Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba. (Photo : Getty Images)
International organizations of judges, senior lawyers and jurists wrote anew to the Guardian to provide updates on how China has made little effort or has exerted efforts to aggravate the situation of lawyers who have been detained by the government.
China has been admonished to honor its international commitments in upholding the principles embraced in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In mid-2015, China began its clampdown on human rights and criminal defense lawyers. Two of reputed disappearances were those of Bao Longjun and Wang Yu along with their 16-year-old son.
Li Chunfu, a lawyer who has disappeared for 500 days, has appeared but with symptoms indicating physical suffering and serious mental disorder.
In their letter, they cried foul over China's treatment of lawyers during interrogation and detention, citing intimidation, forced disappearances and wrongful convictions in criminal cases.
China's role in disappearances, arrests and ill treatment of those who have been arrested runs contrary to its statement that "China is a country ruled by law."
They also criticize President Xi Jinping's advocacy as quoted that "every individual party organization and party member must abide by the country's constitution and laws and must not take the party's leadership as a privilege to violate them."
However, China's crackdown on those human rights and defense lawyers signifies that the government is going farther away from such commitment, as reported.
The letter was sent simultaneous with the re-live "Day of the Endangered Lawyer" and after Xie Yang, a human rights lawyer, gave the details of his plight at the hands of Chinese authorities, specifying beating, compulsion, death threats and deprivation of medical care, sleep, food and drink.
"We'll torture you to death just like an ant," an inquisitor allegedly said as claimed by Xie, who was among the 250 or so lawyers, activists and legal assistants who were arrested during a nationwide clampdown since July 2015.
China reportedly replaced the counsels as chosen by those who are detained by counsels selected by the authorities. A few of them were given wrong medications or medications despite not having an illness.
