Amnesty International News & Updates Feed

Hu Jia jailed for three and a half years

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:37:13 +0100

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia has been convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to three and a half years inprison.

After months under house arrest, Hu Jia was detained on 27 December 2007. He was formally charged on 28 January 2008 and went on trial on18 March at the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

"This verdict is punishment for Hu Jia’s public critiques of human rights violations in China and a warning to any other activists in China who dare to raise human rights concerns publicly,” said Amnesty International.

“It also makes a mockery of promises made by Chinese officials that human rights would improve in the run-up to the Olympics.”

Prior to his formal detention, Hu Jia had publicly expressed concerns over human rights abuses by police in Beijing, including the arrest of activists without the necessary legal procedures. This included the case of land rights activist Yang Chunlin and human rights defender Lu Gengsong, both also detained on subversion charges.

While detained, Hu has been subjected to 47 lengthy and repeated interrogations. He was denied access to his lawyer, members of his family and medical treatment, including necessary daily medication for liver disease resulting from a Hepatitis B infection. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, is still under house arrest with their newborn baby.

Amnesty International considers Hu Jia a prisoner of conscience and has demanded his immediate and unconditional release. The organization urges the International Olympic Committee and world leaders with a stake in the Olympics to publicly express their concern about his plight - and that of numerous other peaceful activists in China who have been silenced in the run-up to the Games. A failure to speak out would be a "conspiracy of silence" that will be perceived by the authorities as a tacit endorsement of such repression.

Hu started his activism as an AIDS activist in 2001. He is the co-founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education and of Loving Source, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children from AIDS families.

Due to his activities and outspokenness, Hu Jia was repeatedly harassed and beaten by police. According to his wife Zeng Jinyan: “Not counting one time in 2002, when Hu was detained by police while interviewing AIDS village inhabitants, he will have been under various forms of imprisonment for exactly four years on 3 April 2008.”

Hu’s focus broadened and he began reporting on wider human rights violations and giving interviews to foreign media. In November 2007, he participated via webcam in a European Union parliamentary hearing in Brussels in which he stated that China had failed to fulfill its promises to improve human rights in the run-up to the Olympics.

In an article on his blog dated 10 September 2007, Hu Jia says: "Everyone should know that the country that is about to host the Olympics is one without democratic elections, freedom of religion, independent courts or independent unions. It prohibits protests and labor strikes. It is a state that carries out widespread torture, discrimination, and employs a large secret police system. It is a nation that violates human rights standards and human dignity, and is not ready to fulfil its international obligations."

In a joint press conference with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Beijing on 28 February 2008, China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi said: "No one will get arrested because he said that human rights are more important than the Olympics. This is impossible."

Amnesty International believes this verdict makes a mockery of the notion that Chinese citizens are free to hold opinions and to speak their mind without retribution from the authorities, and serves as a warning to other activists in China who might dare raise human rights concerns publicly.

Related information

What human rights legacy for the Beijing Olympics? (Report abstract, 2 April 2008)

What human rights legacy for the Beijing Olympics?

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:14:38 +0100

Liu Jingmin, Vice-President of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee, said in 2001 that allowing Beijing to host the Games would “help the development of human rights". Seven years on, China’s human rights record shows little sign of improvement, according to an Amnesty International report.

It was hoped that the Games would act as a catalyst for reform but much of the current wave of repression against activists and journalists is occurring not in spite of, but actually because of the Olympics, according to the report China: The Olympics countdown – crackdown on activists threatens Olympics legacy.

Positive changes such as a reform of the death penalty system and a greater reporting freedom for foreign journalists have been overshadowed by stalled reform of detention without trial, repression of human rights defenders and internet censorship.

The report also highlights the Chinese authorities’ recent crackdown on protesters in Tibet, which has led to serious human rights violations since 10 March 2008. Chinese authorities have resorted to measures that are reported to have included unnecessary and excessive use of force, including lethal force, arbitrary detentions and intimidation.

Hundreds of people have been detained in response to the unrest. They could face torture and other ill-treatment by China’s security forces, especially those accused of “separatist” activities.

The near total media blackout on Tibet and the surrounding areas has not only made it difficult to confirm reports, but is a betrayal of official promises to ensure “complete media freedom” in the run-up to the Olympics.

In China too, many activists are held as prisoners of conscience after politically motivated trials. Growing numbers are kept under house arrest. Broad and vaguely defined crimes against national security, such as “separatism”, “subversion” and “stealing state secrets”, are used to prosecute those engaged in legitimate and peaceful human rights activities.

Land rights activist Yang Chunlin was sentenced to five years in prison on 25 March for “inciting subversion” after he spearheaded a petition campaign under the banner “We don’t want the Olympics, we want human rights”. He was initially denied access to lawyers on the grounds that his case apparently involved “state secrets”. He was also reported to have been tortured by the police in detention, but was denied the opportunity to raise these allegations in court.

Housing rights activist Ye Guozhu is serving a four-year prison sentence after he applied for permission to hold a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing. He was convicted in December 2004 of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” because of his opposition to the seizure and demolition of property to make way for new construction projects for this year’s Olympic games.

In May 2006, Beijing extended use of a form of detention without trial called Re-education Through Labour (RTL), to “clean up” the city’s image before the Olympics. The system targets those who have committed minor offences but are not legally considered criminals. They are forced to work for long hours, and can be detained for up to four years. RTL is much criticised in China. Long heralded - but now stalled - reform of the system would be a major human rights improvement.

Beijing housing rights activist Wang Ling was reported to have been sentenced to 15 months RTL in October 2007 for signing petitions and making banners in protest against the demolition of her property to make way for Olympic construction. She is believed to be held at Daxing RTL facility in Beijing.
Despite official promises of “complete media freedom” made in July 2001, the authorities are continuing to use the crime of “inciting subversion” and other state security offences to prosecute and imprison writers and journalists exercising their fundamental human rights to freedom of expression.

The internet is being heavily censored too. Cartoon police icons now warn many of China’s 210 million internet users to stay away from “illegal” websites. These virtual police appear to encourage self-censorship by reminding users that the authorities closely monitor web activity. China is also believed to operate the most extensive, technologically sophisticated and broad-reaching system of internet censorship and filtering in the world.

Text messaging is also being monitored. In December 2007, the Beijing city authorities issued a notice stating that those who use text messages to “endanger public security” or “spread rumours” will be investigated.

China is the world leader in the use of the death penalty, despite official statements that the restoration of Supreme People’s Court (SPC) review led to a significant reduction in the number of executions in China in 2007. But publication of full national statistics and other detailed information on the death penalty in China is essential to support such assertions. The drop in executions may be partly due to a growing “backlog” of prisoners awaiting execution as their case is reviewed by the SPC.

Amnesty International’s report calls on the Chinese authorities to: give immediate access to Tibet and surrounding areas to UN investigators and independent observers; cease arbitrary detention, intimidation and harassment of activists; end punitive administrative detention; allow full and free reporting across the whole of China for all journalists; free all prisoners of conscience and reduce the number of capital crimes as a step towards abolition.

China: Olympics countdown - Time running out for improvement in human rights (Press release, 31 March 2008)

Read more about human rights in China and the Beijing Olympics

Activists released from prison in Ethiopia

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:19:51 +0100

Two human rights activists have been released from prison in Ethiopia having been detained since November 2005. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie were released on Friday after receiving a presidential pardon.

The two signed a letter "acknowledging mistakes" committed in relation to the 2005 elections. It is not yet clear if the pardon is unconditional.

Daniel Bekele is the policy manager of ActionAid in Ethiopia. Netsanet Demissie is the founder and director of the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia. Both are prominent human rights lawyers.

Both men chose to enter a defence, unlike other co-accused, during a trial that ran for over two years. In December 2007, they were convicted by a majority verdict of the Ethiopian Federal High Court of provoking and preparing "outrages against the Constitution" and were sentenced to 30 months imprisonment.

According to Amnesty International, the prosecution failed to present evidence that either Daniel Bekele or Netsanet Demissie incited violence and the judges convicted them on the basis of the testimonies of two witnesses whose credibility was doubtful and strongly contested by the defence. The Ethiopian government barred representatives from Amnesty International from observing the trial in July 2007.

Amnesty International welcomed the releases, but said that the two prisoners of conscience should be compensated for the time they spent in prison.

"These two men did not commit any acts for which they need to seek pardon," said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.

“They were prisoners of conscience, detained and convicted solely for their peaceful work as human rights defenders. They should have their convictions unconditionally pardoned, and should receive compensation for the period they were unfairly imprisoned.”

Time to release Aung San Suu Kyi

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:59:06 +0000

There are more than 1,850 known political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the best-known.

The co-founder of Myanmar's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi is also one of the country's best-known political figures and campaigners for human rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement since 1989, all aimed at preventing her from becoming the national leader of Myanmar. She has been under house arrest since July 2003.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also a member of the global Elders but, because she is under strict house arrest, she cannot join them in their international work celebrating and promoting the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her continued absence is a powerful reminder of the unrelenting repression in Myanmar and what must be done to make human rights a reality.

For more information about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and three other prisoners of conscience from different generations, please see:
Myanmar: Eighteen years of persecution

Tension in Tibet as police raid homes

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:42:21 +0000

Chinese police are sweeping through the homes of Lhasa residents in search of people involved in recent protests in the city.

While streets in the Tibetan capital are reported to be quiet and empty, there are continued reports of unrest in neighbouring Chinese provinces with large populations of Tibetans. According to reports from the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, hundreds of Tibetans converged on the streets in Kardze County, Sichuan Province, with the situation reported to be extremely tense. There were also reports of demonstrations in Gansu province.

The atmosphere in Lhasa has been reported by some to be “terrifying”, with police and soldiers conducting house-to-house searches and taking people into custody. There is now great concern for the well-being of those detained.

The government imposed a deadline of midnight on Monday 17 March for individuals involved in the protests to turn themselves in, threatening to “severely punish” those who failed to do so. Eyewitnesses have reported that some individuals are being dragged out of their homes and Tibetans who have pictures of the Dalai Lama in their homes are being taken away.

Official Chinese sources say 13 "innocent civilians" have been killed by the Tibetan rioters. Tibetan exile sources say 99 Tibetans have been killed by the armed police forces.

The Chinese authorities have imposed a near-total block on information from Tibet and the surrounding areas. The authorities have also cut off internet and mobile phone connections within Tibet. When foreign news reports about Tibet come up on foreign news broadcasting in China, they are censored - the screen going black.

Amnesty International has called on the Chinese authorities to avoid the use of excessive force in restoring order.

"The authorities must also fully account for all those detained, ensuring they are not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, have access to lawyers and medical care, are brought promptly before an independent court and are able to challenge their detention," said Catherine Baber, Acting Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme.

"China must allow full and unimpeded access to Tibet and other Tibetan areas to journalists and other independent observers as well as allowing independent UN investigation into the events of the last week."

Early release for Belarusian newspaper journalist

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:05:08 +0000

A former deputy editor of a Belarusian newspaper has been released early from prison. On 22 February 2008, the Supreme Court of Belarus commuted Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou's three-year prison sentence to three months.

This decision resulted in his immediate release from the high security prison where he was being held. Amnesty International has welcomed his release, but called for his conviction to be overturned.

Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou, former deputy editor of Zhoda (Today) newspaper, was sentenced by a Minsk city court on 18 January 2008. He had been found guilty of "inciting racial, national, or religious enmity or discord" according to Article 130.1 of the Belarusian Criminal Code.

He was sentenced for publishing the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 in an article reporting the protests following their original publication in Denmark in September 2005. Amnesty International regarded Alyaksandr Zdzvizhkou a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Kenyan activists receive death threats

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:28:53 +0000

Amnesty International has called for the protection of several Kenyan human rights activists who have received death threats in the last two weeks.

All but one of the group are of Kikuyu ethnicity and it is believed fellow Kikuyus have sent the threats, which include accusations that the activists are "traitors" to their ethnicity.

The nine people - some of whom are prominent of local human rights organizations - have received a series of anonymous SMS messages, phone calls and emails. They are now taking precautions for their safety, by moving house and not making public statements.

The activists have all spoken out against what they believe to be irregularities in Kenya’s recent elections. They have also been openly critical of the human rights abuses being committed by police and armed gangs – including Kikuyu gangs – throughout the country.

Four of the activists are named in an anonymously-authored leaflet circulated within the Kikuyu community. It lists more than 25 people by name, calling them "traitors [who] live among us in peace", and issues a veiled threat that they should be killed.

Amnesty International calls on the Kenyan government to ensure the safety and protection of all human rights activists in Kenya. It must investigate the threats and bring those found responsible to justice.

Video: The origami cranes' journey to Belarus

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:41:54 +0000

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When a Belarusian youth activist, Zmitser Dashkevich, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for "organizing or participating in activities of an unregistered organization" in November 2006, Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience. He became the subject of a global action during which Amnesty International members, youth groups and supporters sent over 10,000 origami cranes to the authorities.

A giant crane was created by Amnesty International youth members at the ICM in Mexico and sent to the Ministry of the Interior in Belarus, but the package was refused at the border. The crane was then sent to the local human rights NGO, Vyasna, who successfully delivered the crane to the Ministry.

Zmitser Dashkevich was released early from Sklou prison in Belarus on Wednesday, 23 January.

Belarusian youth activist freed

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:12:34 +0000

The Belarusian youth activist, Zmitser Dashkevich, has been released early from Sklou prison in Belarus. Zmitser was the subject of a global Amnesty International action last year calling for his release.

In an interview shortly after his release, Zmitser said that he thought his early release was due to international pressure.

The first Zmitser's friends knew about his release was when he phoned them from Sklou post office on Wednesday. He then made his way home alone by train. His parents had suspected that an early release might be possible when prison authorities rejected their last food parcel for him.

A leader of the Young Front, Zmitser Dashkevich was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for "organizing or participating in activities of an unregistered organization" in November 2006. He was due to be released on March 15.

Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience. He became the subject of a global action during which Amnesty International members, youth groups and supporters sent over 10,000 origami cranes to the authorities.

A giant crane was created by Amnesty International youth members at the ICM in Mexico and sent to the Ministry of the Interior in Belarus, but the package was refused at the border. The crane was then sent to the local human rights NGO, Vyasna, who successfully delivered the crane to the Ministry.

Free imprisoned trade unionists

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:01:44 +0000

Two days after Tran Quoc Hien was chosen as spokesperson for the United Workers-Farmers Organization (UWFO) in January 2007, he was arrested. The legal consultant only took the job because four other leaders had been arrested before the start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Viet Nam in November 2006.

The Vietnamese authorities allege Tran Quoc Hien "joined reactionary organizations through the internet", and that "[u]nder the guise of helping members of the public lodge petitions" he and his accomplices incited demonstrations and posted "distorted" articles on the Internet.

He was also accused of being a member of Bloc 8406, an Internet-based pro-democracy movement calling for peaceful political change and respect for human rights. On 15 May 2007, Tran Quoc Hien was sentenced to five years' imprisonment plus two years' probation. Amnesty International does not know where he is.

The four UWFO leaders, Nguyen Tan Hoanh, Tran Thi Le Hang, Doan Huy Chuong and his father Doan Van Dien, are believed to be held at B5 prison camp in Dong Nai province. Amnesty International does not know when they might be tried or on what charges.

UWFO aims to protect and promote workers' rights, including the right to form and join trade unions without government interference. The organization also calls for justice for people whose land and property have been unlawfully confiscated by government officials, and for an end to exploitation of cheap labour and dangerous working conditions.

Viet Nam does not allow independent trade unions. Peaceful dissenting activists and government critics face arrest, imprisonment, house arrest, surveillance and harassment.