UN/GENEVA: STATEMENT OF TRP

United Nations - Commission on Human Rights
53rd Session

Geneva, 27 March 1997

Oral statement on behalf of the Transnational Radical Party - NGO in Consultative Status (I - General)

Under Item 8

Check against delivery

by Wei Shanshan

Mr. Chairman,

The Transnational Radical Party wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to situations where the mere exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association, such as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, leads to patterns of arbitrary detention, whether pre- or post-trial. At previous sessions of the Commission, concern has been raised about the arbitrary use of the concept of national, or state, security. A number of countries, including the Republic of Korea and more recently China, have incorporated the concept of "endangering state security" in their legislation. Owing to the ambiguous definition of "state" or "national" security, these legal provisions may lead to arbitrary and unfair judicial procedures. Furthermore they can be used as a convenient tool to restrict freedom of expression and association.

My name is Wei Shanshan, I am the sister of Wei Jingsheng, a political prisoner in the People's Republic of China. In 1979 my brother Wei Jingsheng was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Less than six months after his release in 1993, my brother disappeared at the hands of Public Security Bureau agents and for 20 months he was held in incommunicado detention until finally, in December 1995, he was charged with "conspiracy to subvert the government" for "crimes" which included "publishing antigovernment articles abroad," discussing "the struggle" with his friends and raising money for victims of political persecution and their families. He was subsequently sentenced to a further 14 years' imprisonment. Wei is watched by common criminals from the prison 24 hours a day. He suffers from high blood pressure, myocardial infarction and angina pectoris. His health is deteriorating further everyday.

I choose to speak about Wei Jingsheng because he came to symbolize the fate of numerous prodemocracy, religious and labour activists who dared to exercise free speech and were punished for this. All Wei Jingsheng did during his brief period outside of detention was writing articles and expressing in a peaceful manner his opinion about the necessary reform of the government. For criticizing the government's serious violations of human rights in Tibet and Qinghai, he was additionally charged with "pursuing separatism".

In spite of constitutional guarantees, the exercise of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and association is strictly limited in practice. All those who appealed to the Chinese authorities on behalf of my brother were detained. They include Chen Longde, Liu Nianchun and Fu Guoyong who were sentenced to three years of Reeducation Through Labour. This form of administrative punishment is imposed without any judicial procedure for 1 to 3 years on those who commit minor offenses "not warranting prosecution" and, extensively, on dissidents. People sent to reeducation through labour are denied the right to counsel and to fair trial. This form of detention has been judged "inherently arbitrary" by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 1993. In order to escape torture and bad treatments, in August 1996 Chen Longde tried to commit suicide by jumping from a window of the Luoshan Labour camp. A police officer admitted to Chen's father that he and a group of other officers had beaten Chen Longde with electric batons and clubs, encouraging Chen's fellow inmates to do the same.

Restriction on freedom of expression has also become apparent in the new laws enacted since the late 80s, the Law for the Protection of State Secrets, the State Security Laws, and more recently the replacement in the Criminal Law of the crime of "counterrevolution" by that of "jeopardizing state security". Ever since the foundation of the People's Republic of China, the authorities have repeatedly claimed that there were no political prisoners in China, preferring to refer to them as "counterrevolutionaries". The State Security Law and its Implementing Regulations categorize acts which endanger state security as including "conspiracy to overthrow the government" and "splitting the country", as in the case of prisoners of conscience such as Wei Jingsheng. However the definition of these acts is left to the discretion of lawimplementing authorities. These practices cast serious doubts on the independence of the judiciary and the due process of law in China, and are likely to lead to further cases of repression against advocates of free speech.


The Transnational Radical Party urges the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression to continue their investigations in China and other countries of similar situation. It calls on the authorities who resort to the concept of "endangering state security" to give a clear definition of this law and to release immediately and unconditionally all those who, like my brother Wei Jingsheng have been victimized through the abuse of this law. Finally, the Transnational Radical Party urges the members of this Commission to denounce those governments who use the legal system as a tool of oppression.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.