Excerpted from Washington Post:
Human Rights in China, the U.S.-based advocacy group, denounced the bureau's decision against the two lawyers as an attempt by the Chinese government to discourage lawyers from representing people who have human rights complaints. China cannot claim to enjoy rule of law unless lawyers are genuinely allowed to defend those accused of crimes, the group said.
"The targeting of lawyers who take cases deemed sensitive by the authorities makes a mockery of rule of law and newly effective amendments to the Lawyers Law, which claims to protect the practice of law by lawyers," Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, said in a statement. "The politicized use of the annual registration system undercuts a critical component of any rule of law: independent and professional lawyers doing their jobs."
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For more information on this issue:
- HRIC Campaign:
Incorporating Responsibility 2008 Take Action Campaign - HRIC Statement:
Chinese Authorities Abuse Licensing System to Harass Rights Defenders - HRIC Press Release:
HRIC Deplores Intimidation of Rights Activists Ahead of U.S.-China Talks on Human Rights - HRIC Case Update:
Intruders Threaten to Beat Lawyer Zheng Enchong - HRIC Statement:
Chinese Authorities Target Lawyers Offering Legal Assistance to Tibetans - HRIC Press Advisory:
Chinese Lawyers Offer Legal Help to Detained Tibetans - China Rights Forum No. 1, 2008:
Gao Zhisheng’s A China More Just - Reviewed by Kerry Brown - HRIC Press Statement:
Five-Year Sentence of Olympics Critic Not Human Rights Progress - HRIC Press Advisory:
Petitioners Face Ongoing Abuse - HRIC Trends Bulletin:
Olympics and The Rule of Law: Lawyers in China - HRIC Press Advisory:
With Six-Month Olympic Countdown Looming, HRIC Calls on China to Release Chen Guangcheng - China Rights Forum No. 4, 2007:
The Real Situation in Pre-Olympics China - Teng Biao and Hu Jia give their views about the situation on the ground in the countdown to the Olympics.