China Labour Bulletin
Press Release
16 April 2003
Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin were tried on 15 January 2003 on charges including subversion and the organizing of illegal demonstrations. No verdict has yet been announced and they have remained in post-trial detention for over three months. This contravenes Chinese law on the time limit for announcement of verdict in a criminal trial. China Labour Bulletin is calling for the verdicts to be announced without further delay. In the meantime, Xiao should be immediately released on medical grounds, and Yao should also be freed on grounds of procedural violation arising from the excessive time he has spent in post-trial detention.
China Labour Bulletin has learnt from several sources that Xiao Yunliang’s health is deteriorating and that he is in danger of losing his eyesight. According to several medical reports, Xiao Yunliang is suffering from an eye disease called Floaters. While not in itself critical, it can be a symptom of serious retinal damage and may lead to loss of eyesight unless treated. It is believed that Xiao’s eye condition stems from an injury sustained when he was pushed into a police van at the time of his initial detention in March 2002.
After a recent medical examination by an ophthalmic doctor, Xiao Yunliang was reportedly diagnosed as having serious underlying damage to his eyes and that his current symptoms were likely to worsen, resulting in possible blindness unless treated. It is believed that the damage is such that Xiao Yunliang is currently unable to see more than one foot in front of him.
According to reliable CLB sources, the head of the Liaoyang municipal Public Security Bureau recently expressed serious concern over Xiao’s rapidly deteriorating eyesight, and in the past few days the detention centre has reportedly started giving him some medicine. It is CLB’s understanding that Xiao Yunliang had not received any medical treatment until the beginning of April, due to claims by the detention centre that they had “no money available” for the medical treatment of sick detainees.
In a further complication, Xiao Yunliang is said to be still coughing up blood. In March 2003, former detainees from the same detention centre as Xiao reported that he had been moved to an isolation cell after he was found to be spitting up blood. The fact that Xiao had been placed in isolation at the detention centre and that he is still reported to be coughing up blood suggests that he may be suffering from tuberculosis, which if left untreated can be life threatening.
In contravention of China’s own laws and regulations, Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang continue to be held beyond the maximum time limit on post-trial detention. In addition, by Liaoyang officials’ own admission, XiaoYunliang is suffering from a serious health condition that requires urgent treatment. According to Article 168 of the Criminal Procedure law of China, the court must pronounce judgment on a criminal case within one month, or six weeks at the latest, of the date of its acceptance of the prosecution’s bill of indictment, although in exceptional cases this time limit may be extended by one more month upon approval by the provincial High People’s Court. The maximum length of time that a criminal suspect may be held after the commencement of trial is therefore two and a half months. Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin have been held in detention since their trial on 15 January for a period in excess of three months.
Once again, China Labour Bulletin calls upon the Chinese authorities to release Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, both of whom have been detained and prosecuted solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of association and expression. In particular, we urge the authorities to grant Xiao Yunliang immediate release on medical bail so that he can obtain the expert medical treatment that may now be needed to save his eyesight.
Background
Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, along with Wang Zhaoming, Gu Baoshu (both released from detention on bail pending trial) and Pang Qingxiang (unconditionally released), were first detained in March 2002 for their involvement in mass protests at the Liaoyang Ferro-Alloy Factory in Liaoyang. The workers were protesting at the alleged corruption in the factory, which had earlier led to its bankruptcy, and against missing and unpaid wages and other benefits including pensions. Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin were eventually charged with “subversion” and “organizing illegal demonstrations”, on the grounds of their alleged “links with foreign hostile elements” and membership of the banned China Democracy Party. Both men were held for over ten months prior to trial. Since their initial detention, their families and those of other workers involved have been continuously harassed by the authorities and denied prison visits with their detained relatives. Other workers have also been detained for questioning, and there have been several reports of police brutality towards those questioned. Meanwhile, the original grievances of the protesting workers have been left unaddressed and unanswered.
In March 2003, the International Labour Organization (ILO), of which China is a member, upheld a composite complaint against the Chinese government concerning its detention and prosecution of the Ferro-Alloy workers’ leaders and also its repressive handling of various other labour disputes. The ILO’s Governing Body formally endorsed recommendations from its Committee on Freedom of Association calling upon the Chinese authorities to release all Ferro-Alloy workers still in detention and to drop any charges against them.
In particular, the ILO cast subtle scorn upon the Chinese government’s arbitrary contention, conveyed to it in September 2002 in Geneva, that Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang and other workers’ representatives had committed acts of “terrorism and sabotage” during the Liaoyang protest movement last year. This claim was sharply undercut by the government’s simultaneous admission that the Liaoyang protests had been simply “a labour dispute”, and even the procuracy did not see fit to include those charges in its eventual bill of indictment against Yao and Xiao.
In the Governing Body’s own words,
“Given the [Chinese] Government’s indication that the events occurring at the Ferrous Alloy Factory fell within the context of a labour dispute, the [ILO] Committee requests the Government to drop all charges relating to terrorism, sabotage and subversion.”
China Labour Bulletin urges the Chinese authorities to promptly comply with these clear and unequivocal recommendations from the ILO’s highest authoritative body. Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang are clearly guilty of no “crime” other than that of peacefully seeking to protect the legitimate rights of the Liaoyang workers.
Press Release
16 April 2003
Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin were tried on 15 January 2003 on charges including subversion and the organizing of illegal demonstrations. No verdict has yet been announced and they have remained in post-trial detention for over three months. This contravenes Chinese law on the time limit for announcement of verdict in a criminal trial. China Labour Bulletin is calling for the verdicts to be announced without further delay. In the meantime, Xiao should be immediately released on medical grounds, and Yao should also be freed on grounds of procedural violation arising from the excessive time he has spent in post-trial detention.
China Labour Bulletin has learnt from several sources that Xiao Yunliang’s health is deteriorating and that he is in danger of losing his eyesight. According to several medical reports, Xiao Yunliang is suffering from an eye disease called Floaters. While not in itself critical, it can be a symptom of serious retinal damage and may lead to loss of eyesight unless treated. It is believed that Xiao’s eye condition stems from an injury sustained when he was pushed into a police van at the time of his initial detention in March 2002.
After a recent medical examination by an ophthalmic doctor, Xiao Yunliang was reportedly diagnosed as having serious underlying damage to his eyes and that his current symptoms were likely to worsen, resulting in possible blindness unless treated. It is believed that the damage is such that Xiao Yunliang is currently unable to see more than one foot in front of him.
According to reliable CLB sources, the head of the Liaoyang municipal Public Security Bureau recently expressed serious concern over Xiao’s rapidly deteriorating eyesight, and in the past few days the detention centre has reportedly started giving him some medicine. It is CLB’s understanding that Xiao Yunliang had not received any medical treatment until the beginning of April, due to claims by the detention centre that they had “no money available” for the medical treatment of sick detainees.
In a further complication, Xiao Yunliang is said to be still coughing up blood. In March 2003, former detainees from the same detention centre as Xiao reported that he had been moved to an isolation cell after he was found to be spitting up blood. The fact that Xiao had been placed in isolation at the detention centre and that he is still reported to be coughing up blood suggests that he may be suffering from tuberculosis, which if left untreated can be life threatening.
In contravention of China’s own laws and regulations, Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang continue to be held beyond the maximum time limit on post-trial detention. In addition, by Liaoyang officials’ own admission, XiaoYunliang is suffering from a serious health condition that requires urgent treatment. According to Article 168 of the Criminal Procedure law of China, the court must pronounce judgment on a criminal case within one month, or six weeks at the latest, of the date of its acceptance of the prosecution’s bill of indictment, although in exceptional cases this time limit may be extended by one more month upon approval by the provincial High People’s Court. The maximum length of time that a criminal suspect may be held after the commencement of trial is therefore two and a half months. Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin have been held in detention since their trial on 15 January for a period in excess of three months.
Once again, China Labour Bulletin calls upon the Chinese authorities to release Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, both of whom have been detained and prosecuted solely for the peaceful exercise of their internationally guaranteed rights to freedom of association and expression. In particular, we urge the authorities to grant Xiao Yunliang immediate release on medical bail so that he can obtain the expert medical treatment that may now be needed to save his eyesight.
Background
Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, along with Wang Zhaoming, Gu Baoshu (both released from detention on bail pending trial) and Pang Qingxiang (unconditionally released), were first detained in March 2002 for their involvement in mass protests at the Liaoyang Ferro-Alloy Factory in Liaoyang. The workers were protesting at the alleged corruption in the factory, which had earlier led to its bankruptcy, and against missing and unpaid wages and other benefits including pensions. Xiao Yunliang and Yao Fuxin were eventually charged with “subversion” and “organizing illegal demonstrations”, on the grounds of their alleged “links with foreign hostile elements” and membership of the banned China Democracy Party. Both men were held for over ten months prior to trial. Since their initial detention, their families and those of other workers involved have been continuously harassed by the authorities and denied prison visits with their detained relatives. Other workers have also been detained for questioning, and there have been several reports of police brutality towards those questioned. Meanwhile, the original grievances of the protesting workers have been left unaddressed and unanswered.
In March 2003, the International Labour Organization (ILO), of which China is a member, upheld a composite complaint against the Chinese government concerning its detention and prosecution of the Ferro-Alloy workers’ leaders and also its repressive handling of various other labour disputes. The ILO’s Governing Body formally endorsed recommendations from its Committee on Freedom of Association calling upon the Chinese authorities to release all Ferro-Alloy workers still in detention and to drop any charges against them.
In particular, the ILO cast subtle scorn upon the Chinese government’s arbitrary contention, conveyed to it in September 2002 in Geneva, that Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang and other workers’ representatives had committed acts of “terrorism and sabotage” during the Liaoyang protest movement last year. This claim was sharply undercut by the government’s simultaneous admission that the Liaoyang protests had been simply “a labour dispute”, and even the procuracy did not see fit to include those charges in its eventual bill of indictment against Yao and Xiao.
In the Governing Body’s own words,
“Given the [Chinese] Government’s indication that the events occurring at the Ferrous Alloy Factory fell within the context of a labour dispute, the [ILO] Committee requests the Government to drop all charges relating to terrorism, sabotage and subversion.”
China Labour Bulletin urges the Chinese authorities to promptly comply with these clear and unequivocal recommendations from the ILO’s highest authoritative body. Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang are clearly guilty of no “crime” other than that of peacefully seeking to protect the legitimate rights of the Liaoyang workers.