發表於國際特赦組織香港分會《人權季刊》2010年春季號第11-12頁
Published in pp. 11-12, Spring 2010 Issue, Human Rights Magazine, Amnesty International Hong Kong
參閱Source:http://www.amnesty.org.hk/e-Newsletter/HR%20Spring%202010.pdf
China’s Human Rights Myths
中國人權神話
News about human rights violations in China continues to hit the newspaper headlines every day, even though many people are impressed by the country’s remarkable economic development.
I sometimes meet people who shrug their shoulders when human rights groups criticise China’s human rights records. They only travel to the country’s magnificent tourist spots or business hubs, and they can’t understand why human rights groups still focus on China’s human rights problems. Perhaps they never have the chance to meet ordinary farmers or workers, not to mention the increasing number of political dissidents, writers, human rights lawyers and other activists who advocate rights for ethnic minorities, religious groups and people with various sexual orientations, as well as the abolition of the death penalty, and other basic human freedoms.
Some outsiders might say they doubt whether the grievances of these ordinary people and the claims of the activists are genuine. Their “real-life” experiences in China show them that it is possible to enjoy dinners in luxurious hotels and restaurants, and shop in glossy shopping malls. On top of everything else, China is such a great nation that it even hosted the Beijing Olympic Games. Everything in China seems so perfect that some Westerners consider whether they should “learn” from China’s “socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
So, are the accusations about China’s human rights record just myths or conspiracies created by “subversive foreign elements”, as the Chinese government invariably maintains when it faces any criticism? Or is China’s most urgent human rights issue still the struggle to feed its 1.3 billion population, after which it will be able to improve in other areas, as Chinese officials often claim?
China is undoubtedly becoming a world power. It has enormous influence in the global economy. Many African and Arab countriesin particular regard it as a counterbalance to the United States’ dominance of the world economy. But are we reinforcing China’s authoritarian regime and rationalising its suppression of dissidents? China often claims its understanding of human rights is different from that of the West. It accuses Western countries of “interfering in China’s internal affairs” if they criticise its human rights shortcomings, such as the death penalty, harassment of human rights defenders and suppression of Tibetans and Uyghurs.
Facts speak better than rhetoric. Let’s look at some of China’s major human rights problems. Readers can then decide whether or not they really are parts of a “conspiracy to demonise the Chinese government”.
The death penalty: According to Amnesty International, at least 1,718 executions were carried out and 7,003 people were sentenced to death in China during 2008. These penalties were not in the result of fair trials, and the defendants did not always have proper access to lawyers. They may also have been tortured in various ways after they were detained. Although the authorities say the number of death sentences has fallen since the Supreme People’s Court began reviewing all of them on 1 January 2007, the statistics on this subject and the number of executions carried out remain state secrets. So external observers are unable to verify the official claims.
On 29 December 2009, China executed Akmal Shaikh, a British national who was arrested for smuggling heroin, despite pleas for clemency by his family and the British government, who said he was mentally unstable. Shaikh was the first European citizen to be executed in China since 1951. One thing we can be sure of is that China is still determined to justify executions and defy any foreign criticisms of them.
Harassment of human rights defenders: Dissident writers, human rights lawyers and human rights defenders are subjected to various forms of harassment, including imprisonment, torture and roundthe-clock surveillance. The government often invokes charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and “subverting state power” to punish these dissidents.
One of the most recent examples was Liu Xiaobo, a prominent Beijing writer and honorary president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, who was taken away by public security officers on 8 December 2008, two days before its authors planned to publish Charter 08. This manifesto called for improvements in human rights, democracy and the rule of law in China, and it was initially signed by 303 intellectuals, including academics, writers, journalists and lawyers. Liu was formally arrested on a charge of “inciting subversion of state power” on 23 June 2009, after he had been under “residential surveillance” in a Beijing suburb for more than seven months. Even more outrageous was the fact that China chose to sentence Liu to 11 years’ imprisonment on 25 December 2009, while many people in the West were celebrating Christmas. As of December 2009, more than 10,000 people in China and
overseas had signed Charter 08.
Another is the case of Sichuan human rights defenders Tan Zuoran and Huang Qi. They investigated the sub-standard construction of buildings in which thousands of people died during the Sichuan Earthquake in May 2008. The two were charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and “possessing state secrets”, respectively. Huang was jailed for three years on 23 November 2009.
A third example concerns the government’s treatment of human rights lawyers. About 10 of them – including Jiang Tianyong, Tang Jitian, Liu Wei and Wen Haibo – failed to have their legal practice licences renewed; and they have been periodically warned not to take up sensitive cases. Beijing human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng disappeared on 4 February 2009 and has not been heard of since. Shandong’s blind “barefoot lawyer”, Chen Guangcheng, has been suffering from acute diarrhoea while he is serving a prison sentence of four years and three months. Guangdong legal activist Guo Feixiong is serving a five-year sentence, and he is not being allowed to see his family members. If lawyers have also become the targets of official harassment, how can ordinary citizens struggle for their own human rights through legal channels?
Unfortunately, US President Barack Obama did not raise any specific human rights issues or the cases of any imprisoned human rights defenders at his meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao during his first state visit to China on 15-18 November 2009. So, what can we do? If we do not want to see the human rights myths about China perpetuated, it is our duty as citizens of the world to make the Chinese government understand how it ought to treat its citizens.
Patrick Poon
Executive Committee member of AIHK
Vice-chairman of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre
Executive Secretary of the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
Executive Committee member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese (2005-2009)
儘管中國近年經濟猛飛,我們還是天天看到報章以中國侵犯人權的新聞作頭條。
我不時會遇到一些人,一些在中國人權狀況屢遭評擊時依然不聞不問的人。他們只道中國旅遊景點或商業樞紐;他們不理解為何人權組織針對中國的人權問題。或許,因為他們不曾見過村裏窮農民或城中貧工人吧?更不用提及異見人士、作家、維權律師,和其他為少數族裔、宗教團體和不同性向的群體爭取權益,及廢除死刑及捍衛人權的人士。
有人會懷疑百姓的投訴及活躍份子的說法的真偽,因為他們從平日於中國的「實際生活」經驗得出,在這片土地上,他們還是可以到上高級餐館或是豪華酒店享用豐富的晚膳,到裝潢一流的商場購物。更重要的是,中國成功舉辦2008年的北京奧運會!這一切都太完美了,完美得叫西方國家不禁思量是否該開始「仿傚」中國這種「富中國特色的社會主義」。
總結以上種種,對中國人權狀況的指控是否純屬虛構?或是一如中國政府面對所有批評時所堅持的,是外國破壞份子的陰謀?又或者是一如中國官員經常聲稱的,中國當前最迫切的人權議題是讓13億人民得到溫飽,滿足了人民的基本需要,始可著手改善其他人權範疇的問題?
無疑,中國正在崛起,其一動一靜對全球經濟舉足輕重。尤其是非洲及阿拉伯的國家,更視中國為可與美國抗衡的龐大經濟體系。但難道這都是支持中國政府實行獨裁統治,及打壓異見人士的理據嗎?中方常稱其對人權的理解與西方有異,而每當西方國家譴責中國對人權問題處理不當時(如死刑問題、迫害維權人士、鎮壓藏人及維吾爾族人等),中國總是反指外國「干預中國內政」。
事實勝於雄辯。現在讓我一一羅列中國主要的人權問題。讀者看後可自行決定這些指控是否只是「妖魔化中國政府的陰謀」。
死刑:據國際特赦組織資料顯示,中國政府於2008年至少處決了1,718個死囚,另有7,003多人被判處死刑。值得關注的是這些判決並非經公平聆訊所得。在絕大部份情況下,被告人都不能循正常途徑接觸律師。在扣留期間,他們有可能遭受各種酷刑對待。縱然有關當局指,自2007年起最高人民法院開始再度審理案件,判處死刑的數字已顯著下降,但實際行刑數目屬國家機密,不能外泄,故外界無法得悉官方所言是否屬實。
2009年12月29日,中國處決一名英藉男子Akmal Shaikh,指其偷運海洛英入境。Akmal Shaikh的家人及英國政府曾求情,指謝犯罪時神智不清,可是中方依然堅持己見。Akmal Shaikh是自1951年以來首位被中方判處死刑的歐洲公民。可見中國政府決心為執行死刑辯護,向外國種種有關人權的指控下戰書。
迫害維權人士:在國內,異見作家、維權律師和維權活躍份子一直遭受不同形式的打壓,如禁錮、酷刑虐待及全天候監視。中國政府最常以「煽動顛覆國家政權罪」及「顛覆國家政權罪」的罪名作懲罰維權人士的藉口。
劉曉波案是近來最炙手可熱的例子。劉氏是北京有名的作家,更是獨立中文筆會的榮譽會長。2008年12月8日,劉氏遭公安帶走。這個日子正是《零八憲章》出版前兩天。劉氏起草《零》,為的是宣告其對中國境內改善人權、爭取民主及維護法治的訴求。超過300名知識份子已簽署《零》,當中包括學術人士、作家、記者及律師等。2009年6月23日,劉氏正式被控以「煽動顛覆國家政權罪」。在此之前的七個多月中,劉一直住在北京城郊,接受「監視居住」。12月25日這天本是普世歡騰的節日,但對劉來說,2009年的聖誕節卻是淒涼的一天:劉氏於這天被判罪名成立,入獄11年。可喜的是,直至2009年12月為止,國內外已有超過10,000人簽署《零》,相信劉氏亦會感到欣喜。
另一個案例的主人翁是譚作人和黃琦,他們一直在四川從事維權工作。2008年5月四川汶川發生大地震,樓房倒塌導致多人死亡,譚氏和黃氏二人致力調查「豆腐渣工程」問題。最後分別被控以「煽動顛覆國家政權罪」及「持有國家機密罪」,黃氏更於2009年11月23日被判罪名成立,入獄三年。
第三個例子是有關中國政府如何「禮待」國內維權律師。江天勇、唐吉田、劉巍、溫海波四人的律師執照無法續期,有關當局更定期警告他們不要受理一些敏感的案件;高智晟自2009年2月4日在北京的老家失蹤,至今音訊杳然;山東失明「赤腳律師」陳光誠在服刑的4年3個月期間,一直肚瀉,離奇得很;廣東法律維權人士郭飛雄正在服其5年判刑,但他卻無法與其家人見面。這些故事令人汗顏--律師尚且受到政府當局此等對待,平常百姓爭取人權的道路豈不是更荊棘滿途?
美國總統奧巴馬於2009年11月15至18日期間訪華,與國家主席胡錦濤和總理溫家寶會晤,但奧巴馬並沒有把握機會在會面時指出中國的人權問題,亦沒有對談時提及境內遭監禁的維權人士。既然如此,我們能夠採取甚麼行動? 如果我們不希望看到中國的人權問題延續,作為世界公民,我們必須讓中國政府明白應該怎樣對待她的公民。
潘嘉偉
國際特赦組織(香港)執行委員會會員
獨立中文筆會副會長
中國維權律師關注組執行秘書
香港天主教正義和平委員會執行委員會會員 (2005-2009)