Front Line is seriously concerned following reports received of a widespread police crackdown, including a wave of arrests and incommunicado detentions of human rights defenders, in the context of their commemoration of the the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Further Information

This includes the dispersal by the police of a peaceful demonstration on 10 December in Beijing; the arrest On 8 December 2008 of Mr Zhang Zuhua and Mr Liu Xiaobo for their participation in the Charter 08 initiative, a declaration that outlines a vision for a constitutional democratic China and initiates a platform for citizens' action; The arrest, On 4 December, and incommunicado detention of five human rights defenders in Guizhou who had planned to organize the Fourth Guizhou Citizens' Forum on Human Rights on 10 December 2008.

On the morning of 10 December 2008, protesters in Beijing staged a demonstration outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand greater respect for human rights in China and to complain that ordinary people were not being allowed to contribute to a major human rights assessment due to be published soon. The police initially responded by confining the demonstrators to an area before forcing them onto buses which took them outside of the city. This procedure is reported to be a common practice used by the police to disperse protests.

On 8 December 2008, at approximately 11:00 pm, Beijing public security officers arrested human rights defenders Mr Zhang Zuhua and Mr Liu Xiaobo for signing Charter 08, an open letter demanding bold political reforms that promote human rights and democracy and articulating principles for a platform of citizens' actions. After their arrest, the police ransacked their homes and confiscated computers, books, and personal belongings. Zhang Zhuhua was released after 12 hours of interrogation and reported that Liu Xiaobo remains in detention on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.”

On 4 December 2008, Mr Chen Xi, Mr Du Heping, Mr Liao Suangyuan, Mr Huang Yanming and Mr Shen Youlian were arrested by the police in Guiyang, Guizhou Province. The aforementioned human rights defenders had planned to organize the Fourth Guizhou Citizens' Forum on Human Rights on December 10. The police had repeatedly warned them against marking the anniversary and told them that the event was "illegal". These individuals remain detained in an unknown location. It is reported that the police informed them that they will only be released after the UDHR anniversary on 10 December 2008.

Front Line believes that these events form part of a crackdown against human rights defenders around the 60th anniversary of the UDHR and is an attempt to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate and peaceful activities in defence of human rights.