The Chinese Communist Regime continues to interfere with the judiciary’s independence whenever criminal complaints are filed against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. After grievances were filed in the form of complaints to the United Nations, the UN has expressed deep concern. Several UN officials have written about such complaints and accusations against the CCP for their interference with the rule of law in China and have also jointly questioned the CCP about its specific interference with the judiciary and legal system in regards to the cases in which Falun Gong practitioners are on trial.

The UN Committee Against Torture considered China’s report on its adherence to the UN Convention against Torture at its 844th and 846th meetings, held on November 7, and 10, 2008. On November 21, 2008, the UN Committee Against Torture released its concluding observations on China’s report on its adherence to the UN Convention against Torture, stating, “The State party (the CCP) should abolish any legal provisions which undermine the independence of lawyers and should investigate all attacks against lawyers and petitioners, with a view to prosecution as appropriate.” “The State party should take immediate action to investigate acts of intimidation and other ways of impeding the independent work of lawyers.” The released report was filed and sent to all State parties to the Torture Convention. Manfred Nowak, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, stressed in his report submitted to U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) on March 10, 2006, “Although access to a lawyer is guaranteed by Chinese legislation, this safeguard is seriously limited.” He said that China’s Criminal Law is like the “sword of Damocles.” “This ‘sword of Damocles, as it is known, can be invoked to harass, intimidate and sanction lawyers.”

“Finally, witnesses rarely appear in court, and the prosecution generally reads out their statements, depriving the accused of the opportunity to cross-examine them, as per the 1996 CPL revision.” In the report he also pointed out the situation of the courts in China, “Rules of evidence are rudimentary, and illegally obtained evidence is often admitted in practice.” (See http://www.falunhr.org/reports/UNCHR/E-CN.4-2006-6-Add.6/(2006)NowakChinaMission_CH.pdf)

Since the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, many lawyers have been threatened and harassed due to their defence of Falun Gong practitioners. In August 2004, “Human Rights of Falun Gong” presented lawyer Wei Jun’s case to the United Nations. Mr. Wei Jun, a lawyer from the Baicheng Law Firm, defended Dafa practitioner Ms. Liang Changying at the Second Criminal Court of Youjiang District Court in April 2003. On the afternoon of that same day, the authorities started monitoring Attorney Wei's home phone, cell phone and office phone. After a few days, the police went to the Judiciary Bureau, asked the bureau to suspend Wei’s license to practice law, and sentenced him to three years of forced labor.

After attorney Wei’s case was submitted to the UN, it drew much attention to the state of affairs in China’s legal system. On August 27, 2004, Mr, Leandro Despouy, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, directly questioned the Chinese Communist regime about the case. The inquiry was included in Mr. Despouy’s annual report submitted to UNCHR in 2005.

“On 15 October 2004 the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal along with the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture, the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health , the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences, to express their concern about reports of systematic repression against the Falun Gong and other “heretical organizations” (“ xiejiao zuzhi”).”

Caption: Mr, Leandro Despouy, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers (left 2) is making a report on the Human Right Conference in Geneva in 2005. Falun Gong representatives attended the conference and met relevant special rapporteurs.

The report also pointed out, “According to the information received, those persecuted have been unfairly tried and many have received lengthy prison sentences. In this respect it is reported that on 5 November 1999, a notice issued by the Supreme People’s Court instructed all local courts to do their “'political duty”' in bringing to trial and “severely” punishing those charged with “heretical organization crimes,” “particularly Falun Gong,” and to handle these cases “under the leadership of the Party committees”.

The above seven UN Special Rapporteurs jointly inquired about the CCP’s interference in the independence of the judiciary and focused on the persecution of Falun Gong. UN Special Rapporteurs keep inquiring about the issue of the independence of judiciary in China. After visiting China in 2004, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention pointed out in their report submitted to UNCHR, “[China’s] Article 306 of the Criminal Law makes ‘a defender or agent ad litem’ who destroys or fabricates evidence, or forces or incites a witness to change his or her testimony or to commit perjury punishable by a sentence of up to seven years of imprisonment…It appears that these provisions have occasionally been used to intimidate, harass, or sanction lawyers who made use of their freedom of expression in order to defend their clients before the courts.”

As more human rights organizations continue to expose the Chinese government’s obstruction of the judiciary, there is a growing voice in response coming from the international community. After visiting China, Mr. Nowak stated in the news conference held in Beijing on December 2, 2005, that what he recognized deeply in his visit to China is “China's Widespread Use of Torture.” He also exposed the issue of the judiciary in China’s legal system and expressed his concerns.

After the press conference, many news media agencies in Beijing quickly published the results of the investigation in different languages. Newspapers in different languages in major cities worldwide also reproduced the report. Radio and TV stations in many countries broadcast Nowak's speech and broadcast the pictures of torture and of Chinese labor camps. Thus the issue of the CCP’s continued interference with the judiciary system in China’s courts became widely known and is now seen as common knowledge in the public at large.

Prepared by The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group