Read this article in:
9 January, 2001Labour rights lawyer, Xu Jian, sentenced to four years in prison for giving legal advice and assistance to workers.
CHINA: The general secretary of the International Metalworkers' Federation, Marcello Malentacchi, has written to both the president and prime minister of the People's Republic of China in protest at the government's abuse of human and trade union rights in the case of the labour rights lawyer, Xu Jian. Malentacchi has requested all charges against Xu Jian be dropped and that he be immediately released from prison.
Xu, who was formerly employed at the Yunhao Inner Mongolia Legal Company in Baotou City, was arrested in 1999 and charged with "incitement to subvert state power." On July 18, 2000, he was sentenced by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Baotou City Intermediate People's Court to a four-year prison term, his so-called "crime" being his attempts at independent workers' organising.
With the current high levels of unemployment in China and convinced that workers should independently defend their rights and livelihood through legal channels, Xu Jian provided them with legal counselling as well as assistance in filing labour dispute cases for arbitration and litigation. The bulk of his caseload was taken up with laid off workers seeking redress from two giant employers, the state-owned Neimenggu No. 2 Machinery Main Factory which had a workforce of 20,000, and Baotou Steel Company which had a workforce of 100,000. He distributed leaflets on the legal rights of workers facing factory closure and layoffs and on China's labour law, including the stipulations on remuneration, working hours and overtime pay, their right to elect shop-level union officials, and the jurisdiction of the workers' congress in state enterprises.
Despite the strictly legal basis of Xu's work, the court rejected his defence: that his activities did not constitute a danger to the state. Instead, the court deemed that Xu Jian's open and legal activities were a danger to national security. The verdict holds that the judgement was made "in order to protect national security and uphold the people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist system," although no evidence was produced to substantiate this accusation.
The arrest and sentencing of Xu Jian is in violation of China's own laws and regulations and a violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 (Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining). He is being held in Area Two of Chifeng Prison, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, and is suffering from hepatitis contracted after he was incarcerated. His condition is critical.
Xu, who was formerly employed at the Yunhao Inner Mongolia Legal Company in Baotou City, was arrested in 1999 and charged with "incitement to subvert state power." On July 18, 2000, he was sentenced by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Baotou City Intermediate People's Court to a four-year prison term, his so-called "crime" being his attempts at independent workers' organising.
With the current high levels of unemployment in China and convinced that workers should independently defend their rights and livelihood through legal channels, Xu Jian provided them with legal counselling as well as assistance in filing labour dispute cases for arbitration and litigation. The bulk of his caseload was taken up with laid off workers seeking redress from two giant employers, the state-owned Neimenggu No. 2 Machinery Main Factory which had a workforce of 20,000, and Baotou Steel Company which had a workforce of 100,000. He distributed leaflets on the legal rights of workers facing factory closure and layoffs and on China's labour law, including the stipulations on remuneration, working hours and overtime pay, their right to elect shop-level union officials, and the jurisdiction of the workers' congress in state enterprises.
Despite the strictly legal basis of Xu's work, the court rejected his defence: that his activities did not constitute a danger to the state. Instead, the court deemed that Xu Jian's open and legal activities were a danger to national security. The verdict holds that the judgement was made "in order to protect national security and uphold the people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist system," although no evidence was produced to substantiate this accusation.
The arrest and sentencing of Xu Jian is in violation of China's own laws and regulations and a violation of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 (Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining). He is being held in Area Two of Chifeng Prison, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, and is suffering from hepatitis contracted after he was incarcerated. His condition is critical.