MAINLAND "HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS" GATHER IN HONG

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 004884 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM NSC FOR WILDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/29/2031 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH SUBJECT: MAINLAND "HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS" GATHER IN HONG KONG TO NETWORK AND SHARE EXPERIENCES REF: BEIJING 24124 Classified By: Acting E/P Chief Craig Reilly. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Nine mainland activists gathered in Hong Kong to network and share experiences regarding their weiquan ("rights protection") activities during a two-day conference. Amnesty's original intent in bringing these activists to Hong Kong was to provide them with a safe place outside of mainland China to meet and exchange ideas; Hong Kong-based NGOs and diplomatic officials from various consulates, including the U.S. Consulate, were also invited to meet with the activists. While some of the activists already communicated with each other online or knew each other through the Independent Chinese Pen Center, many had never met face-to-face before. Most did not tell PRC officials about the weiquan conference in Hong Kong; one activist even told her minders that she was going to visit Disneyland. One week after the conference, Amnesty reported that all nine of the mainland activists had returned home without incident. End Summary. Mainland Activists Meet In Hong Kong -------------- ¶2. (C) Nine mainland activists gathered in Hong Kong at the invitation of Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Regional Office and in coordination with a mainland-based website, Chinese Rights Defenders network (www.crd-net.org/) to network and share experiences regarding their weiquan activities (roughly translated as "rights protection" or "human rights defense") during a two-day conference, which began on December 13. While some of the activists had communicated with each other on the Chinese Rights Defenders (CRD) network or knew each other through the Independent Chinese Pen Center, many had never met face-to-face before. According to Amnesty conference organizer Iris Cheng, most of the participants assumed that their online communications on the CRD network were monitored, so they were looking forward to the opportunity to speak freely with their weiquan colleagues in Hong Kong. The CRD network, which is one of several mainland-based websites dedicated to weiquan activities, was represented at the conference by Li Xiaorong, a research scholar who is currently on sabbatical from the University of Maryland. �0A;¶3. (C) Amnesty's original intent in bringing these activists to Hong Kong was to host a low-key, private conference and provide them with a safe place outside of mainland China to meet and exchange ideas, according to Mark Allison, a Hong Kong-based researcher on Amnesty's East Asia Team. After their arrival, however, the activists told Amnesty staff that they wanted to meet with Hong Kong-based NGOs working on mainland issues (such as China Labour Bulletin) as well as staff from various Consulates. On short notice, Amnesty arranged for diplomatic officials from the U.S., Australia, United Kingdom, Finland, etc., to attend the conference, separately, for designated half-hour segments and to listen to brief presentations by each of the participants. (See paragraph 5 for more information on each activist and their presentations.) ¶4. (C) Cheng told us that the event had been planned as a "platform for human rights defenders" and Amnesty wanted to help these activists understand what international resources might be available to them and their organizations. For many of the activists, this was their first trip to Hong Kong. Cheng added that most did not reveal the purpose of their travel plans to PRC officials. One activist told her minder that she wanted to visit Disneyland, while another promised to make a full report after he returned home. One week after the conference, all nine of the activists had returned home without incident, reported Cheng. Human Rights Defenders -------------- ¶5. (C) During the conference, several of the activists appealed to the various Hong Kong-based NGO representatives and Consuls invited to the conference to pay attention to China's human rights record. The activists all agreed that the situation had deteriorated in recent years. Unprompted, several of the conference participants also urged Consulate officials to "care about Hong Kong's effort to implement democracy." Poloffs heard presentations by six of the nine activists, which are summarized below. HONG KONG 00004884 002 OF 003 a) Li Jianqiang, weiquan lawyer: Human rights defenders have two primary goals: justice for individuals and the establishment of a system that allows human rights defenders to protect people's rights, said Li. With the recent detention of several weiquan lawyers, however, the movement now faced a temporary setback. Nevertheless, Li saw three successes on the human rights front: 1) ordinary citizens had become more aware of their civil rights; 2) civil society was booming; and 3) the weiquan network had grown. The biggest problem is not the law per se, said Li, but the lack of government implementation of its own laws. Li opined that "if we follow the law, we should be able to protect people's rights." China's constitutional, civil, and criminal laws could serve as instruments to protect the work of weiquan activists, but China's administrative laws needs improvement. b) Wan Yanhai, AIDS activist: Wan is the director of the Beijing AIDS Information and Action Consultation Center (formerly known as the Beijing Action Project),where he works on the rights of AIDS patients and workers, as well as on gay rights. The Center helps AIDS and hepatitis patients access treatment and assists patients who seek reparations for having contracted AIDS through tainted blood transfusions, said Wan. He also works to amend laws to fight discrimination in hiring and school attendance practices. Wan said that he targets non-mainstream groups, such as gay men and drug users in Xinjiang Province for AIDS prevention education, and distributes condoms to migrant populations in over 20 cities. (Note: Per reftel, Wan was released on November 27 after being held for questioning for three days in Beijing. End Note.) c) Liu Feiyue, school teacher: Liu is a school teacher from Suizhou City, Hubei Province who became involved in supporting the rights of various groups, including retired teachers. Liu explained that in the 1950's and 1960's, many teachers were sent to the rural areas and worked there for over twenty years. Upon forced retirement, many of these teachers were offered insufficient compensation and no pension benefits or medical insurance. Liu said that after he highlighted the plight of these teachers, the Suizhou government finally began to pay attention to this problem. Separately, Liu sent a letter to the National People's Congress (NPC) in January 2003 to complain that the local government had forced people to purchase the Communist Party newspaper and had deducted the subscription cost directly from people's paycheck without their knowledge or authorization -- a violation of the people's rights in his opinion. Liu had hoped that his letter might generate national interest and subsequent official intervention in the issue. Two years after his letter was sent to the NPC, local officials refunded the subscription cost and agreed to no longer make these deductions from worker's salaries. d) Zeng Jinyan, wife of AIDS activist Hu Jia: According to Zeng, her husband remains under "soft arrest"; she noted as well that Hu had been under house arrest for 150 days and had been "kidnapped" for 41 days, this past year. Zeng explained that her own involvement in weiquan issues began with her AIDS prevention and education work. Unfortunately, local authorities have been harassing her since July 20 and she recently decided to leave the AIDS organization she helped found. She cited pressure on other colleagues and volunteers as factors leading to her resignation from the organization's board. Zeng said she will continue to work on AIDS issues, but also plans to focus on helping the families of human rights defenders who face harassment by authorities; she wants to help provide family members with assistance, support, and possibly even therapy. She encouraged the other conference activists to continue sharing their experiences online in blogs and hopes Reporters Without Borders will continue to support and promote the work of human rights defenders. When asked whether she experienced difficulty in getting permission to travel to Hong Kong, Zeng said that she convinced officials that she was planning to visit Disneyland. e) Zhao Dagong, member of the Independent Chinese Pen Center: According to Zhao, the writings of the 60-70 Independent Chinese Pen Center members, as well as statements and reports from NGOs (Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders) put pressure on the central government to support press freedom and freedom of expression. He tried to be "moderate" when dealing with the police, in order to preserve his "work freedom," said Zhao. It had not been difficult getting permission to travel to Hong Kong, said Zhao. HONG KONG 00004884 003 OF 003 Shenzen authorities told him that he was free to travelto Hong Kong as long as he did not write pieces hat might e considered unflattering about Shenzhn or its officials. f) Wen Kejian, Internet actvist: Wen set up over 10 websites in the past sveral years, but most were short-lived with somelasting only a few hours before being shut down. According to Wen, human rights defenders initially met and networked only online, but this changed when they began to meet in person in 2003. Since 2005, Wen has been harassed by local authorities and now spends less time on public advocacy work. For the past two years, Wen has edited an e-newsletter titled, "Choice Weekly" which is emailed to over 20,000 recipients. ¶6. (C) Poloffs were not present for presentations from the other three activists. Dr. Ai Xiaoming, a Professor of the Chinese Literature Department at the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, produces human rights documentaries. Dr. Li Baiguang, Director of Qimin Research Center in Beijing and a Senior Advisor for Beijing Anping Law Firm, is a founding member of the Association of Human Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians. And Qin Geng is a member of the Independent Chinese Pen Center who was jailed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident. Sakaue