Public Appeals

In this open statement (Chinese only), 65 Chinese citizens, including university professor Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明) and noted activist Hu Jia (胡佳), urge that China’s 205 highest-ranking officials disclose their assets and income, along with that of their spouses and children, for public scrutiny during the 2013 National People’s Congress as concrete actions to combat corruption. These 205 officials are those at the ministerial level and above. Ai et al state that the new leaders of the Party have emphasized their resolve to fight corruption and note that history has long proven that disclosing officials’ assets is one of the best ways to do this. They also point out that their proposal keeps with the constitutional provision guaranteeing the right of citizens to criticize and make suggestions to any state organs and officials.

This signature campaign (Chinese Original) to appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia begins circulating as the second anniversary of the Prize approaches. Liu is serving the fourth year of his 11-year prison term and is the only Nobel Peace Prize laureate in prison. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under unlawful to house arrest for more than two years, with two female police officers monitoring her around-the-clock.

The Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL) system allows authorities to order minor offenders to labor camp for up to four years without trial and has been increasingly criticized in recent years. On August 14, 2012, ten lawyers including prominent rights defense lawyer Li Fangping (李方平) sent a proposal (Chinese only) to the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Public Security demanding reform of the RTL system.

On April 17, 2012, police officer Zhang Jingbo, an armed policeman, was dismissed from his position in the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Armed Police Motor Vehicle Squadron due to “demolition problems related to his family.”

Online activist and writer Lü Gengsong (吕耿松) filed this complaint against the Zhejiang Police College with the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Public Security. Lü, who had been employed by the college in 1983-1993, details the college’s refusal to let him purchase the apartment that the college had previously assigned to him, while still allowing other former employees to participate in the purchase program.

[Zhu Yufu] In the statement (in Chinese), the Beijing-based dissident Zha Jianguo denounced the heavy prison term given to Zhu Yufu, the Zhejiang based dissident who was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of deprivation of political rights for “inciting subversion of state power.” Zha cited a saying attributed to Alexander Dubček, the Czech reformist leader during Prague Spring: “They may crush the flowers, but they can’t stop the spring.”

This essay issued by China Human Rights Watch Chairman Qin Yongmin on behalf of a Wuhan University professor analyzes the many political and social problems in Chinese society today, and in particular those related to education, the area that the author is most familiar with. The author believes that political reform is the key to solving these problems, and proposes setting up special political and economic reform zones in moderately or highly developed regions as testing grounds.

This is the twelfth time since 1995 that Ding and members of the Tiananmen Mothers have written to the NPC and CPPCC asking for a solution to the “June Fourth” problem. The open letter states that 22 years have passed and the NPC, the most powerful institution, continues to not discuss or examine the massacre. However, the group says, “Historical debts must still be paid; what this generation does not pay the next one must. This is an unmovable principle.” The open letter reiterates the appeal over all these years – truth, compensation, and accountability – and requests that the NPC use legislative and judicial means to solve the “June Fourth” problem. In conclusion, the open letter asks: “Ten years have gone by, twenty years have gone by, do we need to wait thirty, fifty years …?”

On January 18, Hu Jintao will visit the United States, where, among other topics, the two governments will discuss human rights issues. Because of China’s continuous acts of “enforced disappearance,” “torture,” and other acts against dissidents, China’s many rights defense lawyers jointly issue this open letter, entitled “The State’s Respect for and Protection of Human Rights Begins with the Strict Prohibition of Torture.”

Since 1995, the Tiananmen Mothers have publicly addressed every session of the “Two Congresses” to present their appeal.

Citizens’ Proposal

An Appeal to Chinese Government to Release Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia—Global Signature Campaign

Lawyers Propose Reform of Reeducation-Through-Labor System

Complaint and Petition Regarding a Violent Demolition in Nantong, Jiangsu

A Protest against Zhejiang Police College’s Political Persecution and Violation of My Rights as a Citizen

Statement by Zha Jianguo on Zhu Yufu’s Heavy Sentence

Rage! Rage! Rage! Refuting Xinhua’s Investigative Report into the Beating of Pregnant Lawyers by Bailiffs Incident

Rage! Rage! Rage! Refuting Xinhua’s Investigative Report into the Beating of Pregnant Lawyers by Bailiffs Incident

A Clarification and Statement Regarding the Beating of Eight Lawyers from the Jiaxu Law Firm of Heilongjiang by Daoli District Court Bailiffs

A Call for President Hu Jintao and Vice-Chairman Xi Jinping to Follow Deng Xiaoping's Theory to Setup Special Political Reform Zones

Open Letter: Time Waits for No One

The State’s Respect for and Protection of Human Rights Begins with the Strict Prohibition of Torture

Detained 24 Hours in Shanghai on the Way to the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony – An Open Letter to the Australian Foreign Minister

“We Must Let ‘June Fourth’ Become a Topic of Public Discussion in the Media and on the Internet” (Tiananmen Mothers)

Please Show Courage, Break the Taboo, Face "June Fourth" Head On (Tiananmen Mothers)

Open Letter to Central Government Seeking Right of Economic Redress for June Fourth Victims

Letter to President Obama

HRIC Publications