Joint Statement to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun

Open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the
Massive Wave of Arrests of Human Rights Lawyers

His Excellency Mr Xi Jinping, The President
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
People's Republic of China

His Excellency Mr. Guo Shengkun
Minister of Public Security 
No.14, Donchang’anjie,
Dongchengqu, Beijing 100741
People’s Republic of China
Email:  [email protected]

Your Excellency,

Re: The recent arrest of a large group of human rights lawyers in China

The undersigned organizations strongly condemn the recent unprecedented and seemingly well-coordinated detention of a large number of human rights lawyers in China. It followed the disap-pearance  of Lawyer Wang Yu on 9 July 2015 and included inter alia: 

• the criminal detention of lawyers and legal assistants Wang Yu (王宇), Zhou Shifeng (周世鋒), Wang Quanzhang (王全璋), Huang Liqun (黃力群), Sui Muqing (隋牧青)and Xie Yang (谢阳), Bao Longjun (包龍軍), Liu Sixin (劉四新), Ge Ping (戈平) and Li Heping (李和平);
• searching of the offices of Fengrui Law Firm (锋锐) and of Xiyuanwang (洗冤网), a network set up to work on wrongful criminal conviction cases, in Beijing. 

As of 19 July 2015, a total of  at least 233 lawyers,  law firm staff, and human rights defenders have been detained, arrested, held incommunicado, summoned, or otherwise had their freedom temporarily restricted.

Many of those detained were part of a group of over 100 lawyers and rights activists who signed a public statement on 9 July 2015 condemning Wang Yu’s disappearance.

Furthermore we have noted that official media reports have pro-actively portrayed a number of detained ‘suspects’ as criminals, including a recent CCTV 13 news report describing recent human rights lawyer advocacy campaigns as ‘rights-defence-style trouble-making’ (‘维权式’滋事). 

These events make it impossible to take President's Xi Jinping’s recent claims to be promoting the rule of law seriously, as they rigorously violate many international standards, including but not lim-ited to: the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders), and the UN Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment.

All these lawyers, law firm staff and human rights defenders who have been arbitrarily deprived of their liberty should be immediately released. If they are not immediately released, we urgently request that you immediately confirm the whereabouts of those currently in detention and that you ensure that they have prompt and regular access to their lawyers and family.

Furthermore we request that those arrested will be protected from any future control measures typically used against human rights lawyers in China such as: tracking and following; violent attacks; soft detention; ‘being travelled’;  being asked to have ‘chats’; being placed under criminal, adminis-trative, or judicial detention; being subjected to enforced disappearance, torture or psychiatric incarceration.

We request your urgent attention for this matter and will continue to closely monitor the fate of the lawyers concerned in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Lawyers for Lawyers
Lawyers Rights Watch Canda
The Law Society of England and Wales
International Commission of Jurists
Rechters Voor Rechters (Judges for Judges)
European Criminal Bar Association
Ordre des Avocats de Geneve
Amsterdamse Ordre Van Advocaten
Soliciters International Human Rights Group
Freedom House
Syndicat Des Avocats de France
Deutscher Anwalt Verein
Association of Liberatrian Jurists 
European Democratic Laywers
Fisher Jones Greenwood Soliciters
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Asociacion Libre de Abogados 
International Service for Human Rights
Bar Council of Ireland Human Rights Committee 
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
International Federation for Human Rights

C.C:     His Excellency Mr Xu CHEN
      Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
             Willem Lodewijklaan 10 
     2517 JT The Hague, The Netherlands                                          
     Email: [email protected]

C.C:      His Excellency Mr. Aart Jacobi
     Ambassador of  the Kingdom of the Netherlands  in Beijing
     4 Liangmahe South Rd. 
     Chaoyang district
     100600 Beijing,  People’s Republic of China                         
     Email: [email protected]

C.C:     His Excellency Ambassador Wu Hailong
     Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations in Geneva
     11, chemin de Surville 1213 Petit-Lancy,
     Geneva, Switzerland
     Email: [email protected]

C.C:      Mr. Wang Junfeng
     All China Lawyers Association
     5/F., Qinglan Plaza
     No. 24, Dongsishitiao, 
      Dongchengqu, Beijing 100007,  People’s Republic of China

C.C:    Mr. David Kaye
      Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
    Palais des Nations
    CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
    Email: [email protected]

C.C:     Mr Michel Forst
    Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
    Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Palais Wilson
    United Nations Office at Geneva
    CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
    Email: [email protected]

C.C:    Ms. Mónica Pinto
Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
8-14 Avenue de la Paix 1211
Geneva 10, Switzerland
E-mail: [email protected]

C.C:      Mr. Bert Koenders
             Minister of Foreign Affairs        
    Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Bezuidenhoutseweg 67
    2594 AC The Hague, The Netherlands
    Email: [email protected]

C.C:      Mr. Kees van Baar
    Human  Right  Ambassador with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Bezuidenhoutseweg 67
    2594 AC The Hague, The Netherlands
    Email: [email protected]