http://jigiart.blogspot.com/2008/04/china-human-rights-fact-sheet-human.html
/19/2008
China Human Rights Fact Sheet
Human rights violations in the People's Republic of China (PRC) remain
systematic and widespread. The Chinese government continues to
suppress dissenting opinions and maintains political control over the
legal system, resulting in an arbitrary and sometimes abusive judicial
regime. The lack of accountability of the government and the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) means that abuses by officials often go
unchecked. This fact sheet identifies the most common types of abuses,
including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners,
severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association and
violations specific to women.
Controls on Expressions and Associations
Torture and Ill-Treatment of Prisoners
Lackof Judicial Independance and Due Process
Death Penalty
Tibet
Women
Resource List
CONTROLS ON EXPRESSIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS
The PRC detains individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of
association, freedom of religion and freedom of expression, including
the right to impart and receive information, and other basic rights.
The total number of persons in China detained without charge,
sentenced administratively to reeducation or reform camps, or held by
other means, solely for peacefully exercising these rights is unknown.
However, that figure is estimated to be far in excess of the
approximately 3,000 individuals that the PRC currently acknowledges
imprisoning for "counter-revolutionary" or political crimes. Many of
those detained are held under cir***stances that constitute clear
violations of due process. Such violations include lengthy detention
without charge or trial and depriving defendants of access to legal
counsel.
Restrictions on Independent Organizing: Although the Chinese
Constitution guarantees freedom of association and assembly, national
regulations severely limit association and give the authorities
absolute discretion to deny applications for public gatherings or
demonstrations. In practice, only organizations that are approved by
the authorities are permitted to exist, and any organization that is
not registered is considered "illegal." In this manner, independent
advocacy on labor, human rights, environmental, development or
political issues is effectively outlawed. The CCP-controlled labor
union and women and youth organizations are the only permitted avenues
for organizing in these areas. Unofficial labor groups have been a
particular target for suppression. In December 1994, the Beijing
Intermediate People's Court imposed severe sentences of between 15 and
20 years' imprisonment on three prisoners of conscience, convicted of
"leading counter-revolutionary organizations." The sentences, based on
the defendants' alleged formation of non-government-approved
organizations, were the harshest delivered to political dissidents in
recent years.
On 4 June, 1994, the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
crackdown, China promulgated new implementing regulations for the 1993
State Security Law. The repressive new measures threaten the few legal
means of operation left to democracy and human rights activists,
independent religious adherents and other independent voices, by
criminalizing: contact with and funding from foreign organizations
defined as "hostile"; the publication or dissemination of "written or
verbal speeches" or "using religion" to carry out activities "which
endanger state security;" and the creation of "national disputes." The
regulations also give state security officials virtually unlimited
power to detain individuals, confiscate property and determine what
constitutes a "hostile" organization.
Restrictions on Free Speech and the Media: Although the PRC's 1982
Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of expression and of the
press, its preamble mandates adherence to "four basic principles"--
the CCP's leader****p, socialism, dictator****p of the proletariat and
Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought. In practice, the PRC employs a
wide range of controls that violate the right to free expression and
interfere with independent media. These include severe restrictions on
contact between foreign news media and Chinese viewed by the
government as critical of the regime. An extensive censor****p
bureaucracy licenses all media outlets and publi****ng houses and must
approve all books before publication.
The primary mechanism of control over the news media and publi****ng is
self-censor****p. Chinese journalists, editors and publishers are
expected to make the information they disseminate conform to CCP
Propaganda Department guidelines. For example, news coverage is
required to be "80% positive and 20% negative." Sanctions for
infringements range from official criticism of the coverage to the
demotion, firing or imprisonment of the individuals responsible and
the closing or banning of the offending publication.
Dissidents who make their opinions known to the foreign media are
often subject to threats, detention, harassment, intensive
surveillance or imprisonment. During 1994, at least 20 Chinese
writers, journalists, editors and publishers were persecuted in
connection with their work. Also during the year, foreign
correspondents from the British Broadcasting Cor****ation, Newsweek,
Reuters, United Press International, The Wall Street Journal, The
Wa****ngton Post, U.S. television networks (NBC, CBS) and other foreign
media outfits were detained and interrogated by PRC police regarding
their work as journalists, including the interviewing of Chinese
dissidents and students and filming in Tiananmen Square. Police also
banned broadcasts of CNN in Beijing hotels for five days surrounding
the fifth anniversary of the 4 June 1989 military crackdown on
democracy demonstrators.
Suppression of Religious Freedom: The PRC prohibits all religious
activities outside establishments registered under the official
branches of four state-recognized religions (Buddhism, Taoism,
Christianity and Islam), established by the PRC government during the
1950s, through which Chinese and Tibetan religious adherents are
required to practice their faith. Individuals conducting or
participating in public wor****p without government authorization,
including Catholics loyal to the Vatican and Protestants who wor****p
in house churches, have been arrested, detained, placed under close
police surveillance or internal exile, fined and, in some cases,
tortured. PRC police have also confiscated religious literature and
church property, and human rights organizations have do***ented the
closure of hundreds of house churches since 1989.
China's laws restricting contact with foreign coreligionists,
prohibiting parents from exposing children under the age of 18 to
religion, and outlawing nongovernment-controlled churches violate the
UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. In January 1994, the PRC
government increased restrictions on religious practice by foreigners
in China through State Council Decrees 144 and 145. Decree 144 states
that foreign nationals may bring in religious materials only "for
their own use," and bans materials deemed "harmful to the public
interest." The decree also prohibits evangelizing, establi****ng
religious schools and other missionary activities. Decree 145 gives
authorities substantial leeway in restricting religious activities
deemed harmful to "national unity" or "social stability," and limits
the practice of religion by foreign nationals to state-sanctioned
places of wor****p.
Back to Top
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF PRISONERS
Torture of detainees is endemic in Chinese detention centers and
prisons. Although China became party to the UN Convention Against
Torture in 1988, the government has not taken effective measures to
diminish the risk of prisoners being tortured or ill-treated. Despite
strong evidence of torture in several cases of death in custody, state
prosecutors have refused to release autopsy results to families or to
initiate investigations. In many detention centers, beatings,
inadequate food and poor hygiene appear to be a routine part of the
process of eliciting confessions and compliance from detainees. Such
treatment is applied to ordinary prisoners as well as political
detainees.
According to prisoner re****ts, methods commonly used by guards
include: beatings using electric batons; rubber truncheons on hands
and feet; long periods in handcuffs and/or leg irons, often tightened
so as to cause pain; restriction of food to starvation levels; and
long periods in solitary confinement. Furthermore, corrupt authorities
at detention centers, prisons and labor camps have extorted large sums
of money from families of detainees for the state's provision of
"daily supplies" and "medical expenses."
Despite continuing efforts by the UN Special Rap****teur on Torture,
the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian
organizations, PRC officials have not agreed to allow open and
unannounced visits to prisoners. PRC authorities acknowledge that
there are some 1.2 million prisoners and detainees in China.
Back to Top
LACK OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDANCE AND DUE PROCESS
Few legal safeguards exist in China to ensure fair trials, and the
judicial system is controlled at every level by CCP political-legal
committees that may determine the outcome of cases before the court
hears evidence presented at trial. Legal scholars within China have
called for an end to this widespread practice of "verdict first, trial
second." With the political-legal committees exercising extensive
control, detainees are highly unlikely to receive fair, impartial
hearings that are free from official manipulation.
China's Criminal Procedure Law provides for detainees to have access
to lawyers no later than one week before trial. However, even this
minimal protection is not always observed. Prisoners typically cannot
call witnesses for the defense or question witnesses against them. In
politically sensitive cases, lawyers have been instructed that they
may enter a not-guilty plea only if they get approval from the
judicial administration. Even in death-penalty cases, appeals are
usually cursory, and defendants may have only several days to file an
appeal.
Arbitrary Detention: In addition to judicial convictions, PRC
authorities consistently use administrative procedures to detain
hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Tibetans each year.
Individuals sentenced administratively by police are not charged or
brought before a judge, thereby denying them access to a lawyer and
the right to defend themselves. The majority of these individuals are
ordinary people, but democracy and human rights activists, independent
religious adherents and worker-rights advocates are also frequently
detained in this way.
The most common forms of administrative detention are:
1) "reeducation through labor," under which police, without trial, can
send individuals to labor camps for up to four years; and
2) "shelter and investigation," under which police can detain people
without charge or trial for up to three months, a time limit that is
routinely ignored.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that the
practice of "reeducation through labor" is "inherently arbitrary" when
intended for "political and cultural rehabilitation." According to PRC
government sources, 100,000 people are sent to "reeducation through
labor" camps and one million are "sheltered" each year.
Conditional Releases with Continued Deprivation of Rights: The PRC
infrequently has released political prisoners of conscience before the
completion of their sentences, predominantly as a result of
international pressure. However, those released have been forced into
exile, subjected to continuing police surveillance and harassment or,
in some cases, detained again for alleged violations of the
restrictive conditions of parole or new "crimes" of free expression.
Many former prisoners of conscience are not granted the identity cards
necessary to gain employment or travel without express official
permission.
Back to Top
DEATH PENALTY
During the past two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the
use of the death penalty in China. This growth in the number of death
sentences and executions is partly due to anti-crime campaigns
launched by the government. Defendants can be put to death for
criminal offenses, including nonviolent property crimes such as theft,
embezzlement and forgery. In 1993, 77% of all executions worldwide
were carried out in China. On a single day, 9 January 1993, 356 death
sentences were handed down by Chinese courts; 62 executions took place
that day. During that year alone, 2,564 people were sentenced to
death. At least 1,419 of them are known to have been executed. The
total number of death sentences and executions is believed to be
higher. Defendants do not always have access to lawyers, and when a
lawyer is available, he or she usually has no more than one or two
days to prepare a defense. Death sentences have been imposed based on
forced confessions and are often decided in advance of the trial by
"adjudication committees," thereby cir***venting defendants' rights to
a fair and public hearing and presumption of innocence.
Back to Top
TIBET
In Tibet, hundreds of Tibetans have been incarcerated for peacefully
expressing their political and religious beliefs. Conditions in
prisons are re****ted to be dismal, with numerous accounts of torture
and ill-treatment. In particular, PRC law enforcement officials have
perpetrated violent acts against Tibetan women in detention centers
and prisons. Buddhist nuns and lay women have been subject to torture
or violent, degrading and inhuman treatment, including assault, rape
and ***ual abuse. In June 1994, one Tibetan nun died while in custody,
re****tedly as a result of a beating by guards. PRC authorities also
have severely restricted religious practice; out of the 6,000 Buddhist
monasteries that were destroyed by the PRC since its 1949 invasion of
Tibet, only a few hundred have been rebuilt.
PRC policies, including population transfers of hundreds of thousands
of Chinese into Tibet, threaten to make Tibetans a minority in their
own land and to destroy Tibetans' distinct national, religious and
cultural identity.
Back to Top
WOMEN
The Chinese Constitution and other laws provide equal rights for men
and women in all spheres of life, including owner****p of property,
inheritance and educational op****tunities. Equality between the ***es
has been a part of the CCP's agenda from its early days, and women's
rights are perceived to be in a separate category from human rights.
Therefore, women's organizations in China, even though they remain
under CCP control, are able to advocate effectively on some issues
involving abuses of women's human rights. However, when women's rights
or interests conflict with Party or government policy, the latter
takes precedence. This means, for example, that abuses related to the
family planning policy are not re****ted in the media or discussed
publicly. Information about other issues, such as the extent of
domestic violence, trafficking in women or abuses directed at
lesbians, is effectively prevented by the CCP's injunction that most
news should be positive. Thus, the controls on freedom of expression
and association, which so affect democracy and human rights activists,
have a strong impact on women's human rights as well.
Violence Against Women: According to some researchers, spousal abuse
is far too common and, in many parts of the country, still socially
acceptable. However, comprehensive statistics about the extent of
domestic violence are not available or have not been made public. The
official All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) has been studying this
problem and seeking solutions.
Few battered women have the op****tunity to escape abuse, because
shelters and other resources are not available. Women are under
considerable social pressure to keep families together regardless of
the cir***stances. Legal action is not taken against batterers unless
the victim initiates it, and if she withdraws her testimony, the
proceedings are ended.
Abduction and Trafficking of Women: Trafficking and sale of women as
brides or into prostitution is a serious problem in certain parts of
China, and Chinese women have been sold into brothels in Southeast
Asia. The PRC government has enacted various laws to combat the sale
of women, but the statistics released by the government do not
reliably indicate the scale of the problem. PRC officials stated that
there were 15,000 cases of kidnapping and trafficking in women and
children in 1993. Yet according to one estimate, 10,000 women were
abducted and sold in 1992 in Sichuan Province alone.
Until recently, the authorities have not prosecuted men who purchase
women as wives; thus, the trade has continued unabated. Official
action to rescue victims of trafficking is generally initiated only if
a complaint is made by the woman or her family. Local officials often
turn a blind eye, even formally registering marriages into which the
woman has been sold.
Discrimination in Employment and Education: The PRC ratified the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women in 1980 and enacted the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights
and Interests in 1992. However, open discrimination against women in
China has continued to grow during the period of reform of the last 15
years.
According to PRC government surveys, women's salaries have been found
to average 77% of men's, and most women employed in industry work in
low-skill and low-paying jobs. An estimated 70 to 80% of workers laid
off as a result of downsizing in factories have been women, and,
although women make up 38% of the work force, they are 60% of the
unemployed. At job fairs, employers openly advertise positions for men
only, and university campus recruiters often state that they will not
hire women. Employers justify such discrimination by saying that they
cannot afford the benefits they are required to provide for pregnant
women, nursing mothers and infants.
The pro****tion of women to men declines at each educational tier, with
women comprising some 25% of undergraduates in universities.
Institutions of higher education that have a large pro****tion of
female applicants, such as foreign language institutes, have been
known to require higher entrance exam grades from women.
Although China has a law mandating compulsory primary education,
increasing numbers of rural girls are not being sent to school. Rural
parents often do not want to "waste" money on school fees for girls
who will "belong" to another family when they marry. According to
official statistics, about 70% of illiterates in China are female.
Violations Resulting from Family Planning Policy: The Chinese
Constitution mandates the duty of couples to practice family planning.
Since 1979, the central government has attempted to implement a family
planning policy in China and Tibet that the government states is
"intended to control population quantity and improve its quality."
Central to this initiative is the "one child per couple" policy.
Central authorities have verbally condemned the use of physical force
in implementing the one-child policy; however, its implementation is
left to local laws and regulations.
To enforce compliance, local authorities employ incentives such as
medical, educational and housing benefits, and punishments including
fines, confiscation of property, salary cuts or even dismissal.
Officials also may refuse to issue residence cards to "out of plan"
children, thereby denying them education and other state benefits.
Methods employed to ensure compliance have also included the forced
use of contraceptives, primarily the I.U.D., and forced abortion for
pregnant women who already have one child. In Zheijang Province, for
example, the family planning ordinance states that "fertile couples
must use reliable birth control according to the provisions. In case
of pregnancies in default of the plan, measures must be taken to
terminate them." As an official "minority", Tibetans are legally
allowed to have more than one child. However, there have been re****ts
of forced abortions and sterilizations of Tibetan women who have had
only one child. There are also re****ts of widespread sterilization of
certain categories of women, including those suffering from mental
illness, retardation and communicable or hereditary diseases. Under
previous local regulations superseded by the 1994 Maternal and Infant
Health Care Law, such sterilization was mandatory in certain
provinces. Under the new law, certain categories of people still may
be prevented from bearing children.
Violations Against Female Children: The one-child policy, in
conjunction with the traditional preference for male children, has led
to a resurgence of practices like female infanticide, concealment of
female births and abandonment of female infants. Female children whose
births are not registered do not have any legal existence and
therefore may have difficulty going to school or receiving medical
care or other state services. The overwhelming majority of children in
orphanages are female and/or mentally or physically handicapped.
The one-child policy has also contributed to the practice of prenatal
*** identification resulting in the abortion of female fetuses.
Although the government has outlawed the use of ultrasound machines
for this purpose, physicians continue the practice, especially in
rural areas. Thus, while the average worldwide ratio of male to female
newborns is 105/100, Chinese government statistics show that the ratio
in the PRC is 114/100 and may be higher in some areas.
|
