Dui Hua News

Dui Hua Launches New Website as Need for China Dialogue Grows

2012-01-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (January 12, 2012) — Dui Hua, a nonprofit organization with 13 years of experience promoting respect for human rights in China, today announces the launch of its new website, www.duihua.org, to better communicate its ongoing and expanded mission. The need for dialogue and accessible information is crucial, as there are now more people incarcerated in China for political reasons than at any time since 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Articles on China’s criminal justice system and Dui Hua’s work advancing the rights of at-risk detainees are now featured on a dynamic homepage. A more intuitive menu organizes content on Dui Hua’s four areas of focus—political and religious prisoners, juvenile justice, women in prison, and criminal justice; five-pronged, dialogic approach; and history, from its founding by businessman-cum-activist John Kamm in 1999.

For research professionals, officials, diplomats, and others with a scholarly interest, the website’s Research Resources page provides links and information on Dui Hua publications, databases, and official testimonies and statements. For media professionals, the Press page offers a complete archive of Dui Hua press statements and selected media coverage in a variety of formats.

Fostering the dialogue with Dui Hua’s friends and supporters, the new website also provides a list of ways to Get Involved. Job openings, internship and volunteer opportunities, and events are featured. Direct paths to making online donations and information on other ways to contribute to Dui Hua’s work are available on the Give page.

"Transparency and access are important to our advocacy work, and they should be equally important to our website," says John Kamm, founder and executive director of Dui Hua. "With this new web launch, Dui Hua hopes to make its mission and efforts clear to help advance informed, mutually respectful human rights dialogue with China."

Dui Hua will launch its new website on Thursday, January 12, 2012, US Pacific Standard Time. During the update links may still be directed to old website content. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Dui Hua Estimates 4,000 Executions in China, Welcomes Open Dialogue

2011-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (December 12, 2011) — On December 1 through 3, 2011, a seminar on the death penalty was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in eastern China. The seminar was jointly organized by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assisted by the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The seminar is believed to be the first time a meeting focusing on the death penalty was organized in a UN forum in China. More than 30 Chinese scholars and officials whose work involves implementing and monitoring policies on the death penalty joined a group of three western experts and two UN officials at the seminar.

Topics addressed were wide-ranging. Chinese participants reiterated China’s long-term goal of abolishing the death penalty, but there was disagreement over when abolition would occur. There was support for further reducing the scope of the death penalty by removing more offenses from the list of capital crimes and lowering the upper age limit for eligibility. (The National People’s Congress set the age limit to 75 and removed capital punishment as a penalty for 13 crimes in February 2011.) At present 55 offenses in China’s Criminal Law are punishable by death. Participants agreed that more work needs to be done to rigorously define “the most serious crimes”—the only offenses for which the death penalty can be imposed under Article 6.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory—and reduce the possibility of wrongful conviction.

There was widespread agreement that greater transparency is needed, but none of the Chinese participants—several of whom are believed to have access to statistics on death verdicts and executions—disclosed the number of executions being carried out in China. Nevertheless a key statistic was revealed: since the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) regained the power to conduct final review over death sentences on January 1, 2007, the number of executions has dropped by approximately 50 percent. It was also revealed that the SPC currently overturns about 10 percent of the death sentences it reviews each year (see seminar participant William Schabas’ blog for his account of the seminar and these statistics, as well as his suggestion that China abstain instead of voting “no” when the UN holds its next vote on a global death penalty moratorium).

On the eve of the seminar, a participant, Professor Liu Renwen, told an audience in Suzhou that in the four years since the SPC recommenced death-penalty review, the number of executions had declined by more than 50 percent. According to a 2006 media report, Professor Liu estimated that there were around 8,000 executions a year at that time. Dui Hua, a nonprofit humanitarian organization which regularly publishes its own estimates, also put the number at 8,000 in 2006. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, reported in 2008 that an “international human rights organization” estimated that as of 2007, China executed at least 8,000 people a year. Using this data and assuming a 50 percent drop, Dui Hua now estimates that approximately 4,000 executions take place in China every year.

“China has made dramatic progress in reducing the number of executions, but the number is still far too high and declining far too slowly,” said John Kamm, executive director of Dui Hua. “At the present rate of decline it will take many years for the government to reach its goal of abolishing the death penalty. The seminar jointly held by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a step towards greater openness and transparency. When officials and the public know the full extent of the death penalty in China, abolition will be achieved more quickly.”

Video: Kamm Testifies before House Committee on Foreign Affairs

2011-11-16T10:16:00.001-08:00

On November 3, 2011, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of Representatives held its first-ever hearing on the annual report of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. Dui Hua Executive Director John Kamm was among the handful of panelists testifying before the committee. Watch him explain how political prisoners face separate and unequal treatment in China's criminal justice system.

Testimony can be downloaded here (PDF).

Kamm Speaks at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

2011-11-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

On November 15, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will give a seminar on “Recent Developments in Human Rights in China and the draft Criminal Procedure Law” at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights in Oslo, Norway. The seminar, open to all, will be held at Auditorium 1, 1st Floor, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Cort Adelers Gate 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. In August, China posted draft amendments to its Criminal Procedure Law (CPL). The draft has stimulated much debate, both inside China and by international commentators and organizations. Kamm will examine the draft CPL in the context of other human rights developments in China—including positive trends (e.g., development of a juvenile justice system), negative trends (e.g., enhanced police powers to impose residential surveillance), and those that cut both ways (e.g., increased use of bail as a control mechanism). Please register by sending an email to yi.wang@nchr.uio.no. Simple lunch, coffee and tea will be served during the break.

Kamm Speaks at US-Asia Law Institute

2011-11-08T14:45:00.000-08:00

On November 10, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will be the principal guest at the weekly US-Asia Law Institute (USALI) lunch, an informal event closed to a group of about twenty people from the USALI group.

Kamm Speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations

2011-11-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

On November 11, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will speak at a closed roundtable discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He will be introduced by Professor Jerome A. Cohen, senior fellow for Asia Studies at CFR and an eminent expert in Chinese law. Kamm’s talk, “At Risk: Treatment of Political Prisoners, Juvenile Offenders and Women Prisoners in China's Justice System,” will focus on the treatment of prisoners convicted of endangering state security, while also addressing the expanded areas of work in Dui Hua’s new mission.

Kamm Speaks at the Paul M. Montrone Seminar Series on Ethics at Columbia Business School

2011-11-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

On November 10, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will speak at The Paul M. Montrone Seminar Series on Ethics, hosted by the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. The event, closed to around twenty students of the school, will be in the form of a roundtable dinner discussion, allowing for a deeper level of conversation.

Kamm Speaks at Westport Public Library

2011-11-07T10:39:00.001-08:00

On November 8, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will speak at the Westport Public Library, Connecticut, on “US-China Relations in an Election Year.” 2012 will be a year of leadership transition—including the US presidential, Senate, and House elections, and China’s change in top Communist Party leadership. During this time of uncertainty, America’s focus on China’s trade, security, and human rights practices is bound to increase.

Kamm Speaks at Timothy Gelatt Dialogue at New York University School of Law

2011-11-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

On November 7, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will take part in the Timothy A. Gelatt Dialogue, hosted by New York University School of Law’s US-Asia Law Institute. The event, open to the public, will run from 2:00 to 6:00p.m., with a reception following the dialogue. Professor Jerome A. Cohen, co-director of the US-Asia Law Institute and an eminent expert in Chinese law, will serve as moderator and commentator.

CPL Revision, Women Prisoners Featured in New Issue of Dialogue

2011-11-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

In the fall issue of Dialogue, Dui Hua looks at China’s draft amended Criminal Procedure Law and finds evidence of a dual-track justice system that singles out political prisoners for separate and unequal treatment. Also discussed are the links between the Bangkok Rules and Chinese regulations addressing the role of domestic violence in crimes committed by women, confession as an obstacle to parole in the US and China, and a look back at counterrevolutionary cases.

Dui Hua News highlights our expanded mission to meet the needs of more at-risk detainees. It also summarizes Executive Director John Kamm's earlier trip to China and previews his upcoming trip to the East Coast and Europe.

Kamm Speaks at Cornell in Washington

2011-11-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

On November 3, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will speak at Cornell in Washington to students of its China and Asia Pacific Studies class, taught by Professor Richard Bush, who is the Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at The Brookings Institution.

Kamm Testifies before House Committee on Foreign Affairs

2011-11-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

On November 3, 2011, Executive Director John Kamm will give testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. The open hearing, to be held at 10 a.m. in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building, will focus on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s 2011 Annual Report. Kamm will present information on China’s political prisoners, and speak about China’s dual-track justice system, which singles out political prisoners for separate and unequal treatment.

Dui Hua Hosts Annual Friends of Dui Hua Reception in Washington DC

2011-10-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

On November 1, 2011, Dui Hua is hosting its second annual Friends of Dui Hua reception in Washington DC. Many of Dui Hua’s close friends and supporters in the DC region have been invited to join the reception, hosted by Director Linda Ziglar, and converse with Executive Director John Kamm about Dui Hua’s expanded mission to meet the needs of more at-risk detainees. Leveraging thirteen years of experience in human rights work in China, Dui Hua will now assist youth and women offenders, as well as political and religious prisoners.

Dui Hua Partners Luncheon Introduces New Mission and Initiatives

2011-10-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

The Dui Hua Partners Luncheon was held on October 22, 2011 in San Francisco to provide an update on Dui Hua’s expanded mission to meet the needs of more at-risk detainees—youth and women offenders, as well as political and religious prisoners. In the area of juvenile justice, Dui Hua hopes to organize a third expert exchange with China’s Supreme People’s Court. The first two exchanges, held in 2008 and 2010, is already leading to reform of China’s juvenile justice system, resulting in rehabilitative measures that would put fewer juveniles in prison and facilitate their reentry into society. In September Executive Director John Kamm made his third trip to China this year and met with senior Chinese officials to discuss this and other programs.

The audience’s distinguished guests include Judge Susan Etezadi, Judge Elizabeth Lee, Chief Probation Officer Stuart Forest and Juvenile Program Mediation Manager David Cherniss from San Mateo, Judge Lillian Sing, Judge Julie Tang, Judge Samuel Feng, Judge Garrett Wong and Assistant Chief Probation Officer Allen Nance from San Francisco, Dean Frank Wu and Professor Carol Izumi from UC Hasting, and others devoted to the advancement of rights in China. Dui Hua is grateful for their participation and involvement.

Dui Hua Expands to Meet the Needs of More At-Risk Detainees

2011-10-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (October 24, 2011) – Dui Hua, a nonprofit organization with more than 12 years of experience promoting respect for human rights in China, is expanding its work to improve the treatment of juveniles and women in detention, whose populations are increasing dramatically in China and worldwide. The organization, with a new bilingual logo, will continue to promote clemency and better treatment for political and religious prisoners even as it widens its mandate to help more at-risk detainees.

Opening remarks at Dui Hua’s 2010 Juvenile Justice Expert
Exchange between China’s Supreme People’s Court and US
judges and practitioners

While their needs are very different, China’s political prisoners and its juvenile and women detainees face a common threat: vulnerability to discriminatory treatment. Broadening its work for at-risk detainees and deepening its research on criminal justice, Dui Hua intends to leverage its expertise to address changing prison populations. Recent initiatives show promising scope for development. In 2008, Dui Hua hosted the United States’ first juvenile justice delegation from China’s Supreme People’s Court. In 2010, Dui Hua continued the cooperation by sending a delegation of US judges and practitioners to China. The success of these endeavors can be seen in the draft revision of China’s Criminal Procedure Law, which introduces many rehabilitative concepts in a section dedicated exclusively to juveniles (for more information, read Dui Hua’s press statement). In 2011, Dui Hua put the spotlight on women detainees with publications examining the United Nation’s recently passed Bangkok Rules, the first internationally recognized minimum standards on the treatment of women in prison (read the article in Dialogue, Dui Hua’s quarterly newsletter), and the growing population of women in Chinese prisons (read the article in Dui Hua’s Human Rights Journal).

“Dui Hua started as a small organization with a big humanitarian mission. As the organization grows, the scope of its work needs to grow to ensure that more people benefit and that individuals vulnerable to systemic prejudice are heard,” said John Kamm, founder and executive director of Dui Hua.

The organization is also adopting a new mission statement that increases the emphasis on humanitarian treatment for at-risk detainees, while maintaining the importance of “dialogue,” which is the meaning of Dui Hua’s name in Mandarin Chinese (对话):

Dui Hua is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that brings clemency and better treatment to at-risk detainees through promotion of universally recognized human rights in well-informed, mutually respectful dialogue with China. Focusing on political and religious prisoners, juvenile justice, women in prison, and issues in criminal justice, our work rests on the premise that positive change is realized through constructive relationships and exchange.

Dui Hua will carry out its mission through advocacy, research, publications, community engagement, and a renewed focus on expert exchanges among criminal justice practitioners and scholars, China’s Supreme People’s Court, and US judges. This broadened approach and our key thematic areas will be reflected in a new Dui Hua website, to be launched later this year.As succinctly expressed in the organization’s new tagline, Dui Hua’s aim is: “Advancing rights through dialogue.”

About Dui Hua

“Dui Hua” (对话) means “dialogue” in Mandarin Chinese. Founded in April 1999 by former businessman John Kamm, Dui Hua is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that brings clemency and better treatment to at-risk detainees through promotion of universally recognized human rights in a well-informed, mutually respectful dialogue with China. As testament to its work, Dui Hua enjoys special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and is the only independent NGO focusing on human rights in China to have such status.

Dui Hua has established productive working relations with officials in China, the European Union, the United States, and other countries that conduct human rights exchanges or dialogues with China. Fueled by a growing database that now includes more than 25,000 prisoners, the organization pioneered the use of prisoner lists as a means to raise individual cases during diplomatic encounters. Prisoner lists have since been used by more than a dozen countries and organizations during human rights dialogues and consultations.

Dui Hua Hails Juvenile Justice Reforms in China’s Amended Criminal Procedure Law

2011-09-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (September 2, 2011) - Sweeping amendments to China’s Criminal Procedure Law have been opened for public comment by the National People’s Congress. Among the most significant of the proposed changes is the addition of a section on juvenile cases. (China defines juveniles as individuals between the ages of 14 and 18, exclusive.) Reflecting years of inquiry into both domestic experiments and international practice, the proposed amendments represent the biggest improvement in the treatment of juvenile offenders within China’s criminal justice system since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.

The following are the most significant developments (The text and Dui Hua’s complete translation of the juvenile cases section can be read here or downloaded here):

     1) Establishment of a mechanism to exempt certain juvenile criminal suspects from prosecution and incarceration. If implemented, this is likely to result in a sharp reduction of the number of juveniles in detention. At present more than 70 percent of juveniles detained by public security organs are eventually incarcerated in either juvenile work-study camps or juvenile prisons. The new mechanism, called “conditional non-prosecution,” is modeled after systems of restorative justice known in the West as “diversion.”

     2) Introduction of a national policy to seal the detention, arrest, and incarceration records of most juvenile offenders. At present, in all but a few locales, juvenile criminal records stay with individuals for life. Similar to US practice, the amended law provides for all records, with the exception of those for certain crimes, to be sealed after the completion of the probation period called for in conditional non-prosecution orders issued by the Procuratorate, provided that no new crimes are committed and the juvenile observes the conditions of non-prosecution;

     3) Greater use of behavioral and psychological assessments; and

    4) Improved protections for juvenile detainees facing interrogation and trial. These include provisions that adult representatives or relatives be present during interrogation and trial, that lawyers be appointed for defendants without defense counsel, that juveniles be detained and incarcerated in separate, non-adult facilities (current practice in prisons but less frequently observed in detention centers), and that female detainees be interrogated in the presence of female officers. The amended law retains the requirement that trials of juvenile suspects be closed to the public.

Spearheaded by the Supreme People’s Court Office of Juvenile Justice Reform and drawing on the experiences and recommendations of central law enforcement ministries, think-tanks, and local governments, the reforms introduced in the amended Criminal Procedure Law also reflect a robust program of international exchanges. Chinese officials working on juvenile justice reform have cooperated with such distinguished international experts as Dr. Jean Zermatten, chair of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and have mounted study tours of countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Of particular value have been exchanges with American juvenile judges and law enforcement practitioners including probation officers, public defenders, mediators, and detention officers. Dui Hua, with the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Hong Kong’s Fu Tak Iam Foundation, hosted a juvenile justice delegation from the Supreme People’s Court in October 2008 and sent a delegation to China, hosted by the Supreme People’s Court, in May 2010. American and Chinese judges and other experts visited each other’s courts and detention facilities, conducted mock trials, and engaged in wide-ranging discussions on virtually all of the improvements introduced in the amended Criminal Procedure Law.

“The value of dialogue between China and the West in the field of juvenile justice is readily apparent in the Criminal Procedure Law’s new section on the handling of juvenile cases,” noted John Kamm, executive director of Dui Hua. “Too often dialogue on human rights questions is a dialogue of the deaf, with both sides confronting each other from fixed positions. In contrast to productive exchanges on the rights of juveniles in the criminal justice system, these exercises in mutual recrimination have yielded little.”

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing, who led the 2010 delegation to China, remarked: “My colleagues and I are proud to have played a part in the introduction of significant reforms in the way juvenile suspects, defendants, and detainees are handled in China’s criminal justice system. Dui Hua and its partners look forward to continuing our cooperation with the Supreme People’s Court Office of Juvenile Justice Reform. We have much to learn from each other”

Summer 2011 Issue of Dialogue Published

2011-08-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Issue 44 of Dui Hua's quarterly newsletter examines mainstreaming in Western interactions with China, features juvenile-justice work in San Mateo County, highlights John Kamm's five-week tour of Europe and China, and lists new information on political and religious prisoners.

Support from individuals makes Dui Hua's work possible. If you believe in our mission, we hope you will assist our efforts by making a donation.

Joshua Rosenzweig to Step Down as Senior Manager for Research and Hong Kong Operations

2011-06-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Joshua Rosenzweig, who has been with The Dui Hua Foundation for nine years, has decided to step down as senior manager for research and Hong Kong operations to pursue a PhD in Chinese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After his last day of work on August 12, Mr. Rosenzweig will continue to contribute to Dui Hua’s publications and undertake other special projects under the direction of Dui Hua’s Executive Director John Kamm.

“Josh Rosenzweig has made a great contribution to Dui Hua in his nine years with us. His deep knowledge of the human rights situation in China, and his outstanding research and writing skills have played a big role in Dui Hua’s rise to the forefront of non-governmental organizations working on human rights in China,” said Mr. Kamm. “Although Josh will be leaving us as a full-time employee to pursue a demanding course of study at Chinese University, I and the Board of Directors are delighted that he will continue to contribute to Dui Hua’s work.”

Dui Hua’s Hong Kong Office, ably led by Mr. Rosenzweig for the past three years, plays an integral role in Dui Hua’s operations as the foundation's front-line presence for research and publications. The office will report to San Francisco-based Development and Program Manager Daisy Poon. She and Mr. Kamm, both with strong ties to Hong Kong, will continue to make frequent trips there. The Hong Kong office is also manned by Research and Administration Officer Luke Wong, who will assume greater responsibilities. Our Publication Officer Megan Ko will be relocated to the Hong Kong Office later this summer.

Spring 2011 Issue of Dialogue Published

2011-05-31T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Spring 2011 issue of Dialogue has been published.

This issue covers the recent US-China human rights dialogue, treatment of women in prison (an area that Dui Hua intends to increasingly focus on), and global views on China. The latest "Prisoner and Research Update" reports a sentence reduction for Xu Zerong, but a sentence upheld for Xue Feng; the update also focuses on the effect of China's recent criminal law amendments on sentence reductions, especially as they apply to individuals convicted of endangering state security. The "Dui Hua News" section highlights recent developments at Dui Hua, including John Kamm's speaking tours, Joshua Rosenzweig's participation in a Hong Kong conference, and a new addition to our dedicated team.

Support from individuals makes Dui Hua's work possible. If you believe in our mission, we hope you will assist our efforts by making a donation.

Dui Hua 2010 Annual Report Published

2011-05-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Annual Report (PDF) of The Dui Hua Foundation has been published. Last year was an eventful and challenging year for the foundation. All in all, we have maintained a productive dialogue with the Chinese government, and strengthened our ties with governments and NGOs who have an interest in human rights issues. Support from our many friends around the world have helped make possible a year of achievement.

We have tried to give a concise but comprehensive account of our activities and our vision in our annual report. We hope that it inspires you. As always, we welcome comments on our work.

Excerpts from the Annual Report

Letter from Executive Director

Every year, I travel tens of thousands of miles to speak to students, legislators, lawyers, and journalists across the United States, Europe, and Asia. While I am constantly engaging different audiences, I am frequently asked the same question: How is it that, at a time when bilateral human rights exchanges have become so difficult, the Chinese government continues to work with Dui Hua?

Programs and Activities

In 2010, Dui Hua continued its efforts to raise individual cases of concern directly with the Chinese government, and indirectly via the United Nations and governments that hold bilateral rights dialogues with China. In addition, we received an invitation to testify before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, sent a historic juvenile justice delegation to China, and increased UN engagement through our research and consultative status.

Attendees of the Sino-US Juvenile Justice System Symposium in Qingdao on May 12, 2010.

John Kamm to Speak at World Affairs Council, Marin Chapter

2011-05-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, May 18, Executive Director John Kamm will give a talk, US & China: A Complex and Critical Relationship, in Marin, California. The event is co-hosted by World Affairs Council, Marin Chapter and Dominican University of California. Kamm will speak on a broad range of issues in the US-China relationship, including trade and finance, the environment and climate change, national security and human rights. All told, American representatives conduct more than 60 dialogues, consultations and other exchanges with their Chinese counterparts each year. As China continues to hold more US debt than any other country, and our trade deficit with the country grows, its economic power looms as both a threat and an opportunity. US and Chinese leaders are now preparing for two major events in 2012: the transition from Party Secretary Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, who will visit the US later this year; and our presidential election campaign, in which relations with China could well be an important issue. A reception and dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 7:50 p.m. Tickets are available from the World Affairs Council website.

You can download event flyer here.

Joshua Rosenzweig to Speak at Criminal Justice Conference at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

2011-05-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Dui Hua Senior Manager Joshua Rosenzweig will participate in a conference on “Criminal Justice in China: Comparative Perspectives” from May 6 to May 8, 2011. The event will take place at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and is hosted by The Centre for Rights and Justice at the Faculty of Law. Distinguished panelists, drawn from Mainland China, Hong Kong and foreign countries, will discuss a wide range of topics covering various aspects of China’s criminal justice system.

Mr. Rosenzweig will join a panel discussion on the “Political Uses of the Criminal Justice System.” An abstract of his remarks, “Defining Space for Free Expression in China through Public Critique of Criminal Defamation Cases,” can be downloaded here (PDF) and here.

Chinese Court Grants Sentence Reduction to Hong Kong Academic, Release Slated for June 23

2011-04-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

According to informed sources in Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court has granted a five-month sentence reduction to Xu Zerong (徐泽荣), a Hong Kong resident and expert on contemporary Chinese military history imprisoned for more than 10 years on state secrets charges in connection with his academic research.

Xu, who also goes by the name David Tsui, obtained a master’s degree from Harvard University and a PhD from Oxford University in political science, and was a senior research fellow at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences in Guangzhou. He also headed an independent publishing company based in Hong Kong at the time of his detention on June 24, 2000.

An expert on China’s role in the Korean War, Xu was charged with collecting and photocopying books and other documents related to China’s military tactics during that conflict and providing copies of these documents to a South Korean scholar. Xu believed that the “internal” classification (内部) of these documents, which were published in the 1950s, had expired, and he argued that he had no reason to believe the documents were “state secrets.”

After Xu was detained, the Secrecy Commission Office of the People’s Liberation Army Guangzhou Military Region certified that in fact the materials Xu photocopied had never been declassified and were still classified as “top secret.” It was this certification that proved critical to convicting Xu of “illegally providing intelligence to foreign entities,” an offense falling under the category of “endangering state security” (ESS). He was also found guilty of “illegal business activity” for operating an unlicensed academic publishing company in Shenzhen. For these two crimes, Xu was given a combined sentence of 13 years by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court on December 20, 2001, with subsequent deprivation of political rights for three years. The sentence was upheld on appeal by the Guangdong Province High People’s Court at the end of 2002.

Initially imprisoned in Dongguan Prison, where Hong Kong residents convicted by Guangdong courts are usually incarcerated, in 2004 Xu was transferred to Guangzhou Prison, generally considered to be the province’s best prison. He has been treated for hypertension and diabetes, but his condition was not considered serious enough to warrant medical parole.

This is Xu’s third sentence reduction for good behavior. He previously received a nine-month reduction in September 2006 and a 10-month reduction in April 2008. Following this five-month reduction, Xu is due to be released on June 23, 2011, after having served 11 years of his original 13-year sentence.

Dui Hua has worked on Xu’s case for 10 years, together with foreign governments, faculty and alumni of Oxford and Harvard universities, and human rights groups who have also called for his release. His sentence reduction is the first known act of clemency for a political prisoner in China since April 2010, when David Dong Wei, an American citizen serving a 13-year sentence for espionage, was given an 18-month sentence reduction.

“Xu Zerong’s imminent release is a rare piece of good news,” said John Kamm, Dui Hua’s executive director. “He has received three sentence reductions in less than five years, which is quite unusual for a state-security prisoner. We hope that the same clemency shown to him might be extended to other prisoners as well.”

ESS crimes are the most serious political offenses in China’s Criminal Law, covering subversion, incitement of subversion, espionage and trafficking in state secrets, among others. Xu’s trial was one of 305 ESS cases concluded by China’s courts and one of only three ESS cases concluded by Guangdong courts in 2001.

John Kamm to Speak at Berkeley

2011-04-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, April 14, Executive Director John Kamm will be giving a talk, Recent Developments and Future Trends of Human Rights in China, at Delta Phi Epsilon, a co-ed professional foreign service fraternity, at University of California, Berkeley. The talk will address the crackdown on political rights in China over the last six months, starting with the government’s response to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo and continuing with the response to calls for a “Jasmine Revolution.” Reasons for the harsh responses will be explored, opening the way to a discussion of likely developments in human rights as China enters a period of political transition and America readies itself for a presidential campaign in which China’s human rights will likely be an issue. The talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. at 6 Evans Hall, at the Berkeley campus.

John Kamm to Speak in Oregon and Washington

2011-03-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

From Monday April 4 to Thursday April 7, Dui Hua Executive Director John Kamm will be making a speaking tour through Oregon and Washington.

On Monday April 4, Kamm will be giving a talk, Ethical Challenges of Doing Business in China, at Washington State University Vancouver (WSU Vancouver) in Vancouver, Washington. While China is the world’s fastest growing major economy, ethical challenges abound. Kamm will address three of the most challenging areas confronting foreign businesses in China: commercial information as state secrets, corruption and censorship. He will illustrate each area with a case study. The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at the Administration building, room 129, at the WSU Vancouver campus.

On Wednesday April 6, Kamm will be speaking on Human Rights: What Role in US-China Relations? in Portland. The event will be co-hosted by the Northwest China Council and Portland State University’s Institute for Asian Studies, Oregon. The GOP’s victory in the midterm elections virtually guarantees that Congress, notably the House of Representatives, will pay more attention to human rights in China in the run-up to the 2012 elections. There has been a recent sharp increase in the number of arrests for endangering state security and a corresponding drop in the number of early releases of political prisoners. Not all is bad news however. Human rights dialogues and innovative approaches to human rights issues where the two countries share much common ground -- issues like juvenile justice and women in prison -- raise the hope that the countries can in fact cooperate on human rights. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Willamette Falls Ballroom, University Place Hotel & Conference Center, 310 SW Lincoln St., Portland.

On Thursday, Kamm will be giving a talk, Human Rights in China: Steps Forward, Steps Backward, at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Washington. For more than 20 years, Kamm has conducted a dialogue on human rights with the Chinese government, first as a business person and later as founder and executive director of The Dui Hua Foundation. Kamm will share his personal journey from the world of business to the world of activism. He will discuss pressing human rights issues in China, including the recent crackdown on protest and dissent, increased censorship and the slow pace of political reform. The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at Academic Instructional West, Rm 210 (AW 210), at the WWU campus.