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Issue 16 z Summer 2004 US-China Dialogue Stymied After IN THIS ISSUE: Geneva, Abu Ghraib US-China Dialogue Stymied After pril was a cruel month for US human and hypocrite,” Dong Yunhu, secretary gen- Geneva, Abu rights diplomacy in China, dominated eral of China’s government-supported Ghraib byA the defeat of Washington’s latest China China Society for Human Rights Studies, 1-3 resolution at the UN Human Rights Com- said that the mistreatment of Iraqi prison- Kamm Visits mission in Geneva and breaking news, in the ers “ruined mankind’s dignity, trampled in- Denmark and month’s waning days, of the abuse of Iraqi ternational human rights conventions and Switzerland prisoners by American soldiers at Abu humanitarian laws, and constituted a sys- 3 Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. Alleged abuse of temic and gross violation of human rights.” China’s “Modern political prisoners in Chinese prisons has long In the words of a senior Chinese diplo- and Civilized” been a theme of American complaints mat interviewed for this story by Dialogue, Prison System against Beijing, and there was barely con- “It is not necessarily a bad thing these days 4-5 cealed glee in China’s capital at the tables to have been criticized by the US on human Court Web Sites having turned so decisively against rights.” In his last testimony before leaving Promising Source Washington. his position as Assistant Secretary of State for Obscure Case The attempt to pass a China resolution for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Research at the 60th session of the United Nations Lorne Craner spoke of being “appalled” by 6-7 turned into nothing short of a rout, as China the abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib and China Mulls was, for the first time, able to muster a called questions about the ability of the Ratification of majority of the body’s 53 members to vote United States to talk about human rights in Civil and Political in favor of its “no-action resolution.” China’s other countries “reasonable.” Rights Covenant margin of victory in favor of no-action— 8 which essentially means that the body will Maintaining the Suspension not even consider the resolution—was 10 The impact of Geneva and Abu Ghraib Dialogue is written by the votes, matching its best-ever result. So has been magnified by the increasing staff of The Dui Hua flushed with victory was Beijing that its uncertainties associated with the US Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to diplomats began to consider it possible, for presidential election in November. Simply advancing the protection of the first time, to do away with all country put, Beijing doesn’t know who it will be universally recognized resolutions at the UN meeting (resolutions dealing with in six months. It is also very human rights in China and the United States. referred to as Item Nine resolutions), thereby worried by the prospect that the Bush solving once and for all the question of administration will negotiate more weapon © 2004 China resolutions at the UN Human Rights sales with Taiwan. Chinese leaders The Dui Hua Foundation 450 Sutter Street Commission. remember that in September 1992 George Suite 900 Beijing was quick to comment on the W. Bush’s father sold 120 F-16 fighters to San Francisco, CA 94108 news of serious and widespread abuses of Taiwan in a political move to win votes in Email: [email protected] prisoners that surfaced in the US media in Texas. While most Chinese officials Web: www.duihua.org late April. Calling the US a “laughingstock probably lean in favor of Bush winning the election, several have noted some sign from the US side that it not take place this year either, accord- statements by Senator John Kerry, the values dialogue on human rights. ing to a Chinese official, due to “is- Democratic contender for president, Many officials still chafe at the re- sues related to her mandate.” Like that promoting human rights in China marks of Assistant Secretary of State Professor van Boven, Chinese diplo- would not be a top priority of a Kerry Richard Boucher, who portrayed the mats have tangled with the new administration, but would rather take Sino-US dialogue on human rights as rapporteur, who is known as a tough a back seat to “integrating China into essentially worthless. and independent rights advocate. An the world economy” and weapons Chinese diplomats handling hu- assessment session of China’s memo- non-proliferation. man rights were sorry to see the de- randum on technical cooperation Rather than resuming the official parture of Lorne Craner as Assistant with the UN High Commissioner’s dialogue with Washington, Beijing has Secretary of Human Rights, with Office on Human Rights scheduled decided to maintain the suspension whom a relationship of trust had for May was postponed. China’s Re- it announced on March 23, the day been built in the two and a half years ligious Affairs Bureau advised the US after the State Department advised between the September 11, 2001 at- Embassy in Beijing that the Commis- China’s embassy in Washington that tacks and the introduction of the sion on International Religious it would once again introduce a China 2004 Geneva Resolution. Craner re- Freedom, a congressionally-man- resolution at the Geneva meeting. turned to the IRI in early August, dated body that had tried to visit Some unofficial exchanges in the area leaving the handling of human rights China twice in 2003, was no longer of human rights and rule of law will policy in the hands of Acting Assis- welcome to visit China as its guest. continue, however, including Dui tant Secretary for Democracy, Hu- Hua’s unofficial dialogue on prison- man Rights and Labor Michael A Full Plate of Dialogues ers and the monitoring of village and Kozak, a seasoned and highly re- While dialogues with the US and township elections by groups like the spected State Department profes- the UN have been stymied, China’s Carter Center and the International sional with special expertise in Latin human rights programs with other Republican Institute (IRI). America. countries have been taking place at Prior to resuming the dialogue a quickened pace. A joint China-EU Dui Hua Channel Stays Open with the United States, Beijing will seminar on the International Cov- Dui Hua’s executive director be sparing in its human rights enant on Civil and Political Rights John Kamm spent the week of June concessions. The long-awaited visit (ICCPR) was held in Beijing in early 28 in Beijing meeting with officials to China by the UN Rapporteur on July, and it attracted some of the of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Torture, Professor Theo van Boven, leading human rights diplomats in Ministry of Justice, Supreme People’s was postponed by China’s Ministry Europe (see story on page 8). An Court, and the Supreme People’s of Foreign Affairs a few days before Australian delegation visited Tibet. Procuratorate. The sessions were van Boven’s arrival in Beijing in late There were official sessions of hu- friendly, and there were useful June. The official reason given by the man rights dialogues between China exchanges of information and ministry was that officials in charge and the UK in London in May, and opinions, including on specific cases. of organizing the visit were due to between China and Norway in The official dialogue on human take vacations, but in fact Beijing Beijing the same month. Senior rights between China and the United balked at accepting Professor van Dutch and German diplomats raised States is not expected to resume un- Boven’s demand for a letter from human rights issues and had substan- til after the November 2004 election. China’s Ministry of Public Security tive sessions, gathering information As in the past, its resumption might granting the UN team unlimited and on specific political prisoners. Of be announced when the leaders of unannounced access to any and all special importance was the visit of China and the US meet at the APEC detention facilities. the Dutch foreign minister in April. meeting in Chile in November. Prior The visit to China of the Rap- The Netherlands holds the presi- to the resumption, Beijing expects porteur on Religious Freedom will dency of the European Union for the

2 Dialogue second half of 2004, and it is play- sequence of the scandal might be in the country’s legal publications. ing a key role in the effort to win an Beijing feeling more comfortable Of special note was the recent agreement from Beijing for signifi- about admitting the seriousness of report of the death by torture on June cant human rights steps in exchange police abuses in China, where tor- 18 of a woman detained in Guizhou for the EU lifting the arms embargo ture in detention centers is rampant. Province’s Tongzi County for illegally imposed after June 4, 1989. On May 28, 2004, the Supreme distributing bibles. According to a The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ People’s Procuratorate (SPP) report of the tragedy posted on the Department of International Agree- announced a year-long campaign web site of Legal Daily, the police had ments and Conferences, the group against “human rights infringement planned to subject the farmer, Jiang which manages China’s portfolio of crimes”—interrogation by torture, Zongxiu, to 15 days of administrative dialogues with the United Nations extorted confessions, illegal detention, but on the afternoon of the and other countries, has never been detention, and interference in voting detention the bible distributor was busier—so busy that no one knows rights. From 2001 to 2003, the SPP kicked and beaten to death. It is precisely how many official dialogues investigated 4,029 cases of “human unprecedented for a Chinese official and consultations on human rights are rights infringement crimes,” and source to admit to the use of torture actually going on at any given time. there has been nothing to suggest against religious prisoners. The Their European counterparts hope to that the number of these abuses has publication of the Jiang Zongxiu story show domestic constituencies and the fallen in 2004. Coverage of torture is a sad but welcome step in the United States that the path of by the police, for the most part a direction of transparency and dialogue, with its many shortcomings, taboo topic in China’s newspapers, accountability, a step made easier by is ultimately better than no dialogue now takes place from time to time the tragedy of Abu Ghraib. at all. Kamm Visits Denmark and Switzerland Unintended Consequences Although the bulk of comments Good results were achieved by Dui Hua Executive Director John Kamm posted in China’s Internet chat rooms during a trip to Europe in late April. A meeting with Chinese diplomats in the strongly criticized the US over the immediate aftermath of the closing of the UN Human Rights Commission Abu Ghraib scandal, a significant helped cleared the air on the question of the resolution and resulted in Kamm portion of messages referenced in traveling to Beijing at the end of June. positive terms that it was the independent American media who un- Kamm first visited Copenhagen, where he met with the Danish Foreign covered the abuse of prisoners and Ministry and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. He then traveled to Geneva, that it was an independent American where meetings were held with representatives of the United Nations, the Chi- legislature that investigated and nese Mission to the UN, the International Labour Office, and the International called to account Executive Branch Committee of the Red Cross. In Bern, Kamm met with Ambassador Peter officials. In a pointed reference to Maurer, then head of Political Division IV of the Federal Government and China’s position on rights resolutions now Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations. in Geneva, one commentator wrote that “it seems that exposing one’s As a result of Kamm’s meetings, the Swiss government renewed its sup- human rights abuses is a terrible port for Dui Hua with another 12-month grant. In June, the Danish Foreign thing, but that covering them up is Ministry advised Dui Hua that it would make a grant to support Dui Hua’s an honorable thing.” general operations. Dui Hua is committed to building strong ties of coopera- Interestingly, the Chinese gov- tion with governments and non-governmental organizations in Europe and is ernment has made a few unusual ad- especially grateful to the governments of Denmark and Switzerland for their missions in the wake of Abu Ghraib, generous assistance. suggesting that an unintended con-

Summer 2004 3 China’s “Modern & Civilized” Prison System f the nine visits to Chinese reduction, and release.” Maximum A prison that wishes to gain O prisons undertaken by Dui rates for unusual deaths of inmates model status first checks its qualifi- Hua’s executive director John Kamm, and prisoner escapes cannot be cations against the MOJ standards at least two—including Beijing exceeded. Guangxi Women’s Prison, and guidelines as set forth in its 1995 Prison and Dongguan Prison—have given model status by the MOJ in document. If the prison feels it meets been to national “modern and civi- 1999, was recently praised in the press these qualifications, prison officials lized prisons” and several, like for granting 147 sentence reductions apply to the provincial committee in Fujian’s Xiamen Prison, have been to in January 2004, 39 of which resulted charge of evaluating “modern and provincial “modern and civilized in immediate release. civilized prisons.” The committee prisons.” These are China’s model A key measure is the number of forms a sub-committee that visits the prisons. prisoners per cell. The maximum prison, makes its assessment, and In 1994, China’s Ministry of Jus- number for a prison to win model sta- reports its findings to the committee. tice (MOJ) held a conference in tus is 20. Kamm has seen model pris- After deliberation, the committee Beijing to announce its newly-formed ons having cells with as few as four sends its recommendation to the pro- goal to establish “modern and civi- prisoners and as many as 14. Sanita- vincial prison administration bureau lized” ( ) prisons tion standards and medical facilities and files a report with the MOJ. throughout the country. In a tacit ad- are judged by inspectors, as is the sys- After gaining provincial status, mission that its prisons were below tem of education and reform. Pris- a prison can apply for national status international standards, the MOJ out- oners must spend a certain number to the ministry, which assembles a lined a number of areas that needed of hours in class. new team and carries out a presum- improvement, including physical ably more rigorous inspection. In rare plant, reform practices, and prison Assessing Model Prisons cases, a prison gets national status by personnel. In late 1995 and early 1996, skipping the provincial application respectively, the MOJ released two and applying directly to the MOJ’s MOJ Criteria Must Be Met documents entitled “Detailed Rules Prison Administration Bureau. In September 1995, the MOJ for Evaluating and Assessing Mod- All modern and civilized prisons published a list of standards for min- ern and Civilized Prisons” and “No- are re-evaluated every three years. If istry-level ( ) modern and civi- tice on Certain Questions Regarding the prison does not meet the required lized prisons. There are a total of 58 Evaluating and Assessing Modern guidelines and standards, it will be criteria, grouped into seven sections. and Civilized Prisons.” The latter subject to immediate action which Modern and civilized prisons must document sets out the procedure could include stripping it of its much- have “relatively more advanced and whereby a prison gains model status. coveted status. No cases of such ac- complete facilities and a sound, func- The ministry’s “Committee to Evalu- tion have been found in China’s tioning reform system as their basis. ate and Assess Modern and Civilized media. They must implement scientific and Prisons” is responsible for evaluat- Besides “modern and civilized” civilized administration of prisoners ing—and periodically re-evaluat- prisons at the ministry and regional and educational reform and must be ing—all ministry-level modern and levels, there are also “modern and a high-quality reform facility.” civilized prisons. Each province, civilized” cell blocks ( ) and sub- Physical requirements for municipality, and autonomous region cell blocks ( ). As of July 2001, buildings, communications, has a similar committee under the there were 48 ministry-level modern transport, prison cells, and other prison administration bureau that is and civilized prisons (including facilities are set out. Prisons should responsible for designating model juvenile correctional facilities), 40 have “fair, open, and reasonable provincial-level prisons in the area ministry-level modern and civilized procedures for parole, sentence under its jurisdiction. reeducation through labor facilities,

4 Dialogue and “numerous” modern and civilized Prisons Designated as Ministry-level cell blocks—sections within prisons “Modern and Civilized” Prison Facilities that have not yet reached the desired level as a whole but that contain Municipality, Province Name of Prison Name of Prison Year or Autonomous Region (English translation) (Chinese) Designated certain blocks or areas that do meet Anhui Province Lujiang Prison 庐江监狱 2001 the qualifications. Chaohu Prison 巢湖监狱 1997 In 1996, the first set of five min- Beijing Municipality Beijing Prison 北京市监狱 1996 istry-level modern and civilized pris- Chongqing Municipality Chongqing Prison 重庆监狱 1997 Guangdong Province Guangzhou Prison 广州监狱 2001 ons was designated. These five in- Dongguan Prison 东莞监狱 1998 cluded Beijing Prison, Yudong Prison Guangxi Zhuang Guangxi Autonomous Region 广西自治区女子监狱 1999 in Henan, Shandong No. 1 Prison, Autonomous Region Women's Prison Liuzhou Prison 柳州监狱 1999 and Zhejiang No. 1 Prison. Another Guizhou Province Duyun Prison 都匀监狱 2001 group, including Henan No. 1 Prison Hebei Province Cangzhou Prison 沧州监狱 1997 and Nanjing Prison, received their Chengde Prison 承德监狱 2001 Hebei Province Juvenile 河北省少年管教所 1999 modern and civilized designations a Correctional Facility year later in 1997. Heilongjiang Province Daqing Prison 大庆监狱 1997 The majority of modern and Henan Province Henan No. 1 Prison 河南省第一监狱 1997 civilized prisons received their min- Henan No. 4 Prison 河南省第四监狱 1999 Yudong Prison 豫东监狱 1996 istry-level status in 1999, when a set Zhengzhou Prison 郑州市监狱 1999 of 13 new prisons was added to the Hubei Province Shayang Guanghua Prison 沙洋广华监狱 1997 list, and in 2001, when another 15 Hunan Province Hunan Province Juvenile 湖南省少年管教所 2001 Correctional Facility prisons were added. Newly-desig- Inner Mongolia Hohhot No. 2 Prison 呼和浩特第二监狱 2001 nated prisons were cited as having sig- Jiangsu Province Nanjing Prison 南京监狱 1997 nificantly raised the standard of Suzhou Prison 苏州监狱 1999 Longtan Prison 龙潭监狱 2001 prison law enforcement, admin- Xuzhou Prison 徐州监狱 2001 istration, physical plant, and quality Jilin Province Jilin Province Women's Prison 吉林省女子监狱 1997 of prisoner reform. Liaoning Province Dongling Prison 东陵监狱 1999 Anshan Prison 鞍山监狱 1999 Not surprisingly, less developed Dalian Prison 大连监狱 1997 provinces have fewer “modern and Yingkou Prison 营口监狱 1997 civilized” prisons than developed Shandong Province Beishu Prison 北墅监狱 1999 Jining Prison 济宁监狱 2001 provinces. In Inner Mongolia, only Lunan Prison 鲁南监狱 2001 one of the region’s 22 prisons has Shandong No. 1 Prison 山东省第一监狱 1996 been designated a ministry-level mod- Tengzhou Prison 滕州监狱 1999 Yantai Prison 烟台监狱 1997 ern and civilized prison, and both Shanghai Municipality Qingpu Prison 青浦监狱 1997 Guizhou and Yunnan provinces also Shanghai Juvenile Correctional 上海市少年管教所 1999 boast only one ministry-level model Facility Shanxi Province Yangquan No. 1 Prison 阳泉第一监狱 1997 prison each. Yangquan No. 2 Prison 阳泉第二监狱 2001 On the other end of the scale, Sichuan Province Sichuan Province Juvenile 四川省少年管教所 1999 relatively rich Zhejiang Province has Correctional Facility six ministry-level modern and civi- Tianjin Municipality Hexi Prison 河西监狱 2001 Yunnan Province Xiaolongtan Prison 小龙潭监狱 1997 lized prisons. Other provinces with a Zhejiang Province Zhejiang No. 1 Prison 浙江省第一监狱 1996 high number of model prisons include Zhejiang No. 2 Prison 浙江省第二监狱 1997 Jiangsu, Henan, and Shandong. A full Zhejiang No. 6 Prison 浙江省第六监狱 2001 Zhejiang Province Juvenile 浙江省少年管教所 2001 list of all 48 modern and civilized Correctional Facility prisons, based on Dui Hua’s research, Zhejiang Women's Prison 浙江省女子监狱 2001 is presented at right. Ningbo Wangchun Prison 宁波望春监狱 1999

Summer 2004 5 C ASES UNCOVERED, INFORMATION RECEIVED

Court Web Sites Promising Source for Obscure Case Research

n recent years Dui Hua has intensified its use of secrecy by Chinese courts, especially in sensitive crimi- I the Internet for researching China’s human rights nal cases involving political or religious activity. Some situation. Online searches of Chinese newspapers and courts have already begun making some case verdicts other media outlets have yielded more than 400 names available through their web sites, although at present of political and religious prisoners, the Internet has fa- the process appears to be highly selective. cilitated access to Chinese laws and regulations, and The majority of verdicts now online concern civil previously unknown titles of potential sources of in- suits or “strike hard”-type cases involving violence, formation have been discovered in the online catalogs drugs, or property crime. There is some evidence of of major Chinese libraries. either a specific policy or implicit understanding to ex- One promising area for future Internet research is clude cases involving endangering state security and China’s courts. Presently, dozens of courts throughout “heretical organizations” such as Falun Gong. In short, China have their own web sites, although these vary “transparency” seems intended to produce a carefully greatly both in quality and utility. Of particular inter- shaped image of China’s legal system as guarantor of est for human rights research and the discovery of new social stability and citizens’ interests without revealing cases is the gradual increase in online publication of the extent of the courts’ role in suppressing dissent. court verdicts and decisions and the announcement of Less informative than verdicts, though more the court docket. Below we shall discuss these aspects common, are court docket announcements, in which in more detail and show how Dui Hua has already used courts post basic information about the cases they will such research to uncover previously unknown cases. be hearing in the near future. Here one can sometimes find names of individuals in political and religious cases, More Links, Limited Transparency as well as causes of action, hearing dates, and, China has already launched an ambitious plan to occasionally, case numbers. Although there is no indi- link the country’s courts through an internal cation of a case’s disposition, enough details are pro- computerized information network designed to vided to submit to Chinese officials a request for fur- encourage greater standardization and efficiency in court ther information. procedures. While the focus of this effort is to enable information sharing internally, the courts also appear Single Site Yields 100 Names eager to use the publicly accessible Internet to promote To illustrate what can be achieved through research an image of openness and transparency in China’s into court web sites, we turn to the results of our ex- judicial system. A major step in this direction was the amination of the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s 2002 launch of the China Court web site (www. Court. This court hears trials of first instance in major chinacourt.org) sponsored by the Supreme People’s criminal cases (including all endangering state security Court, which serves as a model of centralized, cases) and trials of final instance (i.e., appeal hearings) systematic presentation of court news, legal in cases heard first at the local courts in its jurisdiction information, and legislation. (covering the southern part of Shanghai Municipality). One way in which court web sites have already In addition to limited numbers of verdicts and a listing contributed to greater openness is through the online of the current week’s docket, the court’s web site also publication of verdicts and other court decisions. These provides a searchable database of its cases since the documents have customarily been treated with great middle of 2000. Querying the database by year and

6 Dialogue general categories (e.g., trials of first instance, trials of final instance, adjudication supervision [ ] hearings, etc.) retrieves case number, defendant name, primary cause of action, hearing date, and presiding judge for every case of the specified type during that year. Our systematic retrieval of data from Shanghai No. 1’s site has yielded over 100 new names of individuals believed to have been convicted for political or religious crimes. Of these, the vast majority are cases involving Article 300 (“organizing or using a heretical organization to sabotage implementation of the law”). Many of these individuals have been verified through unofficial sources to be Falun Gong practitioners, who Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court we presume to be the most frequent target of anti-“cult” activity in Shanghai. individuals reported to have been tried for endanger- Another group of names involved petitions for re- ing state security on a request for information from Chi- view of sentences previously handed down for nese officials. In late May, we received a response con- counterrevolution. Precisely when these earlier sen- firming that the two had been convicted and sentenced tences were handed down, though, is unclear. We found to prison for inciting subversion. In May 2001, Xu supporting evidence for one individual, Xu Miaofu Weikang ( ) received a four-year prison term ( ), a man in his sixties sentenced to seven years’ (due to expire on October 16, 2004) for sending three imprisonment for counterrevolution in 1960. Accord- letters to Radio Free Asia in which he criticized the ing to a separate account on the No. 1 Court’s web site, government and requested assistance in contacting dis- Xu was eventually convinced to withdraw his petition sident groups. Lian Tong ( ) was sentenced to four by court officials because he lacked exculpatory years in July 2003 (due for release on January 16, 2007) evidence. It seems likely that many, if not all, of the for posting critical essays on the People’s Daily web site other 16 petitioners were also seeking reversals of sen- and making contact with members of the China De- tences handed down prior to the implementation of the mocracy Party. Both Xu and Lian are being held in 1979 Criminal Law, but there is a possibility that some Shanghai’s Tilanqiao Prison. were sentenced after 1980 and a chance that one or two might still be imprisoned. Conclusion Of the five cases of endangering state security that Chinese authorities are obviously aware of the ad- were found, all but one (Lü Yiqun [ ], known to vantages of making information available over the have been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for Internet, but they are equally aware of the inherent espionage) appear to have been previously unknown. dangers of the Internet’s capabilities. We have seen the We found a brief mention that one, Zheng Yu’er ( kinds of information that Chinese courts could make ), had been removed from a position on Shanghai’s available to the public if they are truly serious about Jing’an District Political Consultative Conference in promoting openness, and we are encouraged by the re- January 2003, a move entirely consistent with Zheng’s sponses we have received to names discovered through apparent criminal conviction for providing state secrets this research. However, those of us who use the Internet abroad in late 2002. The May 2004 espionage trial of to conduct research on sensitive topics related to China Li Renhao ( ) is most likely connected to the must recognize that the potential for more access to nationwide sweep carried out in late 2003 against al- information will always be in tension with the increas- leged Taiwanese spying activities. ingly sophisticated efforts of the government to con- Earlier this year, Dui Hua placed the names of two trol and restrict such access.

Summer 2004 7 China Mulls Ratification of Civil and Political Rights Covenant goal of European human determined that Chinese law con- of criminal justice. A specific prob- A rights diplomacy in China has forms with the language of 20 of the lem concerns the treatment of indi- been ratification by the Asian giant ICCPR’s 27 articles and that the gap viduals serving sentences for crimes of the United Nations’ International between Chinese law and the lan- like “counterrevolution” and “hooli- Covenant on Civil and Political guage of the remaining seven articles ganism” which were removed from Rights (ICCPR). The covenant, a “is not as big as originally thought.” China’s criminal law in 1997. Chinese component of the international bill If the Chinese government de- law holds that verdicts passed under of human rights, was signed by the termines that a law diverges from the a law no longer in force remain valid, Chinese government in November requirements of the covenant, it can but the ICCPR states that, if the law 1998. Chinese leaders have said that either amend the law to bring it into changes and lighter penalties or no it is being “actively studied” by vari- line with the covenant, or it can make penalties at all are imposed, prison- ous governmental and non-govern- a derogation, a declaration to the ers serving sentences for the old crime mental agencies in an effort to rec- other parties to the covenant that should benefit. oncile China’s domestic legislation China will not abide by a specific The process by which China’s with the language of the covenant. article. Beijing wants to ratify the NPC ratifies the ICCPR will help to In late June 2004, European dip- covenant with as few derogations as raise human rights consciousness in lomats traveled to Beijing for a joint seminar on ratification of the ICCPR Beijing wants to ratify the covenant with as few derogations as hosted by China’s Ministry of For- possible, but has made it clear that it will exempt itself from the eign Affairs. The first two days of the ICCPR’s requirements “in line with China’s actual conditions seminar consisted of exchanges between the diplomats and Chinese and national interests.” scholars, many of whom surprised possible, but if necessary it will ex- the country, and it will also give their European counterparts with empt itself from the ICCPR’s require- impetus to the reforms announced outspoken criticisms of the human ments “in line with China’s actual earlier this year: eliminating the rights situation in China. conditions and national interests,” as system of “reeducation through On July 1, the joint seminar be- one Chinese diplomat put it. labor” (RTL) and returning the power tween officials of the EU and China In October 1997 China signed to approve executions to the opened with a speech by Li Baodong, the International Covenant on Supreme People’s Court in Beijing. Director General of the Ministry of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights A bill that replaces RTL committees Foreign Affairs’ Department of In- (ICESCR), the twin covenant to the with minor offenses tribunals where ternational Agreements and ICCPR, and it was ratified by the defendants enjoy some due process Conferences. Li gave information on National People’s Congress (NPC) in rights is expected to be introduced the multi-agency task force studying June 1998. In ratifying the ICESCR, to the Standing Committee of the ratification of the ICCPR that was the NPC exempted China from Ar- NPC in November 2004 and passed established in November 2003, but ticle Eight, paragraph one, which by the full NPC at its annual session refused to be drawn out on when the provides for the right to form inde- in March 2005. The proposal to work of the task force would be pendent trade unions. Since Article return the power to approve completed. On the margins of the 22 of the ICCPR also asserts the right executions to the Supreme People’s seminar, a Chinese official remarked to form independent trade unions, Court has run into stiff resistance in that China might announce a time- it is virtually certain that China will some provinces, but judicial officials table for the ratification of the cov- file a derogation for this article. in Beijing are confident that this enant next year. Another area where derogations reform too will come about, perhaps Li stated that the task force has might take place is in the application as early as the end of 2004. 8 Dialogue