Special Series on Human Rights & the Olympics

In the “Special Series on Human Rights & the Olympics”, CHRD publishes in-depth studies as part of its campaign to push for human rights improvement, raising international attention to rights abuses related to official preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The reports in this series include:

Published reports: 

• Dancing in Shackles: A Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2007)  

http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200805/20080501034205_8531.html

Published on April 30, 2008

Dancing in Shackles: A Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2007) finds the liberties and personal security necessary for human rights defenders to promote and protect human rights under attack in 2007. The report examines in detail the situation regarding the rights to freedom of expression and of association and assembly, basic rights singled out by the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders as essential to the work and protection of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). The report analyses the political persecution of human rights defenders as well as the continued development of the nascent civil rights movement, 'weiquan yundong”. It also points out especially worrying trends in 2007 which included (1) the use of laws, especially the crime of “inciting subversion of state power”, to punish individuals exercising the right to freedom of expression, (2) arbitrary detention in extra-judicial facilities such as RTL and “black jails”, and (3) targeted persecution of leading rural and labor organizers, human rights lawyers, and independent writers and journalists.

·      Silencing Complaints: Human Rights Abuses Against Petitioners in China http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200803/20080314221750_8056.html

Published on March 11, 2008

This report is based on the first report on the human rights situation of petitioners researched and written by veteran petitioners themselves as well as activists who have assisted them. It uncovers a complex extra-legal system run by the Chinese government to intercept, confine, and punish petitioners in order to control and silence them, often employing brutal means. The interception of petitioners violates a number of basic human rights. The report identifies the main causes of the human rights abuses committed against the petitioners, traces the legal or official justifications for these practices in relevant laws and regulations, and proposes policy and legal reforms to eradicate these abuses.

• “Inciting Subversion of State Power”: A Legal Tool for Prosecuting Free Speech in China

http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200801/20080108225721_7032.html

Published on January 8, 2008

This report focuses on the use of Article 105(2) of the Chinese Criminal Code, which stipulates the crime of “inciting subversion of state power”, by Chinese authorities to persecute individuals for exercising basic human rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression. CHRD has documented 41 cases in which Article 105(2) has been used to detain, imprison or send individuals to Re-education through Labor (RTL) camp solely for exercising their rights. 

l  “Journey to the Heart of Internet Censorship: an Investigative Report”

http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200710/20071026101949_6125.html

Published together with RSF in October 2007

This report by a Chinese technician working in the internet sector lifts the veil on appalling practices in China that make it one of the World Wide Web's most repressive countries. The report examines the supervisory bodies which control the internet and the mechanisms under which they purge the web of information that embarrass the government, such as by issuing bans and instructions to leading commercial websites. In turn, websites practices self-censorship by blocking sensitive 'key-words' in order to avoid fines and other punishments. The report also makes a number of suggestions to help those in China to avoid censorship by the government.

     ●  “Black Jails” in the Host City of the “Open Olympics”  

http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200709/20070921161949_5739.html

Published on September 21, 2007

On September 21, CHRD issued its report on black jails, secret detention and interrogation centers in Beijing set up by officials from provincial and municipal governments to control the flow of petitioners coming to the capital. As the 17^th Communist Party Congress and the 2008 Olympics near, petitioners seeking justice are being targeted as troublemakers and subjected to even more injustice. They are intercepted on the streets and incarcerated in the liaison offices of the provincial and municipal governments or in rented spaces. They can be jailed for days or months, are poorly fed, and held incommunicado, without proper sanitation facilities or health care. They are often beaten or mistreated by officials or staff of the liaison offices.

Forthcoming reports will focus on the following issues:

• Telecommunications control and surveillance in China
• China’s Re-education through Labor system
• Print media censorship in China
• The implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture by the Chinese government

The Chinese version of the Special Series on Human Rights & the Olympics is available here: 人权与奥运特别系列报告.