Hong Kong Democratic Party's Albert Ho (center) wears mock handcuffs as he and legislator Leung Kwok-hung (top center), attend a protest in Hong Kong on July 12 after at least 100 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists were detained or questioned. AFP/ ANTHONY WALLACE
In a ratcheted up attack on its critics, China's Communist government has detained, “disappeared” or interrogated more than 100 human rights lawyers, their staff and rights activists since July 10.
Dubbed “Black Friday” for Chinese human rights lawyers, or “weiquan” lawyers, the crackdown began with Beijing lawyer Wang Yu being forcibly taken from her home before dawn on July 10.
Twenty-three other detained lawyers were from Beijing with the remainder from 18 provinces across China.
The sweep signals a further intensification of a campaign against government critics that has included activist, academics, internal party critics and media members since Xi Jinping rose to head the Communist Party in November 2012.
“The scale of this apparently deliberate and concerted maneuver by the Chinese authorities has been unprecedented in the recent history of the country,” a statement from the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group said.
Or Yan-yan, project officer of the Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, said “the incident was a gross violation of human rights that goes contrary to the rule of law of Chinese President Xi Jinping.”
“Xi is appreciated for fighting corruption but this does not help build transparency and progress in the whole political system,” she told ucanews.com.
From the list of those arrested, Or said “many are known for sacrificing their own safety to work for the vulnerable and those who suffered from rights abuses. So I cannot believe they are working for money as claimed by the authorities.”
“Even if the government thinks they have motives or intentions, it should not use illegal and repressive methods to crackdown on them,” she said.
A statement from China's Ministry of Public Security claimed the detainees were suspected of illegally organizing paid protests, hyping public sentiment and fabricating rumors on the Internet to mount pressure on court decisions in high-profile human rights protection cases.
Of the 106 affected lawyers and activists, seven were prosecuted or placed under house arrest, 17 disappeared and 82 were released after a brief detention or summoned for interrogation as of July 12.
The authorities also raided and searched three law firms.
Lawyer Zhang Kai posted a brief note on a Christian Wechat group on July 11, which said “last night, a dozen security officers broke into my residence in Wenzhou at 2 a.m. and took me and my two assistants away. I have safely returned but was told to cancel a lecture talk tonight.”
Zhang, a Protestant, is helping the Protestant community to sue the authorities in Zhejiang province over the removal of Church crosses in Wenzhou.
The removals have caused anguish among Christians, including Catholics across the province for the past two years.
Patrick Poon, an Amnesty International researcher on China, criticized the government’s attempt to discredit the lawyers for allegedly disrupting social order.
“It means that [Xi's government ] ruling the country according to ‘the rule of law’ is empty talk,” he said.
“Now that lawyers are not protected when practicing their work, how to rule the country according to the law? Not to mention rule of law,” Poon said.
The crackdown is mainly related to the Qing’an shooting case while others are being targeted for showing solidarity with Wang Yu, Poon told ucanews.com.
The Qing’an incident refers to the death of Xu Chunhe on May 2. Xu was shot dead by a policeman at Qing'an County Railway Station in Heilongjiang province after he allegedly attacked the officer several times and received multiple warnings.
The incident sparked heated discussion on the Internet with many claiming the officer was ordered to shoot because Xu was a petitioner.
Wang meanwhile was ejected from a Hebei court for defending Falun Gong practitioners on July 2. More than 200 activists and lawyers voiced support for Wang.
Falun Gong was banned as an “evil cult” by former president Jiang Zemin in 1999.
Its practitioners are forced to abandon their faith or face persecution, with some detained without trial, thrown into mental hospitals or allegedly had their organs forcibly removed for the monetary gain of officials.
Poon believes the recent crackdown is not directly related to religious cases.
“[It] shows human rights lawyers are a targeted group to suppress. The massive arrest list demonstrates the authorities cannot tolerate lawyers helping vulnerable groups through legal means,” he said.