Elaborating on the trials and punishments in the aftermath of the
Tiananmen Square massacre, an Amnesty International publication
reports that:
[h]undreds of people arrested in connection with the 1989
pro-democracy protests as well as other dissidents, including
advocates of Tibetan independence and religious activists are
detained without charge or trial for months (Amnesty International,
AI Index: ASA 17/34/91, 2).
According to
Country Reports for 1990,
[s]everal hundred persons detained for activities related to the
1989 demonstrations were held throughout 1990 in "detention during
investigation" or "administrative detention" status. These persons
were not formally "arrested" or charged with any crime, though at
year's end authorities began to press charges against at least some
detainees. Similarly, many members of unofficial Catholic and
Protestant churches have been detained for months before being
charged or released, according to credible reports (p. 848).
A lawyer in New York, trained in China, states that it is possible
for a claimant to be kept in police custody for 15 days without
being charged with a specific crime (23 Dec. 1991).
A representative of the Chinese Community Centre in Ottawa holds
that it is possible that a person be kept by the Chinese police for
15 days or longer prior to being officially charged with a crime (2
Jan. 1992). The source refers to the frequent practice of this
policy by the police in the 1980s. The source adds that this also
happens at the present time, but its occurrence and frequency
depend on the types of crimes and their locations; hence it may be
used against "counter-revolutionary" suspects. Generally speaking,
imprisonment of individuals without laying charges against them is
less frequent in large cities where people tend to be more educated
and more likely to be aware of legal rights than in the rural areas
(
Ibid.).
According to a Chinese expert and professor of History at York
University, Chinese individuals can be kept by the police without
being formally charged with a specific crime for as long as the
Chinese authorities consider necessary; this practice is not
illegal (3 Jan. 1992). The professor points out that several
pro-democracy activists who had been arrested in the wake of the
Tiananmen Square massacre were formally charged after two years.
Additional information on the subject is currently unavailable to
the IRBDC.
BibliographyAmnesty International. (AI Index: ASA
17/34/91). "The People's Republic of China: Trials and Punishments
Since 1989."
Chinese Community Centre, Ottawa. 2
January 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.
Chinese Lawyer, New York. 23 December
1991. Telephone Interview.
U.S. Department of State. 1991.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1990.
Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
York University, Toronto. 6 January
1992. Telephone Interview with Professor.
Attachment
Amnesty International. (AI Index: ASA
17/34/91). "The People's Republic of China: Trials and Punishments
Since 1989," pp. 1-10.
