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TAKE ACTION - Recommended Action Concerning Crackdown
on Chinese Lawyers
ITSN has devised some recommended action for groups
to take concerning the crackdown on Chinese lawyers.
Please find below background information about the
situation, recommended action and links to further information
regarding the situation.
Background:
The Chinese authorities have imposed a crackdown on
lawyers in China who had previously taken on sensitive
cases, including those of Tibetans who were charged
with taking part in the protests of March 2008.
At least 17 rights defense lawyers have not received
new licences to practice law; in effect they have been
disbarred.
Human Rights in China reported how the Chinese authorities
have engaged in individual harassment, detention and
house arrest to "launch an all-out attack"
on these and oth er lawyers. Affected lawyers (according
to the HRiC report) include Li Fangping (???), who is
representing Tibetan lama Phurbu Rinpoche: he is one
of a number of lawyers who has been put under surveillance
in recent days and required to take police cars when
he goes out.
In March 2009 it was reported that a Chinese court
had ordered a law firm which specialises in human rights
cases to close for six months. The law firm, Yitong
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitong_Law_Firm), had
defended some of the country's best-known dissidents,
including Hu Jia. The firm's managing partner, Li Jinsong,
said he believed the move was in retaliation to the
firm's call for direct elections to the state-controlled
Beijing Lawyers' Association.
Prior to this Gao Zhisheng, a high-profile, self-taught
advocate and Nobel peace prize nominee “disappeared”
after the police took him from his home. Zhis heng once
said of rights defense lawyers in China “every
human rights lawyer [in China] ends up as a human rights
case”.
On 4 June 2009, a group of Chinese rights defense lawyers
issued a statement warning "as the Chinese government
bears down heavy-handedly to rein in petitioning citizens,
free intellectuals, rights defenders, and religious
figures, it has … intensified its full-scale repression
of rights defence lawyers to an unprecedented degree.
The process of building a country ruled by law has suffered
a serious setback."
The suspension of rights defense lawyers sends a unsavoury
message to lawyers across China that the authorities
will not tolerate any perceived challenges to their
power. Those who are facing discrimination and harassment
are one of China's core strengths in the construction
of rule of law. International lawyers who believe in
the rule of law should be highly alarmed at this injustice
for the sake of safegua rding of the lawful rights and
interests of groups facing discrimination.
Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China
said “the authorities’ suppression of rights
defense lawyers using various excuses and procedural
obstacles, harassment, and intimidation is a great step
backward on the path toward rule of law. This suppression
will inevitably lead to grave consequences for society,
creating greater disadvantages for already persecuted
groups and greater social instability.”
Recommendations for Action:
ITSN urges all groups to ask lawyers' firms and groups
to support these lawyers in China. Making and maintaining
contact with lawyers' groups and human-rights oriented
law chambers/practices will have long term benefits
for the Tibet movement (for example later this year,
we will have political prisoner cases to ask them to
support). In the short-term, we appeal to lawyers' groups
to be advocates f or their courageous colleagues in
China.
* Encourage them to write to the Chinese authorities
c/o embassies with statements of concern, requesting
an immediate cessation of China's suppression of rights
defense lawyers. Call on China to allow these lawyers
to practice, and thereby safeguard the legal protection
of vulnerable groups. Ask them to copy their letters
to your national government.
* Encourage them to write an open letter to a national
newspaper expressing their concerns.
How to Find Sympathetic Lawyers:
Alan and Jose in Spain, and Tibet Justice Centre may
have some suggestions about how to find and build relationships
with lawyers' groups.
You may know individual lawyers already (some of you
have probably spoken at meetings hosted by or attended
by lawyers).
Your colleagues at human rights NGOs can probably make
an introduction, for example Amnesty International and
(in the UK), civil liberties campaign group Liberty
< A
href="http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/join/1-lawyers-for-liberty/index.shtml">http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/join/1-lawyers-for-liberty/index.shtml,
which has a membership scheme for lawyers.
Alternatively a search online for "human rights
lawyers" (restricting results to your country only)
will yield useful results. For example in the UK, there
is the Human Rights Lawyers Association,
http://www.hrla.org.uk/, and the International Law
Society, http://international.lawsociety.org.uk
Further background information and recommended reading:
Statement by lawyers from HRiC website:
http://www.hrichina.org/public/contents/press?revision_id=169806&item_id=169791
HRW reports:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/05/26/china-leading-civil-rights-lawyers-face-threats-licenses
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/04/27/china-restrictions-lawyers-fuel-unrest
News articles:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/08/china-lawyers-intimidation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/china-court-closes-law-firm
Li Fangping (defendant of Phurbu Rinpoche):
http://www.savetibet.org/media-center/ict-news-reports/chinese-lawyer-represents-tibetan-lama-trial-weapons-possession
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