Statement by the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
In response to the Review of China’s 6th Periodic Report
on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by the 56th Session of the UN Committee Against Torture
(22 November 2015, Hong Kong) The review of China’s 6th periodic report on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) by the Committee Against Torture (the Committee) took place on 17th and 18th November 2015 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the European office of the United Nations.
The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (the Concern Group) welcomes the many questions pertinently raised by the Committee on the persecution of human rights lawyers and activists in China. Queries were made not only the general presence of torture and inhuman treatments in the country, but also on the lack of definition of torture as well as of effective protection and preventive measures against it. More precisely, the Committee highlighted issues regarding the defective judicial system, the length of pre-trial detention, extra-judicial measures, arbitrary forms of detention, and the lack of independence of court, for instances, and the victimisation which subject rights lawyers to the risks of torture and abuses.
The Committee experts also made special reference to the crackdowns of rights lawyers that have taken place since 9 July with trenchant queries on all breaches of the due process and on the use of residential surveillance at designated location as an arbitrary form of detention.
The Concern Group has however found it deeply regrettable that in face of concerns raised, the Chinese delegation has failed to effectively answer any of the questions posted by the Committee, if not just repeating the laws on paper, or making attempts to mislead and confuse.
“The questions put forward show that the Committee has a good grasp on the dire situation in the country,” remarked Y.L. Cheung, vice-chairperson of the Concern Group who also attended the review session. “The prohibition of torture is absolute in international public law and must be enforced at all times and in all circumstances. In China, there are an ample amount of cases to be answered. Unless the Chinese government is ready to seriously take on concrete measures to address the concerns of the Committee, any legal reform in the country will be deemed futile.”
The Concern Group iterates its apprehension for the personal safety and mental as well as physical well-beings of all the human rights lawyers, paralegals and activists having been detained but without access to or deprived their right of meeting with their legal representatives both before and after the crackdowns in July. [1] Past experiences show that detention incommunicado of this kind has always been the circumstance in which the worst and most sinister form of torture, abuses and degrading treatments would possibly take place.
The Concern Group urges the UN Committee Against Torture to, besides recommending actions for longer term reforms and improvements as noted in the CHRLCG submission on CAT, also call upon the Chinese government for immediate disclosure of the whereabouts of all the individuals noted here above, and immediate measures should also be taken to ensure their personal safety, their mental and physical integrity as well as their legal rights to meet lawyers and families.
Attachments:
- The CHRLCG Submission to the 56th session of the UN Committee Against Torture
- An Overview of Torture Cases of Lawyers in China (2006-2015) for the occasion of the 2015 “United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture”
- Summary of Cases Updates for the 7.09 Crackdowns http://chrlawyers.hk/sites/default/files/20151120%20case%20details.pdf
- Legal Irregularities noted in the 7.09 Crackdowns http://chrlawyers.hk/en/content/illegality-chinese-authorities-%E2%80%9C709-crackdown%E2%80%9D