisoned for reporting and giving interviews to foreign journalists about protestsstaged by families of schoolchildren killed in the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008.Huang was kidnapped off the street by a number of unidentified men on June 10,2008, and later discovered to have been detained by the police. During Huang’sdetention, he was barred from accessing his lawyers for over three months after hewas first taken into custody. Huang was tried on August 5 in a closed trial. For moreinformation, see: http://www.crdnet.org/Article/Class9/Class15/200911/20091123130625_18479.html6. Liang Yonghong ( ), a villager and former soldier who has been active infighting corruption among village officials since May 2006, was convicted of“illegally assembling a crowd to demonstrate" and sentenced to three years ofimprisonment in Tanhe Village, Liuwang Town, Rong County, Yulin City, GuangxiProvince on July 15. Liang’s family was not informed of his sentence until August 13.It is believed that Liang was retaliated against for leading a group of villagers toprotest against corruption among Tanhe village cadres on November 12, 2008. Priorto the protest, Liang had repeatedly submitted applications to hold demonstrations,but they were either denied or ignored. His trial was held on June 17.宏勇梁 7. Liu Xiaobo ( ), China’s best-known dissident intellectual, was convicted of“inciting subversion of state power” on December 25 by the Beijing No. 1 MunicipalCourt. Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison, with two years’ deprivation ofpolitical rights. Liu’s conviction was based entirely on his writings, nonviolentexpressions of his own opinions. Along with Charter 08, which he played aninstrumental role in drafting, six articles written by Liu between October 2005 andJuly 2007 were cited as evidence and used to convict him. Liu was detained onDecember 8, 2008, and until June 23, 2009, he was held under “residentialsurveillance” at an undisclosed location in Beijing. Except for two visits from hiswife, Liu had no contact with the outside world for six months. During this entireperiod, Liu was being held without being formally detained or arrested. See:波晓刘 http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200912/20091225123444_19092.html8. Tan Zuoren ( ), human rights activist and environmentalist, was sentenced tofive years in prison with an additional three years’ deprivation of political rights for“inciting subversion of state power” in Chengdu, Sichuan on February 9, 2010.According to his lawyer Pu Zhiqiang ( ), the court convicted Tan forattempting to organize commemorative activities for the 20 th anniversary of the June4th, 1989 crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, though many believe that Tanwas punished for conducting investigations into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuanearthquake. After the Sichuan earthquake, Tan published a number of commentaries人作谭强志浦50
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010online which were critical of the government. In February, Tan released a proposalcalling on netizens to travel to Sichuan Province to compile a list of students whodied in the earthquake and to investigate the quality of collapsed school buildings, aswell as to assist parents of these children in their fight for justice. Tan had hoped tofinish his investigation by the first anniversary of the earthquake. However, he wastaken into police custody on March 28. Tan was tried in Chengdu on August 12. See:http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class10/201002/20100210232045_19884.html9. Wang Rongqing ( ), a member of China Democracy Party, Zhejiang Chapter,was sentenced to six years of imprisonment for “subversion of state power” byHangzhou City Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang Province on January 7. Wang,65, is a veteran democracy activist whose activism can be traced back to theDemocracy Wall movement in the late 1970s. In 2004, Wang was detained for twoweeks after he drafted and submitted to the Chinese government a Draft Law onChinese Political Parties. In 2005, he was detained for six months for organizing theChina Democracy Party’s Zhejiang Chapter. In August 2006, Wang was againdetained for a month for writing articles criticizing the repression of religiousfreedom in Zhejiang Province. See: http://www.crdnet.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200901/20090108004443_12937.html清荣王 10. Wang Yonghang ( ), a former lawyer from Dalian City, Liaoning Province,was seized on July 4, formally arrested on August 10, held incommunicado, and triedin secret on October 16 in a closed court without a lawyer present before beingsentenced to seven years in prison for “using a cult to damage the implementation ofthe law" on November 27. Wang is an outspoken advocate for the rights of FalunGong practitioners; he was convicted for accepting interviews and publishing articleson foreign websites in addition to defending Falun Gong practitioners in court. WhenWang was taken into police custody on July 4, he was severely beaten, causingfractures in his right ankle. He was finally able to meet with his lawyers on January14, 2010, at the Dalian City Detention Center. http://www.crdnet.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200908/20090827172912_17039.html航永王 11. Xie Changfa ( ), a human rights and democracy activist from Changsha City,Hunan Province, was convicted of "subversion of state power" and sentenced to 13years in prison by Changsha's Intermediate Court on September 1. The trial wasattended by fellow activists and Xie's brother, who protested the decision and vowedto appeal. Xie, who was seized in late June 2008, is a veteran democracy activist andhas been repeatedly detained and incarcerated in the past for nonviolent politicalactivities associated with the banned China Democracy Party.发长谢 51
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