Why the Chinese support the Communist party

[Bullhead]

TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT

Torture in detention remained widespread.

Yang Chunlin, a human rights activist from Heilongjiang, was detained on 6 July for "subversion of state power". He had supported the legal action brought by over 40,000 farmers whose land had been confiscated without compensation. Yang Chunlin had helped to gather signatures for a petition entitled "We want human rights, not the Olympics" signed by many of the farmers. Police repeatedly refused him access to his family and lawyer on the grounds that his case "related to the state". Yang Chunlin was tortured, including on numerous occasions by having his arms and legs stretched and chained to the four corners of an iron bed, and being forced to eat, drink and defecate in that position.
Shanghai housing rights activist Chen Xiaoming died of a massive haemorrhage shortly after being released from prison on medical parole on 1 July.

 

[Bullhead]

China's executions policy

THE START of a crackdown by Chinese security forces in troubled western Xinjiang province has been heralded by an announcement by the authorities that they have executed nine people for their roles in unrest there in July. Turkic Muslim Uighur separatists are blamed for inciting the July riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, in which crowds attacked ethnic Han Chinese and were themselves attacked by Han rioters two days later. Some 197 people, mostly Han, were allegedly killed and 1,600 injured. Now eight of the nine executed are reported to have been Uighur.

Meanwhile, in a report last month, Human Rights Watch claimed some 43 Uighur men and teenage boys remained unaccounted for after being detained – along with hundreds of others – in police sweeps following the July crisis. The group called on the Chinese government to account for all detainees and allow independent investigations into the protests.

An official spokesman in the People’s Daily describes the latest crackdown as “a thorough ‘strike hard and punish’ campaign to further consolidate the fruits of maintaining stability and eliminate security dangers”. But another heavy-handed campaign by Beijing against the Uighur will do nothing but create martyrs in a resentful community which sees the Han as planters brought in to prop up Chinese rule. It, and the executions, will play into the hands of separatists. China continues to execute more people every year than any other country in the world. While Amnesty International estimates it carried out at least 1,718 in 2008, a US-based NGO, the Dui Hua Foundation, puts the figure much higher at between 5,000 and 6,000, based on figures obtained from local Chinese officials.

The announcements, coming in the run-up to President Barack Obama’s first trip to China next week, will add to the clamour of voices demanding that he speak up forcefully on human rights during his visit. In truth Beijing appears to be moving backwards in this regard – since his election, the Chinese government has disbarred human-rights lawyers, rolled back key legal reforms, imprisoned critics and further tightened internet and press censorship. It has tried to impose new filtering software on computers sold in China. It has executed Tibetans suspected of taking part in March 2008 protests as well as the Uighurs. US economic interests will dominate the Obama visit but the president should also remind Beijing of its human rights obligations under international law.

China's executions policy - The Irish Times - Wed, Nov 11, 2009

 

[Bullhead]

When abortion isn't a choice


One of the few incontrovertible assertions one can reasonably make is that no one supports forced abortion.Yet, coerced abortions, as well as involuntary sterilizations, are commonplace in China, Beijing's protestations notwithstanding. While the Chinese Communist Party insists that abortions are voluntary under the nation's one-child policy, electronic documentation recently smuggled out of the country tells a different story.

Congressional members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission heard some of that story Tuesday, two days before President Obama was slated to leave for Asia, including China, to discuss economic issues. Among evidence provided by two human rights organizations, ChinaAid and Women's Rights Without Frontiers, were tales of pregnant women essentially being hunted down and forced to submit to surgery or induced labor.

Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of the Frontiers group, told the commission that China's one-child policy "causes more violence against women and girls than any other official policy on Earth."

I met Littlejohn for breakfast the day before the hearing. A petite wife and mother -- as well as a Yale-educated lawyer -- Littlejohn gave up her intellectual property practice in San Francisco after a life-altering illness to become a full-time activist for Chinese women. She is remarkably buoyant, considering the knowledge she has absorbed. Action, she says, is her way of coping with the unconscionable.



Here's the question Littlejohn insists we consider: What really happens to a woman who doesn't have a "birth permit" and has an "out of plan" pregnancy?

The answer is simple and brutal: A woman pregnant without permission has to surrender her unborn child to government enforcers, no matter what the stage of fetal development.

Late-term abortions are problematic, but the Chinese are nothing if not efficient. On one Web site for Chinese obstetricians and gynecologists, doctors recently traded tips in a dispassionate discussion titled: "What if the infant is still alive after induced labor?" ChinaAid provided a translation of a thread regarding an eight-month-old fetus that survived the procedure.

"Xuexia" wrote: "Actually, you should have punctured the fetus' skull." Another poster, "Damohuyang," wrote that most late-term infants died during induced labor, some lived and "would be left in trash cans. Some of them could still live for one to two days."

To be clear, some of the doctors online expressed concern for the rights of the child. Others, however, worried only about potential legal ramifications. Technically, it is illegal in China to kill a baby, one is relieved to learn, but family-planning imperatives sometimes prevail. According to a 2009 State Department report, monetary incentives and penalties are attached to population targets, creating what amounts to bounties on the unborn.

As recently as July, officials of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission said that the one-child policy "will be strictly enforced as a means of controlling births for decades to come," according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency.

The violence of these procedures doesn't only kill the child in some instances. In two of the cases described in a document leaked this past August, the mothers died, too. Those who dissent, meanwhile, are persecuted.

Such has been the fate of activist Chen Guangcheng, who is serving a four-year sentence after exposing 130,000 forced abortions and sterilizations in Linyi County, Shandong province, in 2005. Named by Time magazine as one of 2006's top 100 people "who shape our world," Guangcheng, who is blind, was severely beaten and denied medical care the following year, according to an Amnesty International report.

The one-child policy has created other problems that threaten women and girls. The traditional preference for boys has meant sex-selected abortions resulting in a gender imbalance. Today, men in China outnumber women by 37 million, a disparity that has become a driving force behind sex slavery in Asia. Exacerbating the imbalance, about 500 women a day commit suicide in China -- the highest rate in the world, which Littlejohn attributes in part to coercive family planning.

Obviously, the United States is in an awkward position with China, our second-largest trading partner and the largest holder of our government debt. But Littlejohn hopes Obama will "truly represent American values, including our strong commitment to human rights." She is also calling on Planned Parenthood and NARAL to speak up for reproductive choice in China.

On this much, both sides of the abortion issue can agree: Forced abortion is not a choice. Averting our gaze from China's horrific abuse of women is.

washingtonpost.com

 

[Bullhead]

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

While space for civil society activities continued to grow, the targeting of human rights defenders who raised issues deemed to be politically sensitive intensified. The authorities criminalized the activities of human rights activists by charging them with offences such as damaging public property, extortion and fraud.

Human rights defenders and their relatives, including children, were increasingly subject to harassment, including surveillance, house arrest and beatings by both government officials and unidentified assailants. Lawyers were particularly targeted, and an increasing number had their licence renewal application rejected.

Defence lawyer and human rights activist Gao Zhisheng remained under tight police surveillance throughout the year after his conviction in December 2006 for "inciting subversion". Between 24 June and 4 July and again between 22 September and early November, he was held incommunicado and tortured in unknown locations, before being returned to house arrest in Beijing.
Human rights lawyer Li Heping was abducted by unidentified individuals in late September, beaten for several hours and told to stop his human rights work. He was then released.
Several activists died either in detention or shortly after their release.

 

[Bullhead]

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Chinese authorities maintained efforts to tightly control the flow of information. They decided what topics and news stories could be published, and media outlets were sometimes required to respond within minutes to government directives. The authorities continued to block websites and to filter internet content based on specified words and topics.

Around 30 journalists were known to be in prison and at least 50 individuals were in prison for posting their views on the internet. People were often punished simply for accessing banned websites.

Despite a temporary loosening of regulations applying to foreign journalists in China in the run-up to the Olympics, control over both foreign and Chinese journalists remained tight, and many Chinese journalists were imprisoned for reporting on sensitive subjects. In April, the Ministry of Public Security reportedly ordered the screening of all those attending the Beijing Olympics, with 43 categories of people to be barred, including some based on political or religious beliefs.

 

[Bullhead]

VIOLENCE AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

Women suffered discrimination in employment, education and access to health care. The trafficking of women and girls remained widespread, particularly from North Korea (see below). Domestic violence continued to be prevalent and was said to be a primary cause of suicide among women in rural areas.

It was reported in May that dozens of women in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south-west China were subjected to forced abortions under the supervision of local family planning officials, in some cases in the ninth month of pregnancy.

 

[grey boy 2]

Abuse of Indian children 'common'
By Geeta Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

This is the first time India has done such a survey on child abuse
Two out of every three children in India are physically abused, according to a landmark government study.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the study says 53% of the surveyed children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse.

This is the first time the government has done such an exhaustive survey on the controversial issue of child abuse.

Abuse of children, particularly sexual abuse, is rarely admitted in India and activists have welcomed the study.

Releasing the report at a press conference in the capital, Delhi, Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury said: "In India there's a tradition of denying child abuse. It doesn't happen here is what we normally say.

"But by remaining silent, we have aided and abetted the abuse of children."

Thousands quizzed

Describing the findings of the study as "disturbing", Ms Chowdhury called for an end to the "conspiracy of silence".

The issue of child abuse has been raised in the past by non-governmental organisations, but this is the first time an attempt has been made by the government to document the scale of the problem.

The study took two years to complete, and covered 13 states where 12,247 children (between five and 12) and 2,324 young adults (over the age of 12) were quizzed.

Dr Loveleen Kacker, the official in charge of child welfare in the ministry, compiled the report.

She said the study had revealed that contrary to the general belief that only girls were abused, boys were equally at risk, if not more.

She said a substantial number of the abusers were "persons in trust and care-givers" who included parents, relatives and school teachers.


Ms Chowdhury said the findings of the study were disturbing

Dr Kacker said a disturbing finding of the study had been that 70% had not reported the abuse to anyone.

Besides surveying physical and sexual abuse, the study also collected statistics on emotional abuse and neglect of girls.

The study called for efforts to make society aware of the rights of children and officials say the data will help them formulate better policies to protect children.

'One too many'

The report has been welcomed by child rights activists who say such a study was sorely needed in India.

Roland Angerer, country director of Plan International, told BBC News it was "very important that the government has finally taken up the issue".

"It doesn't matter what statistics say. Whether the percentage of abused children is 75 or whether it is 58 is unimportant. Each child that is abused is one too many," he said.

"It's important that parents and adults must learn that children are not property, that they have rights too."

In India, parents are often reluctant to admit child abuse and sexual abuse of children involving family members is almost always hushed up.


The study also collected data on how girls are neglected

Perhaps that is why - as the study shows - more than 50% of the young adults surveyed wanted the matter of abuse to remain within the family.

Only 17% of the abused young adults wanted harsh punishment for the abusers.

Officials and activists say the biggest challenge for the authorities and society is to ensure that children are encouraged to report abuse.

India is home to almost 19% of the world's children. More than one-third of the country's population - 440m people - is made up of children below 18 years of age.

According to one study, at least 40% of these children are in need of care and protection.

The country has millions of child workers.

Many are employed in hazardous industries and also in homes and small restaurants, which makes them vulnerable to violence and exploitation.

Last year the government banned children under 14 from being employed in homes and at restaurants to avoid their exploitation and abuse, but millions of children continue to work in these sectors.

India is a signatory to various international laws on the protection of children, but implementation of these laws is often lax.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Abuse of Indian children 'common'

 

[Bullhead]

REPRESSION OF SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS

Millions of people were impeded from freely practising their religion. Thousands remained in detention or serving prison sentences, at high risk of torture, for practising their religion outside of state-sanctioned channels. Falun Gong practitioners, Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and underground Christian groups were among those most harshly persecuted.

During the year over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have died in detention or shortly after release as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment, and other forms of ill-treatment.

Underground Protestant house church meetings were frequently disrupted by the police, participants often detained and beaten, and the churches sometimes destroyed.

Hua Huaiqi, a Beijing-based house church leader, was sentenced in a closed trial in June to six months in prison for obstructing justice. He was reportedly beaten in jail. His 76-year-old mother, who protested against her son's treatment, was herself sentenced to two years in prison for destruction of public and private property after her cane struck the headlight of an oncoming police car.
Members of China's unofficial Catholic church were repressed. An elderly Catholic bishop, Han Dingxiang, died in custody under suspicious circumstances after more than 20 years in jail. He was quickly cremated by local authorities.
Religious adherents of all beliefs had difficulty getting legal counsel, as lawyers willing to take up such sensitive cases were often harassed, detained and imprisoned.