PRC HUMAN RIGHTS: EMBASSY ROUNDTABLE WITH RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 002692 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2029 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PROP SOCI CH SUBJECT: PRC HUMAN RIGHTS: EMBASSY ROUNDTABLE WITH RIGHTS LAWYERS REF: A. BEIJING 02123 ¶B. BEIJING 02429 Classified By: Deputy Political Minister Counselor Ben Moeling. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) On September 10, Embassy Beijing hosted a round-table discussion with 19 Beijing-based rights lawyers, visiting Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor senior advisor Susan O'Sullivan, and third-country diplomats. Most of the Chinese participants were among a group of lawyers whose licenses were not renewed by the Beijing Lawyers Association on May 31 as a result of their work in human rights related cases. Participants noted that, since 2006, the Communist Party and the Chinese government have begun to use the administrative license renewal process, once merely a formality, as a means to deter lawyers from working on politically sensitive issues. The lawyers reported pressure from security officials to drop sensitive cases. Law firms also face pressure to fire or restrict the activities of certain lawyers and, in some cases, face closure through administrative measures if they do not comply. During a September 2 meeting with PolOffs, the Beijing Lawyers Association denied that political criteria were a factor in decisions not to renew licenses and asserted that the guidelines and practices of attorney evaluations had not changed. End Summary. Rights Lawyers Lose Licenses -------------- ¶2. (C) On September 10, Embassy Beijing hosted a roundtable discussion for 19 Beijing lawyers, visiting DRL senior advisor Susan O'Sullivan and human rights officers from third-country missions. The Chinese participants were among a group of Beijing-based attorneys whose licenses were not renewed during the 2009 evaluation period by the Beijing bar, known as the Beijing Lawyers Association (BLA). Roundtable participants unanimously believed that BLA decisions not to renew their licenses were the result of their work on sensitive human rights cases. The lawyers used the roundtable to explain the political factors influencing the administrative license renewal process and to describe the climate for members of the legal community who are active in human rights and civil society initiatives. Participating lawyers represented a range of firms and fields but included Li Heping and Jiang Tianyong from the Beijing Globe Law Firm, �A;and Tang Jitian of the Beijing Anhui Law Firm. Following the roundtable, invitee and prominent rights lawyer Li Fangping told PolOff that he had been unable to attend because security officials had prevented him from leaving his home that day. He surmised that the officials had been aware of his invitation to the roundtable and had acted to prevent him from attending. Li was able to attend the later meeting hosted by the EC although other participants also reported being prevented from attending that event. Licensing Background -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In order to work as practicing attorneys, Chinese lawyers must be licensed by the local lawyers association, roughly analogous to a U.S. bar, with jurisdiction over their municipality or province. Lawyers associations are ostensibly independent professional organizations with no government or party affiliations. The BLA requires attorneys to renew their licenses on a yearly basis, a process which involves certification of employment, a review of professional conduct and other less transparent criteria. Rights Lawyers Targeted -------------- ¶4. (C) Lawyers who participated in the roundtable said that in the past the annual evaluation and license renewal process had been a routine administrative procedure. However, beginning around 2006, Communist Party authorities began to use the evaluation process as a mechanism to decertify lawyers who worked on sensitive cases, particularly those involving members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement. They noted that the BLA did not provide any explanation, written or otherwise, to lawyers whose licenses were not renewed this year. ¶5. (C) Jiang Tianyong, a former lawyer with the Beijing Globe Law Firm, said that BLA decisions not to renew licenses, including his own, were based on direct instructions from the BEIJING 00002692 002 OF 003 Communist Party. Jiang noted that of the seven lawyers at his firm who were active in human rights related cases, six faced problems during the 2009 evaluation process. Of these six, the BLA declined to renew licenses for five. Several lawyers added that in addition to the evaluation process, many had experienced other forms of harassment, such as being arbitrarily denied the right to meet with clients in jail, placed under temporary house arrest, and difficulties in gaining access to evidence. ¶6. (C) One recently decertified lawyer, Li Xiongbing, said that on May 31, the deadline for license renewal, Ministry of Public Security (MPS) officials met with him to demand that he stop defending Falun Gong members and providing legal assistance to the Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng) NGO (reftels). Li refused, and the following day the BLA decided not to renew his license. In July, Li was again visited by MPS officials who warned him that he would be arrested if he continued to provide legal assistance to Gongmeng. Following those meetings, Li recounted being shut out of a courtroom by security officials in Heilongjiang Province when he attempted to represent a client affiliated with Falun Gong despite the fact that the local court had not questioned his qualifications. ¶7. (C) The lawyers noted that, since licensing is an administrative process managed by a nominally independent professional association, there is no statutory recourse to appeal individual decisions. The lawyers characterized this lack of redress, and Party influence over licensing decisions, as illegal under PRC law. One participant noted that a group of lawyers had passed to the Ministry of Justice their suggestions on correcting the licensing process, but had not received a response. Law Firms Face Pressure -------------- ¶8. (C) Jiang Tianyong noted that the BLA also pressured individual law firms to fire lawyers who worked on sensitive cases. By exerting political pressure on law firms to control individual attorneys, the BLA and the Chinese government could assert that the license renewal denials were the result of personnel decisions within individual firms, rather than BLA or PRC policies, Jiang said. ¶9. (C) Tong Chaoping, a partner in the Beijing Anhui Law Firm, which specializes in human and civil rights cases, said the Party and government, through the BLA, had used the licensing process to restrict his firm's activities, and to reduce the size of the firm from 25 lawyers to its current staff of four. Tong noted that the government uses a regulation specifying that a law firm must have a minimum of three partners as tactic to force the dissolution of firms it views as problematic. As a result of lawyers at his own firm losing their licenses, Beijing Anhui faced an impending deadline to add two additional partners, or it would be forced to dissolve. Anhui Law Fim partner David Tong confirmed to Poloff that, as of September 17, the firm is still open, but is still under pressure. ¶10. (C) Tong said his firm had come under increased scrutiny because of its attempts to participate in elections for BLA board and calls for the elections to be direct and democratic. Beijing Anhui Law Firm had nominated candidates for recent elections the BLA board. During first-round voting, Beijing Anhui candidates garnered more support and more votes than incumbent candidates. However, in subsequent rounds, the firms' candidates were dropped from the ballot without explanation. ¶11. (C) Individual law firms had reacted differently to political pressure, the lawyers said. Some had cooperated with the BLA and government and had fired lawyers or prevented them from engaging in substantive work. Others sought to compromise with the government by restricting the activities of lawyers viewed as problematic. Still other firms have been pressured to withhold support for license renewals, thereby making it impossible for individual lawyers to complete the evaluation process, forcing them to leave their firms. Meeting with BLA -------------- ¶12. (C) Prior to the roundtable, PolOffs met September 2 with representatives of the Beijing Lawyers Association to raise concerns over the licensing process. Poloff noted that a disproportionate percentage of lawyers who did not pass the administrative review process this year had been involved BEIJING 00002692 003 OF 003 with cases related to human rights. As a result, it was difficult to conclude that the renewal process was based purely on professional criteria, and it appeared that political considerations had influenced the evaluations of individual lawyers. BLA Vice President Jiang Junlu insisted that all decisions on lawyers' licenses were made in strict accordance with the Lawyers Law and BLA professional criteria. BLA passed to PolOff copies of the BLA constitution and regulations which outlined the responsibilities of association members and the BLA Board but did not mention annual evaluation criteria. Jiang denied using licensing decisions to punish lawyers handling sensitive cases. HUNTSMAN