China issues highly critical human rights report on US -- citing police violence, mass spying, torture

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and AssociationFreedom of AssemblyWhile the law provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, the government severely restricted this right. The law stipulates that such activities may not challenge “party leadership” or infringe upon the “interests of the state.” Protests against the political system or national leaders were prohibited. Authorities denied permits and quickly suppressed demonstrations involving expression of dissenting political views.

Citizens throughout the country continued to gather publicly to protest evictions, relocations, and compensation, often resulting in conflict with authorities or other charges (see section 1.f.).

Media and police estimated tens of thousands participated in prodemocracy protests in September and October in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. The protests were largely peaceful, although a limited number of violent clashes broke out. The NGO Chinese Human Rights Defenders reported there were 104 cases of detention in Mainland China, and of those 31 remained in detention for demonstrating their support for the Hong Kong protests.

All concerts, sports events, exercise classes, or other meetings of more than 200 persons require approval from public security authorities. Although peaceful protests are legal, police rarely granted approval. Despite restrictions there were many demonstrations, but those with broad political or social themes were broken up quickly, sometimes with excessive force. According to an international NGO, a former leading member of the CCP’s Politics and Law Commission stated that the country experienced 30,000 to 50,000 mass incidents every year. According to a 2012 Blue Book published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, such mass incidents numbered anywhere from the tens of thousands to more than 100,000 each year. As in past years, the vast majority of demonstrations concerned land disputes; housing problems; industrial, environmental, and labor matters; government corruption; taxation; and other economic and social concerns. Others were provoked by accidents or were related to personal petitions, administrative litigation, and other legal processes.

The law protects an individual’s ability to petition the government, but persons petitioning the government faced restrictions on their rights to assemble and raise grievances (see section 1.d.). Most petitions addressed grievances about land, housing, entitlements, the environment, or corruption. Most petitioners sought to present their complaints at national and provincial “letters and calls” offices.

The central government’s Bureau of Letters and Calls, which handles petitions filed in Beijing, announced new regulations that took effect on May 1. They require local governments to resolve complaints within 60 days and stipulate that central authorities will no longer accept petitions that have already been fielded by local or provincial governments. The regulations also encourage that all litigation-related petitions be handled at the local level through local or provincial courts.

The central government reiterated prohibitions against blocking or restricting “normal petitioning” and against unlawfully detaining petitioners; however, retaliation against petitioners continued. This was partly due to incentives the central government provided to local officials to prevent petitioners from raising complaints to higher levels. Incentives included provincial cadre evaluations based in part on the number of petitions from their provinces. This initiative aimed to encourage local and provincial officials to resolve legitimate complaints but also resulted in local officials sending security personnel to Beijing and forcibly returning the petitioners to their home provinces to prevent them from filing complaints against local officials with the central government. Such detentions often went unrecorded. Rules issued by the State Council mandate sending officials from Beijing to the provinces to resolve petition problems locally, thereby reducing the number of petitioners entering Beijing. The rules also mandate a 60-day response time for petitions and provide for a single appeal in each case.

Petitioners faced harassment, illegal detention, and even more severe forms of punishment when attempting to travel to Beijing to present their grievances.

On February 15, state media reported the Henan provincial government ordered the closure of illegal detention centers in the province. An official from the provincial petition bureau later acknowledged that some local authorities, including public security and justice departments, still detained petitioners in their homes, workplaces, and “discipline centers.”

Freedom of Association

/r/worldnews Thread Parent Link - china.org.cn