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2007 Programs and
Activities
Dui Hua’s research and advocacy work to aid
Chinese political and religious detainees progressed in 2007 with the
nurturing of human rights exchanges with foreign governments and the
development of new channels for dialogue. Important programs in the
United States and China on the two countries’ legal and penal systems
laid a promising foundation for further cooperation between Dui Hua and
its Chinese partners. Despite the ongoing suspension of the official
US-China dialogue on human rights, Dui Hua was able to advance the goals
of its own dialogue—greater transparency and accountability in China’s
criminal justice system and humanitarian treatment of Chinese prisoners.
Holding “special consultative status” with the United Nations Economic
and Social Council, Dui Hua worked closely in 2007 with United Nations
(UN) officials on issues surrounding human rights in China. Throughout
the year, Dui Hua enhanced its close ties with countries and bodies that
maintain bilateral human rights dialogues or exchanges with China,
including the United States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland as
well as the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU). These
relationships took on increased significance with the cancellation of
the EU-China legal seminar scheduled for May and other challenges to
conducting a direct and open dialogue on human rights.
During 2007, Executive Director John Kamm was joined abroad by Dui Hua
directors and staff for a range of meetings and programs. Dui Hua
visited several European cities on quarterly trips that included
sessions in Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. In Europe,
Kamm met with parliamentarians, diplomats, and non-governmental (NGO)
representatives involved with human rights dialogues as well as
journalists and scholars focused on human rights issues.
In Beijing, Kamm met with officials from China’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (MFA), Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and Supreme People’s
Procuratorate (SPP) as well as representatives of foreign embassies
involved in human rights exchanges with the Chinese government. By the
end of 2007, there were indications that Dui Hua’s relations with
Chinese ministries appeared set to expand. In November, Dui Hua
completed
a
program trip to Hubei Province hosted by the SPP and local
procuratorates (PDF). Shortly thereafter, plans were made for Dui Hua to
arrange a juvenile justice study tour in the United States for an SPC
group in 2008.
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