Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
Forty-ninth session
Agenda item 9
The administration of justice and the human rights of detainees
Delivered by Elizabetta Zamparutti
Geneva, 22 August 1997
Mr. Chairman,
on April 3rd of this year, the 53rd United Nations Commission on Human Rights approved a resolution which recognized for the first time the question of capital punishment as a matter pertaining to human right.
The international community, the NGOs and the member statesshould now dedicate particular attention also to those situations in which the death penalty is applied in the absence of minimum legal standard and procedural rights.
Within this context, the Transnational Radical Party and its campaign for the abolition of capital punishment, "Hands Off Cain," remind us that emergency situations often concur with the violation of the human rights and the equitable application of law, thus robbing those who are convicted of crimes and sentenced to death of the guarantees of protection established in the resolution of the ECOSOC 1984/50 of May 25th, 1984.
The Transnational Radical Party, in its "Hands Off Cain" campaign, intends to call attention to another worrisome phenomenon: the application of the death penalty to minors. About 20 states do not prohibit recourse to the death penalty in relation to minors despite the fact that for the number of ratification to the treaties (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the Rights of Child and the American Human Rights Convention) that forbid similar actions it can be said that an international norm exists that disallows their practice.
The fact remains that reservation of similar content, especially regarding those proposed by the United States to the International Pact on civil and political rights, should be considered inadmissible.
For this reason, the TRP through its "Hands Off Cain" campaign asks the Sub-Commission to consider nations that execute minors as acting beyond the sphere of international rights.
The Transnational Radical Party and its partner organization Human Rights in China (HRIC) would also like to draw the attention of the Sub-Commission to the lack of respect for the human rights of detainees in the People's Republic of China. Violations stem notably from the lack of independence of the judiciary, the discrepancy between the Chinese legal apparatus and the enforcement there of, the non-respect of the right of appeal and the common use of Reeducation Through Labor, an administrative sentence imposed by the police without any judicial proceedings. Torture and mistreatments are a routine practice in all Chinese detention centers, and prison regulations regarding detainees' rights, such as visiting rights, are often breached.
Wei Jingsheng, China's most prominent dissident and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has been repeatedly beaten by his fellow prison inmates, six common criminals who keep watch on him 24hours a day. The prisoner who initiated the most serious beatings last June was publicly commended and awarded a sentence reduction, while Wei Jingsheng was accused of having violated prison regulations.
TRP and HRIC are extremely concerned at reports that WeiJingsheng's health is further deteriorating as a consequence of the beatings. He suffers from a heart condition, severe high blood pressure and arthritis, and is no longer able to hold his head erect because of damage to his cervical vertebrae. However, prison officials have consistently denied his request for appropriate medical care. Denial of medical care is considered a form of torture by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture.
Wei Jingsheng came to symbolize the fate of numerous pro-democracy, religious and labor activists who dared to exercise free speech and were punished for this in spite of the guarantees set forth in the Chinese constitution.
TRP and HRIC are extremely concerned about the continued use of Reeducation Through Labor, a form of detention that was judged "inherently arbitrary" by the Working Group on arbitrary detention. TRP and HRIC commend the Working Group on its work relating to China in the past few years. However we deeply regret that, due to its impending visit to China, the Group decided to suspend the examination of communications regarding Chinese detainees.
In May 1997, Reeducation Trough Labor inmates Zhou Guoqiang, Gao Feng and Liu Nianchun have had their sentences extended by over 200 days for allegedly "refusing to reform themselves." To protest the authorities' decision, which was taken outside of the judiciary, Liu Nianchun started a hunger strike. The authorities responded by beating him up with electric batons and locking him up in a dark, narrow cell where he gets no water. His wife's appeal to the National People's Congress that her husband be granted medical treatment was ignored. Liu Nianchun, 43, has a tumor in his jaw and suffers from a blocked intestine, rectal bleeding, stomach pain and swollen lymph nodes. Liu Nianchun was ordered to serve a three-year Reeducation Through Labor sentence in July 1996. A labor rights and democracy activist, he helped draft the 1993 "Peace Charter" and played an active role in the1995 petition movement, for which he spent one year in incommunicado detention.
To conclude, TRP and HRIC urge the Chinese government to respect the judgement of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention about the "arbitrary" nature of Reeducation ThroughLabor. TRP and HRIC urge that all the detainees who experience health problems be immediately granted appropriate medical care. Finally, TRP and HRIC urge the government of China to release immediately and unconditionally Wei Jingsheng and all those who have been given prison sentences and administrative terms for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of opinion, expression and association.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
