WUNRN
CHINA – CONTINUED CRACKDOWN ON RIGHTS ADVOCATES &
ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING WOMEN ACTIVISTS
By Andrew Jacobs - MARCH 26, 2015
BEIJING — Chinese security agents raided the offices of a leading human
rights organization, according to its employees, the latest sign of the
authorities’ mounting hostility toward nongovernmental groups, especially those
that receive foreign funding or promote civic activism.
Employees say about two dozen police officers on Tuesday raided the Beijing Yirenping
Center, which champions gender equality and employs litigation to
fight discrimination against people with H.I.V., hepatitis and physical
disabilities. Lu Jun, a founder of the group, said the raid was probably
related to the group’s efforts to publicize the recent detentions of five
female activists that have prompted international criticism.
The activists, who all have ties to Yirenping, had planned to hand out stickers and
leaflets in Chinese cities to highlight the problem of groping of
women on public transportation. They were taken into custody just ahead of
International Women’s Day and are being held on suspicion of “picking quarrels
and provoking troubles,” a charge that has been used with increasing frequency
against those the government considers potential threats to social stability.
Mr. Lu said the authorities carted away files, computers and laptops, and
briefly detained one of the center’s employees before changing the locks on the
doors.
“We can’t even get into the offices, and the police won’t give us any
information,” said Mr. Lu, speaking from New York, where he is a visiting
scholar at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at New York University. He said
the center’s five employees, fearing for their safety, had left the Chinese
capital.
It was unclear if the authorities intended to close the offices for good.
Since President Xi Jinping came to power more than two years ago, scores of
rights defenders have been jailed as part of a crackdown on social activism and
political dissent.
But the detention of the five activists — young, social-media-savvy
idealists — has struck a chord among women’s rights advocates around the world,
prompting rallies, petition drives and support from Western diplomats. Samantha
Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has been especially
vocal about the case, demanding on Twitter that the Chinese government free the women.
Lawyers for the detained women said some of them had been mistreated and
subjected to lengthy interrogations and sleep deprivation. One woman, Wang
Rongrong, has been denied
critical hepatitis medication and has been spitting up blood, her
lawyer said.
The Beijing Public Security Bureau did not respond to requests for comment,
and the Foreign Ministry has dismissed expressions of concern from overseas.
“No one has the right to ask China
to release relevant persons, so we hope that relevant people will stop
interfering in China’s
judicial sovereignty in such a manner,” Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for the
ministry, said during a regular news conference on Wednesday.
Communist Party leaders have long been suspicious of independent
organizations, but under Mr. Xi, the authorities have come to view such groups
as potential conduits for subversion — with help from those they perceive as
China’s enemies in the West. “Even though these organizations have tried to
stay within the red lines of normally tolerated activism, the government still
sees them as fomenting counterrevolution,” said Maya Wang, a researcher at
Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong.
In recent months, the authorities have closed a network
of rural lending libraries, harassed labor advocates and dismantled a
well-regarded think tank, the Transition Institute, detaining several of its
employees. “A lot of NGOs are facing tough times right now,” said
Anthony J. Spires, associate director of the Center for Civil Society Studies
at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “The government is intent on shutting
down perceived troublemakers.”
Most at risk are groups that rely on foreign support, which describes the
vast majority of Chinese organizations dedicated to social justice. Mr. Lu said
it was nearly impossible these days to raise money domestically despite the
group’s record of accomplishment.