A court in Sichuan Province convicted ten petitioners and rights defenders of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order” in connection with a February 2009 protest they staged to draw attention to their previously unanswered petitions. The sentences, issued by the Shizhong District People’s Court of Leshan (乐山市市中区法院), came just two days after the release of a government white paper on human rights stating that a 2.7 percent drop in the number of petitions in 2009 over the previous year indicated human rights progress.

The defendants are Bao Junsheng (鲍俊生), Liu Jiwei (刘继伟), Zeng Li (曾理), Yang Jiurong (杨久荣), Zeng Rongkang (曾荣康), Xu Chongli (徐崇丽), Huang Xiaomin (黄晓敏), Yan Wenhan (严文汉), Xing Qingxian (幸清贤), and Lu Dachun (陆大春). Most of them are victims of forced eviction, inadequate compensation for land requisitioned by government authorities, and other injustices, and have been petitioning various authorities for several years for redress.

The sentences range from a three-year prison term to one year of surveillance by public security authorities. At trial, all but one of the defendants maintained their innocence, and asserted that the right to express their grievances through protest and the right to freedom of expression are guaranteed by Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution. (See below for a detailed list of the sentences.)

On Februrary 23, 2009, six of the defendants – Bao, Liu, Zeng, Yang, Zeng, and Xu – staged a protest outside the gate of the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court (成都市中级人民法院). Several dozen other petitioners joined them. Bao, Liu, and others hung banners from the top of the 3U Department Store (三友百货) across from the court and made gestures to jump from the building. Other protestors carried placards and wore paper hats emblazoned with the words “defend rights” (维权) and “injustice” (冤). The protestors used iron chains to link themselves together in front of the gate of the court. As a result, the incident has come to be known as the “Chain Gate” case.

The other four defendants – Huang, Yan, Xing, and Lu – helped spread the news of the protest by taking photos and videos and writing a report that they circulated online on overseas websites such as 64 Tianwang (64tianwang.com), Chinese Human Rights Defenders (crd-net.org), and Boxun (boxun.com). The photos and videos show a peaceful protest. (See below for links to the photos and videos.)

Ran Tong (冉彤), the lawyer for Lu, who received a two-year sentence, said: “The only weapon that [my client] had was the constitutional right to freedom of expression and to supervise and criticize the government. Depriving him of this weapon runs contrary to the promise made by our premier Wen Jiabao that the government ‘should create opportunities for the people to supervise and criticize the government’ (应该创造机会让人民监督和批评政府).”

Huang Xiaoqin (黄晓芹), the sister of Huang Xiaomin (黄晓敏), a rights defense activist, said that her brother intends to appeal. “They gave him such a heavy sentence [two years and six months] because he was the one who broke the story of the protest on the Internet, and that enraged the authorities.”

“Among the netizen comments we have seen in reaction to the Chinese government’s just-released Human Rights White Paper, by far the greatest number expressed dismay and disbelief at the claim that a decline in the number of petitions is an indication of human rights progress in China. This case perhaps shows us the real reason contributing to the decline,” said Sharon Hom, HRIC Executive Director. “Instead of addressing the grievances of petitioners, the authorities simply lock them away.”

For videos and photos of the February 23, 2009 protest, see:

• Video of the protest (youtube.com)
• Images and video of the protest (dutianya.com)

For more information on the Chain Gate case, see:

• Shizhong District People’s Procuratorate of Leshan Indictment (Chinese)
• Defense Plea by Lu Dachun’s attorney, Ran Tong (Chinese)
• Defense Plea by Yan Wenhan’s attorney, Zheng Jianwei (Chinese)