The letter was published just two days before the anniversary of the “709 crackdown”, which refers to China’s detention and arrest of human rights lawyers for “subversion of state power” on July 9 and July 10 previous year.
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“Mass arrests, forced confessions, and secret detentions are Beijing’s answer to rights lawyers who have been working to protect the rights of others in China”, said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.
Concern for Ms Zhao’s welfare rose in January when she was formally arrested on charges of state subversion.
Saturday marked the first anniversary of a crackdown in China on human rights lawyers and activists in which more than 200 were detained or questioned.
Countries and worldwide bodies, including the European Union, Germany, the United States, Canada, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have called for the release of the lawyers, as have major bar associations around the world.
After a year-long detention, Zhao Wei, a 24-year-old assistant to a prominent lawyer, was released Thursday after she had confessed her crimes and had shown a good attitude, according to police and her lawyer. However, when lawyer Ren Quanping, Zhao’s defense lawyer, visited the facility, he was informed that no person named Zhao Wei was detained there.
“We are figuring out what to do next”, he said.
Six rights activists including Yin Xu’an, Wang Fang and Li Yanjun are being held on public order charges like “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”, and “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”, according to the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG).
But some said the campaign had left some colleagues too afraid to take on rights cases. “I didn’t know what I have done is a betrayal to my own vision and has caused harm to my country that I love dearly”, Zhao was quoted as saying on state media. “One should not make moral judgments about someone who has not completely obtained freedom”, she said.
Shortly after the crackdown began, media outlets controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party wrote articles calling the lawyers “a major criminal gang” that had deliberately tried to whip up public disturbances in the name of human rights work. All had supported victims of human rights abuses in China and represented the victims in the legal process.
So far, no response has been forthcoming from any official channel.
“I, too, hope that China can truly honor its Constitution and law enforcement officers abide by our country’s laws”. If convicted on the charge, she could face life imprisonment.
Rights groups say the administration of President Xi Jinping has launched a concerted attack on free expression and civil society since he came to power. The authorities have used every repressive and dirty trick in the book to crush this respected group of lawyers, who they apparently see as a threat to the power of the Communist Party.
Meanwhile, London-based Amnesty International also called for the lawyers’ immediate release.
“We urge China to live up to its worldwide human rights obligations, not least respect for the right to freedom of expression, and its stated commitment to build the rule of law”, the embassy said in a statement.
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“It is in this light that we wish to remind you of your continuous pledges, Mr. President, to uphold the rule of law in China”, the letter said.
