China
05.04.04
Urgent Interventions
China: harsh sentence imposed on Ma Yalian, Internet dissident
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
CHN 002/0304/OBS021
Detention/Prison sentence
China
April 5, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in China.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders would like to express its deep concern over the harsh sentence imposed on Ma Yalian because of articles she posted on the Internet exposing human rights violations of people petitioning the government over social injustice and illegal acts.
According to Human Rights in China (HRIC), on March 16, 2004, the Shanghai’s RTL Administrative Committee sentenced Ms. Ma Yalian to one and a half years of Reeducation Through Labor (RTL). The decision claimed that “from July 2003 until February 2004, Ma Yalian on numerous occasions posted on chineselawyer.com.cn, dajiyuan.com and other Websites, articles falsely accusing the Shanghai authorities of causing her physical injury.” The decision also stated that Ma Yalian had “turned petitioning into pestering.”
Reportedly, the main reason for Ma’s arrest was an article she posted on several Websites entitled, “A True Record of Being Turned Away from the National Petitions and Letters Office and the Petitions Bureau of the National People’s Congress.” In this article Ma Yalian provides an eyewitness account of physical abuse endured by petitioners from police and officials outside of Beijing’s main petitions offices. The article includes accounts by many petitioners describing their brutal treatment at the hands of the authorities, providing the names, places of origin and dates of incident. Also included are accounts of petitioners who committed suicide outside of the petitions offices. Ma Yalian describes her own experience of physical abuse and humiliation at the petitions offices.
Ma Yalian had spent many years petitioning the authorities over her forcible removal during an urban redevelopment clearance in Shanghai. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau previously sentenced her to one year of RTL in August 2001 for her efforts. While serving that RTL sentence, Ma Yalian had both her legs broken by police. She has been physically disabled ever since.
By criticising the petition system in China, Ma Yalian was advocating for the respect of the right to an effective remedy for acts violating the fundamental rights, enshrined in Article 8 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as well as Article 2.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The sentencing of Ma Yalian consequently violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, notably its Article 6 which states that “[e]veryone has the right, individually and in association with others, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms [as well as] to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, though these and appropriate means, to draw attention to those matters”.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of China, urging them to:
i. Release immediately and unconditionally Ma Yalian and guarantee her physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances.
ii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations' General Assembly on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1, which states that " everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels ", and its article 6 mentioned above.
iii. Conform with the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and with the other international instruments binding China.
Addresses:
President Hu Jintao, People's Republic of China, c/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008, USA, Fax: +01 202 588-0032
President Hu Jintao, People's Republic of China, c/o Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Genève, Suisse, Fax: +4122 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Fusen Buzhang, Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65 292345
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn
Ambassadeur, Sha Zukang, Mission permanente de la Rép. Pop. De Chine, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int, Fax : +4122 793.70.14
Paris, Geneva, April 5, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders, and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and Fax: FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / 01 43 55 18 80
OMCT: +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
CHN 002/0304/OBS021
Detention/Prison sentence
China
April 5, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in China.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders would like to express its deep concern over the harsh sentence imposed on Ma Yalian because of articles she posted on the Internet exposing human rights violations of people petitioning the government over social injustice and illegal acts.
According to Human Rights in China (HRIC), on March 16, 2004, the Shanghai’s RTL Administrative Committee sentenced Ms. Ma Yalian to one and a half years of Reeducation Through Labor (RTL). The decision claimed that “from July 2003 until February 2004, Ma Yalian on numerous occasions posted on chineselawyer.com.cn, dajiyuan.com and other Websites, articles falsely accusing the Shanghai authorities of causing her physical injury.” The decision also stated that Ma Yalian had “turned petitioning into pestering.”
Reportedly, the main reason for Ma’s arrest was an article she posted on several Websites entitled, “A True Record of Being Turned Away from the National Petitions and Letters Office and the Petitions Bureau of the National People’s Congress.” In this article Ma Yalian provides an eyewitness account of physical abuse endured by petitioners from police and officials outside of Beijing’s main petitions offices. The article includes accounts by many petitioners describing their brutal treatment at the hands of the authorities, providing the names, places of origin and dates of incident. Also included are accounts of petitioners who committed suicide outside of the petitions offices. Ma Yalian describes her own experience of physical abuse and humiliation at the petitions offices.
Ma Yalian had spent many years petitioning the authorities over her forcible removal during an urban redevelopment clearance in Shanghai. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau previously sentenced her to one year of RTL in August 2001 for her efforts. While serving that RTL sentence, Ma Yalian had both her legs broken by police. She has been physically disabled ever since.
By criticising the petition system in China, Ma Yalian was advocating for the respect of the right to an effective remedy for acts violating the fundamental rights, enshrined in Article 8 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as well as Article 2.3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The sentencing of Ma Yalian consequently violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, notably its Article 6 which states that “[e]veryone has the right, individually and in association with others, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms [as well as] to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, though these and appropriate means, to draw attention to those matters”.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of China, urging them to:
i. Release immediately and unconditionally Ma Yalian and guarantee her physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances.
ii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the United Nations' General Assembly on 9 December 1998, in particular its article 1, which states that " everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels ", and its article 6 mentioned above.
iii. Conform with the provisions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and with the other international instruments binding China.
Addresses:
President Hu Jintao, People's Republic of China, c/o Embassy of the People's Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008, USA, Fax: +01 202 588-0032
President Hu Jintao, People's Republic of China, c/o Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Genève, Suisse, Fax: +4122 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Fusen Buzhang, Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65 292345
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People's Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn
Ambassadeur, Sha Zukang, Mission permanente de la Rép. Pop. De Chine, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int, Fax : +4122 793.70.14
Paris, Geneva, April 5, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a joint FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders, and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and Fax: FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / 01 43 55 18 80
OMCT: +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29