Intimidation of Rights Lawyers Intensifies

June 17, 2014 by admin

Following his release from criminal detention in April, lawyer Tang Jitian detailed the brutal ways in which detention center guards tortured him while incarcerated.

Detention center guards made clear that these torture sessions were meant to deter him from representing politically sensitive clients. Tang, along with two other attorneys, were detained on charges of “using a cult to disrupt public order” and tortured for fifteen days on account of their representation of members of a persecuted religious group.

Tang’s experience, unfortunately, is part of a broader trend of targeting rights lawyers and charging them with “public order” offenses on account of their civil rights advocacy. Earlier this year, lawyer Xu Zhiyong, a key participant in the New Citizens Movement, was sentenced to four years in prison for “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.” On May 3, Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer who has represented politically controversial clients, was detained and charged with “causing a disturbance” after he gathered with friends at a private residence to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Chang Boyang, a Zhengzhou-based lawyer, remains under detention for defending activists who recently tried to hold a public memorial in honor of the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The list recently detained lawyers goes on.

In addition to these detentions, the Communist Party uses criminal procedure and professional licensing mechanisms to deter lawyers from vindicating the rights of fellow citizens. Article 306 of the Criminal Code, a perjury statute that has been interpreted to impose criminal punishment for lawyers who zealously represent politically controversial clients, is perhaps the biggest deterrent from defending the civil rights of persecuted activists. Outside the courtroom, lawyers are often denied permission to even meet with clients in politically sensitive cases. Lawyers who persist in representing controversial clients in the face of such barriers also face disbarment from the All China’s Lawyer’s Association, an organization that serves as the sole national bar association and operates under the direct control of the Ministry of Justice.