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Beijing: The United Nations joined the world human rights chief in condemning a Chinese court’s decision to impose long prison sentences on two prominent human rights lawyers, saying he was “very concerned” by the sentences against the two activists.
A panoramic view of Tiananmen Square during the National People’s Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2023. (AFP)
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On Monday, Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who have criticized the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping and advocated for better civil rights in China, were sentenced to long prison sentences — 14 and 12 years respectively — in what was seen as Beijing’s latest crackdown on dissent.
“I am deeply concerned that two prominent human rights defenders in China – Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong – have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms that are inconsistent with international human rights law standards,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. ’ was released by his office.
“Human rights law requires that people not be prosecuted or otherwise punished for criticizing government policy. It also requires that fair trial and due process rights be respected and that any allegations of abuse be properly investigated,” Turk said in a statement.
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The UN official pledged to “…follow up these cases with the authorities”.
“It is important to take steps to ensure that other human rights defenders are not targeted for exercising their freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”
On Monday, a court in eastern China’s Shandong province sentenced Xu and Ding to 14 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for “subversion of state power”.
China’s courts are not independent or accountable to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
“Their trial took place behind closed doors and was riddled with procedural issues and allegations of abuse,” Human Rights Watch, the U.S.-based rights group, said in a statement.
“The brutal and absurd convictions and sentences of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi demonstrate President Xi Jinping’s unabashed hostility to peace activism,” said Wang Yaqiu, a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
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Amnesty International, a human rights organization, called the sentence “disgraceful” and “a flagrant violation of their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. They should be released immediately and unconditionally.”
Xu and Ding are members of the New Citizens Movement, a loose group of activists Xu founded in 2012 to promote government transparency.
In early February 2020, Xu criticized Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests and demanded his resignation.
“On February 15, 2020, Xu was detained at the home of an activist and was subsequently placed under solitary surveillance at a designated location until January 15, 2021,” the Amnesty International statement said.
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