11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

CDP remained banned, and the government continued to monitor, detain, and imprison current and former CDP members ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23279]

"No laws or regulations specifically govern the formation of political parties. But the CDP remained banned, and the government continued to monitor, detain, and imprison current and former CDP members."

Document(s): Open document

05.05.2006 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

OMCT: Violations of Freedom of Association in the political field. ("An alternative report by OMCT reveals that Georgia’s policy to fight against crime leads to unacceptable abuse and torture") [#10068],  [ID 3869]

"Freedom of association is also violated in the political field : attempts to set up legal political parties are not tolerated. China Democratic Party (CDP) founding members Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai and Qin Yongmin, who tried to register their Party legally with the Civil Affairs departments are currently undergoing heavy prison sentences. Xu Wenli was sentenced to 13 years in prison and three years’ deprivation of political rights. Wang Youcai was convicted of violating Article 106 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to 11 years in prison. His “crimes,” according to the prosecution, included drafting the CDP declaration; being the prime mover of the CDP; intending to hold a CDP meeting in the form of a tea party; and sending 18 CDP documents abroad by electronic mail. Qin Yongmin was sentenced after a two-and-a-half-hour trial on December 17, 1998, in the Wuhan People’s Intermediate Court. He was convicted of, among other things, “preparing to organise the CDP, editing [the newsletter] China Human Rights Watch, reporting on human rights to the United Nations and linking up with foreign hostile organisations.” He was given a 12-year prison term.

China's 16th Party Congress has drawn a number of petitions and open letters from Chinese dissidents are calling for political reform and greater openness. At the same time, Chinese authorities have begun arresting some vocal dissidents in order to maintain a “peaceful and stable” atmosphere for the Congress."

08.06.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Liaoning Province: prisoner of conscience Xiao Yunliang still being refused adequate medical treatment in Shenyang No. 2 Prison ("China - UA 197/04") [#23134],  [ID 3871]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

05.08.2003 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

OMCT: Dissident Zhao Changqing, charged with inciting subversion of state power for drafting of a letter calling for political reformas, sentenced to five years in prison/ he reportedly received an unfair trial ("China: dissident Zhao Changqing sentenced to five years in prison [Case CHN 090103.6, Follow-up of Case CHN 090103]") [#14840],  [ID 3861]

"Mr. Changqing's arrest, detention, and sentencing are the result of his drafting of an open letter to China's 16th Party Congress, which was later signed by 192 opposition activists, calling for political reform. The letter included six political demands including; a reassessment of the 1989 democracy movement; allowing political exiles to return to China; restoring Zhao Ziyang's political rights and releasing him for house arrest; releasing all prisoners of conscience; pushing the National People’s Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and bringing domestic law into conformity with international treaties; and expanding democratic elections from the villages and municipalities to national elections.

The majority of the other dissidents detained in connection to the open letter, including Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, Han Lifa, Sang Jiancheng, He Depu, and Jiang Lijun, remain detained."

Document(s): Open document

30.06.2003 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

OMCT: A Xi'an based dissident formally charged with inciting subversion of state power/ his arrest, detention, and charging is the result of his drafting of an open letter to China's 16th Party Congress, later signed by 192 opposition activists calling for political reform ("China: dissident Zhao Changqing formally charged with inciting subversion of state power [Case CHN 090103.5, Follow-up of Case CHN 090103]") [#13947],  [ID 3862]

"Mr. Changqing's arrest, detention, and charging is the result of his drafting of an open letter to China's 16th Party Congress, later signed by 192 opposition activists calling for political reform. The letter included six political demands including; a reassessment of the 1989 democracy movement; allowing political exiles to return to China; restoring Zhao Ziyang's political rights and releasing him for house arrest; releasing all prisoners of conscience; pushing the National People’s Congress to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and bringing domestic law into conformity with international treaties; and expanding democratic elections from the villages and municipalities to national elections.

The majority of the other dissidents detained in connection to the open letter, including Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, Han Lifa, Sang Jiancheng, He Depu, and Jiang Lijun, remain detained. OMCT recalls that Zhao Changqing was suffering from tuberculosis when he was arrested and that his health has reportedly deteriorated significantly since then, giving rise to fears for his personal integrity.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal and psychological integrity of Zhao Changqing, given the fact that his health is deteriorating due to illness, as well as Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, Jiang Lijun, He Depu, Han Lifa and the other signatories that are being detained, notably given that many of them are being detained incommunicado and therefore are at a heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture."

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

USDOS: Suppression of the China Democracy Party ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11836],  [ID 3863]

"The Government continued efforts to suppress the China Democracy Party, an organization that had attracted hundreds, perhaps thousands, of members nationwide since its founding in 1998. Public security forces had previously arrested nearly all of the CDP's leaders, and late in the year a renewed crackdown targeted remaining activists. For example, CDP activists He Depu, Sang Jianchen, Zhao Changqing, Ouyang Yi, Dai Xuezhong, and Jiang Lijun were among those persons arrested in November after signing an open letter calling for political reform and a reappraisal of the official verdict on the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Scores of CDP members were detained in cities throughout the country in the period prior to the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre in 1999. The CDP's three best known leaders, Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai, and Qin Yongmin, were sentenced in 1998 to prison terms of 13, 12, and 11 years, respectively. Xu Wenli was released on medical parole to the United States in December. Since December 1998, at least 38 core leaders of the CDP have been sentenced to long prison terms on subversion charges. Hu Mingjun and Wang Sen, CDP leaders in Sichuan, were sentenced in May to 10- and 11-year sentences, respectively, on subversion charges for supporting protesting workers at the Dazhou Iron and Steel Plant in December 2000. In December 2001, Lu Xinhua, one of the founders of the Hubei chapter of the CDP, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for writing an article saying that President Jiang Zemin's political theory was a vestige of feudalism and the imperial system. Also in December 2001, Wang Jinbo, a CDP activist in Shandong Province, was sentenced to 4 years for subversion after posting on the Internet articles from foreign Web sites and urging the Government to reassess the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square democracy advocates."

Document(s): Open document

12.03.2003 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

OMCT: Dissident He Depu arrested in conjunction with the signing of an open letter to the 16th Party Congress in Beijing has formally been charged with inciting the overthrow of the state power/ before being charged he was detained incommunicado for 4 months ("China: He Depu is the latest dissident to be formally detained [Case CHN 090103.2, Follow-up of Case 090103]") [#11365],  [ID 3864]

"He Depu, after being detained for four months, has formally been charged with inciting the overthrow of the state power. He was arrested on November 4, 2002 in conjunction with the signing of an open letter to the 16th Party Congress in Beijing. This letter was reportedly signed by 192 dissidents and called for political reform. He Depu was reportedly held in incommunicado detention for the period of time between November 4, 2002 and March 6, 2003."

Document(s): Open document

16.01.2003 - Source: World Organisation Against Torture

OMCT: Arrest and incommunicado detention of at least six dissidents and 3 internet activists ("China: arrest and incommunicado detention of at least six political dissidents as well as three Internet dissidents [Case CHN 090103.1, Follow-up of Case CHN 090103]") [#10482],  [ID 3865]

"The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Human Rights in China of the arrest and incommunicado detention of at least six dissidents, who were signatories to an open letter in which they called on the authorities to take steps towards democratisation, as well as three Internet dissidents, in China."

Document(s): Open document

09.01.2003 - Source: BBC News

Dissident who signed an open letter to the Communist Party congress, urging political reform, arrested/ he was the seventh activist known to have been detained over the letter ("China in fresh dissident arrest") [#10233],  [ID 3867]

Document(s): Open document

24.12.2002 - Source: Human Rights Watch

HRW: Chinese democracy advocate Xu Wenli released but many thousands still remain unjustly imprisoned in China ("China: Release of Xu Wenli "Not Enough"") [#10083],  [ID 3868]

"The December 24 release of Chinese democracy advocate Xu Wenli is welcome, but many thousands still remain unjustly imprisoned in China, Human Rights Watch said today. Xu Wenli, who spent a total of 16 years in Chinese prisons, was sentenced most recently in December 1998 to a 13-year term for his association with the China Democracy Party (CDP)."

Document(s): Open document

19.02.2001 - Source: BBC News

China misuses psychiatry for politically repressive purposes/ many Falun Gong members are said to have been detained in mental institutions ("China 'detaining opponents in mental homes'") [#1492],  [ID 3872]

Document(s): Open document