Dui Hua Appeals for “Olympic Pardon” For Long-Serving Prisoners

(中文译文在英文声明后 / A Chinese translation of this statement follows the English version)

The Dui Hua Foundation has appealed to the Chinese government to grant an "Olympic pardon" in conjunction with the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing. The pardon would apply to long-serving prisoners who no longer pose a threat to society and are nearing the end of their sentences.

The appeal for the special pardon was expressed in an April 24, 2008, letter from Dui Hua Executive Director John Kamm to Wu Bangguo (吴邦国), Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's highest legislative body. Kamm pointed out that no Olympic host has ever declared a pardon for long-serving prisoners: "China has an historic opportunity to be the first Olympics host to do so, thereby leaving an important humanitarian legacy for future hosts."

Article 67 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China grants the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress the power to grant special pardons for prisoners. The power has been exercised in the past when the Committee issued pardons to imprisoned officers of the Nationalist Party (KMT) and other prisoners. These pardons were issued on seven separate occasions between 1959 and 1975.

In his letter to Chairman Wu, Kamm writes that "a fundamental principle of the Olympics has been the Olympic Truce," which has historically promoted peace, solidarity, and humanitarianism during the games. On October 31, 2007, the resolution submitted by China to endorse the Olympic Truce was adopted at the United Nations General Assembly. Since 1993, when Olympic Truce resolutions became standard in the UN, China has supported the principle as a resolution co-sponsor, and an Olympic pardon for long-serving prisoners is a natural expression of the Olympic Truce ideal.

Kamm closed the letter by saying that the Standing Committee is "best qualified to determine the scope of the Olympic pardon," and that, in the spirit of wishing for the success of the Beijing Olympics, Dui Hua "hope[s] that the scope will be broad, reflecting the deep humanitarianism of the Chinese people and the ideals of the International Olympics movement."

"An Olympic pardon would not target any one group of prisoners," says Kamm in reference to Dui Hua's letter. "But a pardon for those who have served the great bulk of their sentences would result in the release of the remaining prisoners from June 1989—symbolically putting that tragedy behind the Chinese people—as well as those still serving sentences for counterrevolution, a crime removed from China's criminal law in 1997."

「对话」呼吁为长期服刑的囚犯实施"奥林匹克特赦"

中美对话基金会呼吁中国政府为迎接即将就举行的北京夏季奥运会，实行"奥林匹克特赦"。特赦的对象可包括那些已长期服刑又近刑满、并不再危害社会的囚犯。

2008年4月24日，基金会执行董事康原致函中国人大常委会委员长吴邦国建议实施特赦。康原指出，因为以往并无奥运举办国实施特赦的先例，所以，"中国正把握着一个历史性的机遇，成为第一个颁布'奥林匹克特赦'的东道主，为今后的举办国留下一个重要的人道主义传统"。

依据中华人民共和国宪法第六十七条，人大常委有权力就决定实施囚犯特赦。自1959至1975年，人大常委会七次行使了这一权力，赦免了大批在押的国民党官员及其他犯人。

在致吴邦国委员长的信中，康原提到，"奥运会[成员国]都遵守奥林匹克休战的基本原则。"奥运赛事期间，参赛各方应宣扬和平、团结与博爱。2007年10月31日，联合国大会通过了中国提交的《奥林匹克休战决议》。自1993年奥林匹克休战被纳入联合国的规范以来，作为倡导国之一的中国一直予以支持。所以，中国对已长期服刑的囚犯实施特赦，正是遵循奥林匹克休战理念恰如其分的具体表现。

康原在信末坦诚："由人大常务委员会来确定奥林匹克特赦的范围是最为合适的"。在祝愿北京奥运会圆满成功的同时，「对话」也期望"[特赦包括］一个广泛的范围，从而反映出中国人民深厚的人道主义精神及国际奥林匹克运动所代表的理念"。

康原就特赦范围进而阐述："'奥林匹克特赦'不应只限定于某一类的囚犯。若特赦能适用于所有已服完大部分刑期的囚犯，仍在押的"六•四"犯人也将受益，有利于他们及其亲友摆脱这一事件带来的阴影。此外，中国已于1997年从刑法中取消了"反革命罪"，特赦也将为仍在狱中服刑的反革命罪犯赋予新生"。

John Kamm Speaks at Human Rights Press Awards in Hong Kong

[Edited 3/29/08]

Executive Director John Kamm was the Awards Ceremony Guest Speaker for the 12th Annual Human Rights Press Awards at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong on March 29.

Kamm's speech, "China's June Fourth Prisoners: The Long Road to Justice," addressed the cases of individuals detained in the “counterrevolutionary riots" that occurred throughout China in 1989. In appealing for the release of the prisoners, Kamm offered details on several cases, touched on the role of journalists and researchers in making known the names of political prisoners, and linked a range of human rights concerns to current choices and opportunities of importance to China and the world.

The Human Rights Press Awards are co-organized by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, and Amnesty International Hong Kong.

Statistics Show Chinese Political Arrests Rose Again in 2007

Chinese arrests for "endangering state security" (ESS) rose again in 2007 to their highest level in eight years, according to statistics announced by a senior Chinese law enforcement official on March 10. The increase in Chinese political arrests follows a doubling of such arrests in 2006 over 2005.

In delivering the Supreme People's Procuratorate's annual work report to the National People's Congress, China's highest legislative body, outgoing Procurator-General Jia Chunwang revealed that Chinese prosecutors had approved "formal" arrests for 2,404 individuals detained by public security and state security police in ESS cases during the five years from 2003 to 2007.

"The figure cited by Jia means that the number of ESS arrests in 2007 reached 742—the highest number since 1999," noted Joshua Rosenzweig, manager of research and programs at The Dui Hua Foundation. "There's no guesswork about this—the numbers for all the other years have already been published by the Chinese government."

The latest figures show that more than half of all Chinese political arrests during the five-year period beginning in 2003 were concentrated in the years 2006 and 2007. The statistics revealed last week also show an increase in the number of prosecutions initiated in ESS cases, with 619 indictments in 2007, compared to 561 in 2006 and 349 in 2005.

Under Chinese law, "endangering state security" crimes include prohibitions against subversion and "splittism" (including the incitement thereof), as well as espionage and "illegally providing state secrets to overseas entities." Basically replacing the category of "counterrevolution" following legal reforms in 1997, the ESS provisions are primarily aimed at suppressing political dissent in the name of protecting the "security and interests of the [Chinese] state." Other, non-ESS charges are also commonly brought against individuals who lead "rights defending" protests against injustice or participate in unauthorized religious groups.

Among those formally arrested on ESS charges in 2007 were Zhejiang political activist Lü Gengsong (sentenced in February 2008 to four years in prison for "inciting subversion"); Runggye Adrak, Adruk Lopoe, and two other Tibetans connected to an incident in August during which pro-independence slogans were shouted, and Yang Chunlin, a farmer from Heilongjiang currently awaiting sentencing for leading protesters in a demand for "human rights, not the Olympics." (The case of activist Hu Jia, whose trial for "inciting subversion" is scheduled to open on March 18 in Beijing, is not counted under the 2007 statistics because he was not formally arrested until January 2008.)

"These numbers remind us that in spite of all of the information that comes out of China about the government's crackdown on political dissent," said Rosenzweig, "for the most part the arrests are taking place out of the public view. Even after all of our research, it turns out we still only know the names of two or three percent of those being arrested."

Winter 2008 Issue of Dialogue Newsletter Published

The Winter 2008 issue of Dui Hua's newsletter, Dialogue, is now available. The lead article examines human rights territory—the defense of environmental rights—that will only grow in importance as China tackles ecological problems that bear serious legal ramifications. Coverage of Dui Hua’s program trip to China offers close-up accounts of staff presentations to officials and scholars. The foundation hopes such activities will lead to a further opening of channels for exchange on legal and criminal justice issues with Chinese partners.

This Dialogue discusses the release of the last individual known to Dui Hua who was imprisoned for non-violent political acts during the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989. More research findings touch on an increase in state security arrests and a lost appeal to overturn convictions handed down in 2007 after a “mass incident” in southern China.

The current issue also runs down Dui Hua's busy close to 2007, with, among other news, the “Making a Difference” feature on Executive Director John Kamm on NBC Nightly News and the foundation’s co-sponsorship of a seminar by a Swedish ambassador.

You can read the entire content of the Dialogue newsletter as DIALOGUE.online, an online resource only available via www.duihua.org. Please subscribe if you wish to receive a free copy of the printed Dialogue newsletter.

John Kamm Speaks at Stanford Law School

On March 3, Executive Director John Kamm spoke about business and human rights in China to students in Professor Jonathan Greenberg's International Negotiation course at Stanford Law School.

Dui Hua Web Site Adds Chinese Content, Selected Features Section

Chinese-language web pages and a new Selected Features section have been added to the Dui Hua web site, upgrades that follow the October 2007 launch of a vastly revamped www.duihua.org.

Site visitors can now learn about Dui Hua’s mission, history, programs, and activities in Chinese. The recently translated content is intended as yet another resource from Dui Hua for those who monitor human rights in China. 现在，您可以通过中文介绍来了解「对话」的使命，历史，工作项目了。「对话」最近刚刚完成了新网站的中文翻译工作，为关注中国人权的人士提供了新的资源。

Selected Features, which appears at the bottom of the home page, is a convenient space bringing together prominent work and media coverage of the foundation, including Dui Hua's work on the Yahoo! Internet subversion cases and John Kamm's feature on the "Making a Difference" series on NBC Nightly News from December 2007.

Happy New Year From The Dui Hua Foundation!

The Dui Hua Foundation wishes everyone a Happy Chinese New Year of the Rat! We also extend our thoughts to individuals imprisoned in China for political and religious offenses, and we hope for their good health, humanitarian treatment, and early reunion with their families and friends.

John Kamm Gives Talk at the University of California Hastings College of the Law

On February 4, Executive Director John Kamm gave a presentation about the background and work of The Dui Hua Foundation to a group of law students at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.