Lawyers in China continue to face improper interference in their professional work and serious violations of their rights.
In January 2016, criminal prosecutions have been initiated against at least seven lawyers. All lawyers were arrested in July 2015 and have been held in secret detention for six months. The wave of arrests followed the disappearance of lawyer Wang Yu on 9 July 2015. At the time Lawyers for Lawyers, together with 25 organisations, strongly condemned the unprecedented and seemingly well-coordinated intimidation campaign targeting a large number of human rights lawyers in China, in a letter to the authorities (see the Chinese version of the letter here).
Two of the lawyers, Mrs Wang Yu and her husband lawyer Mr Bao Longjun, have been charged with ‘subversion of state power’ and ‘inciting subversion of state power’ on 8 January. A few days later, the families of five other lawyers received official notice that their family members are also charged with either subversion of state power (Mr Zhou Shifeng, Mr Wang Quanzhang and Mrs Li Shuyun) or inciting subversion of state power (Mr Xie Yanyi and Mr Xie Yang). Frontline Defenders reports that the maximum penalty for the crime of ‘subversion of state power’ is life imprisonment, while the maximum penalty for ‘inciting subversion of state power’ is 15 years.
Lawyers for Lawyers has grave concerns about the situation of lawyers in China, and urgently calls on China to implement the latest recommendations made by the United Nations Committee Against Torture. On 9 December 2015, the Committee published its concluding observations on the fifth periodic report received from China. The Committee recommends that China:
- 1. stop sanctioning lawyers for actions taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, which should be possible without fear of prosecution;
- 2. ensure the prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of all the human rights violations perpetrated against lawyers, and ensure that those responsible are tried and punished in accordance with the gravity of their acts; and
- 3. adopt the necessary measures without delay, to ensure the development of a fully independent and self-regulating legal profession, enabling lawyers to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, harassment or improper interference.
