Officials have shut down a legal aid and research centre founded by pioneering Chinese lawyers, increasing fears of a crackdown on those who take sensitive cases.
Authorities have also revoked the licences of more than 50 lawyers, many known for tackling human rights issues.
About 20 officials from Beijing’s civil affairs bureau arrived at the Gongmeng (Open Constitution Initiative) offices on Friday, confiscating computers and other equipment and questioning staff about their work.
Lawyers from the centre have acted in numerous high-profile cases, most recently representing parents whose children were taken ill due to milk tainted with melamine. It issued a report criticising the government’s handling of unrest across the Tibetan plateau last year and has helped petitioners, relocated families and other disadvantaged groups.
Its closure came two days after the Beijing tax bureau fined Gongmeng 1,4-million yuan, saying it had not paid its taxes.
Xu Zhiyong, one of its founders, said officials told them the centre was not registered as an NGO. He said it was operating legally as a charitable body under the Gongmeng company. ”Gongmeng had to be registered as a company because when we went to register as an NGO, the civil affairs bureau didn’t allow us to do it,” he said.
Xu said there had been a small delay in paying taxes, but they had paid the full amount and yet the heaviest fine was levied. ”There is a reason they gave us a big fine and shut us down. It is because we have offended certain ‘black’ [shady] powers,” he said. ”We will continue our work and will act according to our consciences.”
Another of the founders, Teng Biao, wrote in a SMS: ”Suppressing civil society in this way is illegal and stupid. Maybe it is the dark before the dawn? Anyhow, our ideals and actions in pursuit of freedom won’t change.”
Neither the tax bureau nor the civil affairs bureau responded to faxed questions regarding the shutdown.
The Associated Press reported on Friday that authorities had cancelled the licences of 53 Beijing-based lawyers, effectively banning them from working. It cited a notice on the Beijing justice bureau’s website, which said the lawyers had been penalised because they did not pass an assessment by their firms or failed to register with the bureau.
Li Heping said he had not been notified personally but had been told he was disbarred. When he previously asked why his licence renewal was delayed, officials said it was because he had been involved in sensitive cases.
”What have we done that failed to meet their standards? They don’t give any details,” he said. ”What happened is not totally unexpected. In China, any strange or ridiculous thing can happen.”
Human rights groups responded angrily to both developments.
”The shutdown of the Gongmeng law research centre sends a strong signal that the government will continue to tighten control over civil society in every respect — to sweep up, so to speak — in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of the US-based organisation Human Rights in China.
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, warned: ”The attack on OCI [Gongmeng] marks a new low in the Chinese government’s campaign against human rights defenders. This is precisely the kind of organisation whose work the government should value, as it helps ease grievances and minimise unrest.” – guardian.co.uk