October 11, 2015; updated on October 12
Beginning on July 9, 2015, human rights lawyers in China came under cruel assault. Bao Zhuoxuan (包卓轩), the 16-year-old son of disappeared rights lawyer Wang Yu (王宇) and activist Bao Longjun (包龙军) has been subjected to extralegal and inhumane treatement.
On July 9, Bao Zhuoxuan was intercepted and prevented from leaving China at the Beijing Airport, while witnessing his father being arrested. After that, he was put under surveillance at his grandmother’s home in Tianjin. Then he was sent to Inner Mongolia by the police, where he was made to study at a school the police designated, and monitored by local police while he did so. With his freedom limited and passport and other identification seized, he was unable to go to Australia for his study abroad program. Nor could he return to Beijing and live in his own home. He was even warned by police not to hire defense counsel for his parents.
Bao Zhuoxuan is not suspect of any crime, nor is he a criminal. The illegal measures taken by the Chinese police against this minor have violated the most basic human principles. Article II of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Chinese government is a signatory and ratifying party, says: “States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.” The police of China have followed, surveilled, and restricted the freedom of Bao Zhuoxuan. This not only violates international law, as well as China’s own provisions in the “Law on the Protection of Minors,” but also involves in the crime of abuse of power.
On October 6, Bao Zhuoxuan, along with Xing Qinxian (幸清贤) and Tang Zhishun (唐志顺), friends of Bao’s parents, disappeared in Myanmar, in a region along the border with China. Numerous signs indicate that China’s police have an unshirkable responsibility for the disappearance of Bao and his companions.
For this reason, we the undersigned lawyers now make the following demands:
- That the Chinese government, as a signatory to the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, guarantee the personal safety of Bao Zhuoxuan and others, assist the Myanmar government in expeditiously tracking their whereabouts, and notifying their relatives or guardians;
- The Chinese police, as one of the parties responsible for the disappearance of Bao Zhuoxuan and his companions, should ensure that the individuals inside the police force responsible for the incident be subject to the appropriate legal sanctions;
- Chinese police should immediately cease the harassment of Bao Zhuoxuan and the family members of other lawyers disappeared during the ongoing crackdown on lawyers that began on July 9. They should also cease illegally obstructing Chinese human rights lawyers and activists, and their family members, from leaving the country, and guarantee the right of Chinese citizens to exit and enter their homeland;
- The United Nations, governments around the world, and human rights organizations should express strong concern over the disappearance of Bao Zhuoxuan and others. They should fulfill their international obligations and protect the personal freedom and safety of Bao Zhuoxuan and his companions in Myanmar, and after they’ve left the Chinese border, so as to prevent unlawful infringements against them.
Signatories:
Yu Wensheng (Beijing) 余文生（北京)
Zhong Jinhua (Shanghai) 钟锦化（上海)
Teng Biao (Beijing) 滕彪 （北京)
Tang Jitian (Beijing) 唐吉田 （北京)
Zhang Tingyuan (Chongqing) 张庭源 (重庆)
Lin Qilei (Beijing) 蔺其磊 (北京)
Ma Lianshun (Henan) 马连顺 (河南)
Jiang Yuanmin (Guangdong) 蒋援民 (广东)
Chang Boyang (Henan) 常伯阳 (河南)
Feng Tingqiang (Shandong) 冯延强 (山东)
Ge Wenxiu (Guangdong) 葛文秀 (广东)
Ge Yongxi (Guangdong) 葛永喜 (广东)
Li Weida (Hebei ) 李威达 (河北)
Lan Zhixue (Beijing) 兰志学 (北京)
Tan Chenshou (Guangxi) 覃臣寿 (广西)
Ren Quanniu (Henan) 任全牛 (河南)
Wen Donghai (Hunan) 文东海 (湖南)
Wu Kuiming (Guangdong) 吴魁明 (广东)
Chen Jinxue (Guangdong) 陈进学（广东)
Tan Yongpei (Guangxi) 覃永沛 (广西)
Lü Zhoubin (Zhejiang) 吕洲宾 (浙江)
Li Jinxing (Shandong) 李金星 (山东)
Huang Hanzhong (Beijing) 黄汉中 (北京)
Li Fangping (Beijing) 李方平 (北京)
Tan Weijin (Guangxi) 覃玮进 (广西)
Zhang Lei (Beijing) 张磊 (北京)
Huang Zhiqiang (Zhejiang) 黄志强 (浙江)
Deng Linhua (Hunan) 邓林华 (湖南)
Wang Xing (Beijing) 王兴 (北京)
Wang Qiushi (Heilongjiang) 王秋实 (黑龙江)
Xu Hongwei (Shandong) 徐红卫 (山东)
Liang Xiaojun (Beijing) 梁小军 (北京)
Ran Tong (Sichuan) 冉彤 (四川)
Fu Ailing (Guangdong) 付爱玲 (广东)
He Weimin (Guangdong) 何伟民 (广东)
Gao Chengcai (Henan) 高承才 (河南)
Wang Qingpeng (Hebei) 王清鹏 (河北)
Yu Quan (Sichuan) 于全 (四川)
Liu Shuqing (Shandong) 刘书庆 (山东)
Chen Nanshi (Hunan) 陈南石 (湖南)
Lü Fangzhi (Hunan) 吕方芝 (湖南)
Xiong Dongmei (Shandong) 熊冬梅 (山东)
Tian Yuan (Hunan) 田园（湖南)
Qu Yuan (Sichuan) 瞿远（四川)
Jiang Tianyong (Beijing) 江天勇 (北京)
Wu Liangshu (Guangxi) 吴良述 (广西)
Me Minfu (Hebei) 么民富（河北)
Liang Lanxin (Hebei) 梁澜馨 (河北)
Li Dawei (Gansu) 李大伟 (甘肃)
Liu Shihui (Guangdong) 刘士辉 (广东)
Sun Qiang (Hunan) 孙强 (湖南)
Chen Zhizong (Beijing) 陈智勇 (北京)
Xi Xiangdong (Shandong) 袭祥栋 (山东)
Zhang Chongshi (Hunan) 张重实（湖南)
Zheng Enchong (Shanghai) 郑恩宠 (上海)
Zhang Jiankang (Shanxi) 张鉴康 (陕西)
Li Yuhan (Beijing) 李昱函 (北京)
Yang Hong (Zhejiang)杨红 (浙江)
Wang Guofang (Guangdong) 王国芳 (广东)
Zhao Xianfeng (Shanxi) 赵险峰 (陕西)
Liu Changzhong (Hunan) 刘长中 (湖南)
Wang Fengming (Hebei) 王凤明 (河北)
Fan Guogang (Jiangsu) 范国刚 (江苏)
Chen Jiahong (Guangxi) 陈家鸿 (广西)
Shu Xiangxin (Shandong) 舒向新 (山东)
Liu Zhengqing (Guangdong) 刘正清 (广东)
Liu Wei (Henan) 刘伟 (河南)
Tong Zhaoping (Beijing) 童朝平 (北京)
The declaration was made by the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Group, a voluntary and open platform composed of over 280 Chinese human rights lawyers. We welcome more colleagues to join us to sign this statement. Please send your name and location where you practice to yws818@163.com.
Since its establishment on September 13, 2013, the group has organized joint petitions, aided lawyers in joining rights cases or incidents, and made a variety of similar efforts to protect human rights and promote the development of the rule of law in China. Any Chinese lawyer who share the same human rights principles and are willing to defend citizens’ basic rights are welcome to join the group.
Contact persons (in the order of Pinyin):
Chang Boyang 常伯阳 18837183338
Liu Shihui 刘士辉 18516638964
Tang Jitian 唐吉田 13161302848
Wang Cheng 王成 13616501896
Yu Wensheng 余文生 13910033651
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Related:
More Details Emerge About the Disappearance of Three Chinese Citizens in Myanmar, China Change, Oct. 11, 2015.
Bao Zhuoxuan, Son of Detained Rights Lawyer, Is Said to Disappear in Myanmar, the New York Times, Oct. 9, 2015.
Detained Chinese lawyer’s 16-year-old son disappears while trying to flee to US, the Guardian, Oct. 10, 2015.
[…] “The police of China have followed, surveilled, and restricted the freedom of Bao Zhuoxuan. This not only violates international law — as well as China’s own provisions in the ‘Law on the Protection of Minors’ — but also involves the crime of abuse of power,” the statement reads. […]
[…] Eighty-one Chinese lawyers have signed a public statement calling on the government to cease harassment of Bao and to guarantee his safety. On China Change, Zhao Sile writes that police could be holding Bao in order to use him, “as a hostage to ‘negotiate’ with Wang Yu and Bao Longjun.” […]
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