The China Human Rights Lawyers Group, January 1, 2020
One hundred years ago, when the New Culture Movement sang the praises of democracy” and science, nobody could have imagined that a century later, in the China of today, democracy has failed to flourish, while science has become a powerful tool aiding a totalitarian dictatorship.
Seventy years ago, a new political order rose amidst the struggles and ravages of war that had been visited upon the great East Asian land and its people. Yet the people’s hopes for peace were quickly dashed: what lay in store for the Chinese were still greater human tragedies in an unending chain of cataclysmic political campaigns: The Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the sent-down of youth, and more.
Thirty years ago, thousands of students and intellectuals spilled their hot blood on Tiananmen Square, giving up their young lives for the sake of the great Chinese land. Another 30 years passed, yet we now find that the spirit of their sacrifice is being scrubbed away with the same violent impulse that was used to destroy their physical bodies. Material temptations and continuous indoctrination have made so many Chinese forget the value of freedom and idealism.
2019 was a year defined by much tumult, from the swine fever epidemic and the Sino-U.S. trade war to the Hong Kong anti-extradition movement. Faced with the sudden arrival of these Black Swan events, China is at a crossroads: will it follow the tide of history and embrace universal values? Or will it clutch to the past, taking the civilized world as its enemy and making the 1.4 billion Chinese people pay for this stubbornness?
In 2019, we have suddenly found ourselves in a China where the width and breadth of the country is under surveillance. From the avenues to the neighborhoods, from the doors of public restrooms to the entrances of shopping centers, nowhere is free from the artificial gaze of security cameras — Big Brother of 1984 has stepped into our world, watching our every move.
We have also observed the increasing frequency of public security incidents: the industrial explosion in Xiangshui (响水), the moldy food in Chengdu schools, the collapse of the subway tunnels in Guangzhou and the highway bridge in Wuxi. Air pollution, toxic food staples, contaminated medicine — all this fills us with anxiety and uncertainty about the state of our society. People live in dread and doubt.
On top of this are the omnipresent security checks that strip people of their basic dignity, while consuming a huge amount of state resources and manpower. Whatever sense of rights the people still had, is no more.
Meanwhile, the power of the police has only continued to increase. In the name of “counter-terrorism,” “maintaining public security,” and “mantaining social order,” officers wield loaded firearms and set up up checkpoints wherever they please, creating much inconvenience for the people they are supposed to serve and protect.
In the last year, the “Surveillance Law” (《监察法》) has been used for the violation of human rights on a monstrous scale, confirming the fear we expressed in our last New Year’s message. It has severely jeopardized the safety of civil servants, and twisted the basic principles of criminal procedure (《刑事诉讼法》) beyond recognition. The new round of “sweeping away evil” seems in fact to more resemble a festive division of private property by the authorities, who target and victimize hapless individuals. Protocols, truth, justice, and hope are nowhere to be found.
The current authorities play games with semantics, brazenly promoting a self-serving standard of human rights throughout the international community. Such arrogance has given China an infamous reputation, and stirred resentment from countries around the world.
It feels as though the Cultural Cultural is returning in covert form. Basic freedom of speech is being suppressed, sensitive news is prohibited, ideological discussions in universities are being shut down. Many matters of societal welfare are politicized, and internet censorship is the norm. The state of human rights in China is in rapid decline.
Human rights violations in the Chinese frontier are being roundly criticized and condemned by many countries. China’s leaders seem to have become the enemies of civilized countries overnight.
China’s human rights lawyers, working on the front line to defend human rights, have become the focus of suppression and surveillance by judicial authorities and bar associations throughout the country. These extraordinary crackdowns have prevented human rights defenders everywhere from hiring suitable defense attorneys. Instead, officially appointed lawyers raise the big stick of “making confessions in exchange for lighter punishment” before the prosecution. Defendants’ basic human rights have been thus infringed, while criminal proceedings were reduced to formality, bureaucracy, and transactionalization, devoid of fairness and justice that society so badly needs.
By the looks of things, there is really no reason to be optimistic as we look at the festering regression of China’s human rights situation throughout 2019. However, the development of human history has always followed a certain law that things must turn around when they reach an extreme. We believe that after over 10 years of experiencing continuous decline, human rights in China are sure to improve in the not-so-distant future. The more difficult the circumstances are that face China’s human rights lawyers, the more they must maintain high spirits in their work. We must renew our inspiration and know always that what we have been doing is right, noble, and meaningful. We have no reason to back down and cower from adversity.
We know not what fate awaits us in 2020. But China, this ancient nation of East Asia, will not stay locked out of the civilized world forever. At an unexpected moment, history will shine its light on China. The day will come that every Chinese is liberated, and the people will become masters of their own nation.
In 2020, we must not let ourselves lose spirit. On the contrary, we should become closer with the people, listen carefully to their voices, and devise actionable steps to prepare for improvements in human rights.
In 2020, we must enthusiastically involve ourselves in human rights work by propagating, advocating how, guaranteeing, and implementing these rights. Working in the realm of the law, we shall make the most fundamental efforts for the sake of advancing the cause of human rights in China.
Friends, 2020 is now here. Please keep faith that history will not ignore our work. History has never let down those who truly struggle. When, one day in the future, we look back at the work we did today, we will marvel at how each small act, little by little, contributed to the final result. We will all be grateful that we persevered, and did not give up in the face of the bitter winter.
Let us welcome 2020, prepare for 2020!
Thank you!
The China Human Rights Lawyers Group
December 31, 2019
The China Human Rights Lawyers Group was founded on September 13, 2013. It is an open platform for cooperation. Since its founding, members of the group have worked together to protect human rights and promote the rule of law in China through issuing joint statements and representing human rights cases. Any Chinese lawyer who shares our human rights principles and is willing to defend the basic rights of citizens is welcome to join. We look forward to working with you.
做好准备，迎接未来
——中国人权律师团律师2020年新年献辞
一百年前，当德先生（democracy）和赛先生（science）在新文化运动中成为时代宠儿的时候，人们绝没有想到一百年后的今天，德先生在中国并没有成长为巨人，相反的是，赛先生却成长为了极权专制的爪牙。
七十年前，当一个新政权在人民历经战火和磨难后的东亚大地诞生的时候，人民翘首以盼，渴望安宁，但人民很快发现，更大的人权灾难却随着“大跃进”、“上山下乡”、“文革”等运动接踵而至。
三十年前，一批青年学生和知识分子以满腔热血将自己的青春和生命奉献给了这片苦难的土地，但三十年后，人们发现这些牺牲的意义正在被强制褪色，物欲和洗脑已经让人们忘记了自由和理想。
2019年，有太多需要回顾的热点：猪瘟、贸易战、香港“反修例”…….面对这些突如其来的“黑天鹅”事件，究竟是顺应历史潮流拥抱普世价值？还是墨守成规继续以14亿中国人为代价与世界文明为敌？这是摆在执政当局面前的重大课题。
2019年，我们突然发现，中国大江南北一夜之间装满了监视器，马路上、小区里、厕所边、商场旁，摄像头无处不在，它们就像《1984》里面预言的老大哥，监控着人民的一举一动。
我们还发现，公共安全事件频发，响水工厂爆炸、成都发霉食品、广州地铁陷落，无锡桥梁坍塌，空气污染、食品污染、药品有毒，一桩桩、一件件，都让我们对社会充满了焦虑和不安，人们因此而生活在怀疑和恐惧之中。
我们也发现，无处不在的安检正在羞辱人们仅存的尊严，它正耗费着整个国家巨大的财力和人力，并将人民残存的权利意识从基因上进行扼杀和摧毁。
我们也发现，警察的权力进一步扩张，在“反恐”、“ 维护公共安全”和“维护社会秩序”的名义下，警察荷枪实弹，随意设置路卡盘查行人，老百姓道路以目，不胜其烦。
我们还发现，过去的一年进一步印证了我们前年在新年献辞中的担忧，那就是《监察法》正成为一个大规模侵犯人权的怪兽，它严重侵犯公职人员的人身安全，把《刑事诉讼法》确定的基本原则破坏得面目全非；而新一轮的“扫黑除恶”，似乎正在享受着一场瓜分私有财产的盛宴，风卷残云地吞噬着一个个孱弱的个体，我们看不到程序，看不到真相，看不到正义，也看不到希望。
我们同时发现，执政当局正通过偷换概念的方式在国际社会强推自己定义的人权标准，这种妄自尊大的举动已经把中国带入了极为危险的境地，并且引起了全世界的警觉和反感。
我们还发现，“文革”似乎正戴着面具扑面而来，它压制基本的言论自由，打压新闻报道，禁止大学的思想辩论，将各种民生问题意识形态化，删帖、封号成为常态，对此，我们必须指出，中国人权状况正在急速恶化，已经到了极为危险的地步。
我们更可怕的发现，边疆的人权问题正在受到许多国家的批评和谴责，执政当局似乎一夜之间就成为了所有文明国家的敌人。
毫无疑问，工作在捍卫人权第一线的人权律师，更是成为各地司法当局和律师协会重点打压和监控的对象。这些超乎寻常的打压造成各地的人权捍卫者无法聘请到合适的辩护律师，从而使得官派律师和值班律师可以挥舞着“认罪认罚，从轻处理”的大棒与检察院和法院朋比为奸，大规模地侵犯被告人的基本人权，并造成刑事诉讼的形式化、官僚化、交易化，而社会亟需的公平和正义却荡然无存。
面对2019年中国人权状况的大溃烂和大倒退，我们的确没有理由乐观，但是，人类历史的发展总是遵循这样的规律，那就是物极必反，我们相信，中国的人权状况在经历了近十年的大倒退后，必将在不久的将来迎来一个新的提升。中国人权律师越是在这种艰难时期，越应该保持昂扬的工作斗志，我们必须再次从内心激励自己，那就是：我们从事的工作是正确的、高尚的、有意义的，我们没有理由退缩，也绝不会退缩。
2020究竟会怎样，我们不得而知，但是，中国，这个古老的东亚国家，不会永远游离于世界文明之外，历史终将在一个不经意的时刻眷顾中国，让每一个中国人彻底地解放自己并成为国家的主人。
2020，我们不要灰心丧气，相反，我们应该靠近人民，仔细倾听人民的声音，为找到切实可行的人权改善之道做好准备。
2020，我们要积极投入和参与人权促进工作，宣传人权、倡导人权、保障人权、实践人权。我们将为中国的人权事业发展做出最基础性的法律上的努力，作为我们按部就班的工作指引。
朋友们，2020已经到来，请相信，历史不会对我们的工作视而不见，它从来没有亏负过真正的奋斗者，当某一天我们再次回首今天所做的工作，我们就会惊奇地发现，你今天所做的点点滴滴都是那个美好结果的原因之一，你会从心底里感激自己在那个寒冷的冬天里没有放弃和沉沦。
迎接2020！准备2020！谢谢大家！
中国人权律师团律师
2019年12月31日
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