Press Release from Nyst Lawyers
April 12, 2004
Celebrated UK Human Rights lawyer, author and playwright, Mr Geoffrey
Robertson QC, has joined forces with high profile Australian lawyer, author and
filmmaker, Mr Chris Nyst, and a group of Australian university students, to
compile a 500 page complaint to the Human Rights Commission detailing instances
of shocking abuse by Chinese prison guards and government officials perpetrated
on an Australian citizen.
A 36 page statement included in the complaint of Cui Ying Zhang tells how on
four separate occasions in 1999 and 2000 Chinese authorities:-
- arrested her without lawful grounds;
- administratively detained her without lawful grounds;
- held her incommunicado for prolonged periods;
- denied her any opportunity to test the legality of her detention; and
- subjected her to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to
suppress her freedoms of expression, religion and belief.
On the last occasion Ms Zhang claims that for a period of eight months
between March and November of 2000, she was held in several Chinese prisons
after she refused to renounce her beliefs in Falun Gong, the physical and
spiritual practice for which she alleges she was imprisoned. In her statement
she details how she was repeatedly beaten during lengthy interrogations, was
shackled, kicked and punched, stripped naked and was deprived of sleep, food and
water for periods of up to four days.
In one Chinese detention centre she was held in the male section of the
prison along with 12 other female prisoners in a cell with a glass window in the
door.
“Every time a male prisoner or guard walked past (every ten minutes or
so) they could see straight into my cell. Both the shower and the toilet were in
full view of this window. I remained in this cell in fear of the male prisoners
and guards for about a month”, Ms Zhang said.
“The male prisoners were encouraged by the guards to watch us shower and
go to the toilet. Some male prisoners would masturbate while they watched
us”.
Despite the horrific conditions within which she was forced to live, Ms Zhang
continued to practice her Falun Gong exercises.
“Whenever a guard caught me practising my exercises they would push me
to the ground and kick me with their boots all over my body. They would curse
me, pull my hair, splash water on me and use hard objects to hit me. My body was
bruised for the entire eight months of my detention. Although I was exhausted, I
felt too much pain to fall asleep at night.”
In a further effort to stop Ms Zhang practising her exercises whilst
incarcerated she alleges that the guards shackled and handcuffed her to the bars
on the cell window.
For the last three months of her detention Ms Zhang was forced to labour for
sixteen hours a day, seven days a week. She tells of how she was subjected to
repeated beatings by prison guards and lived in constant fear for her life.
According to Falun Gong practitioners, Ms Zhang is only one of thousands of
Falun Gong practitioners who have been imprisoned by Chinese authorities without
charge since the movement was renounced […] by the Chinese government in 1999.
At the end of the year 2003, Amnesty International released a report that
claimed, according to overseas sources, the death toll of those detained in
connection with their practice of Falun Gong has now risen to over 700 people,
mostly as a result of torture and ill-treatment.
Speaking from Geneva today, Mr Nyst said that the world community could no
longer accept China’s flagrant disregard of an individual’s basic human
rights.
“In many ways, China is the new frontier for the western business world
and a land of great opportunity”, Mr Nyst said.
“In my own country of Australia, our government is involved in
negotiations for major export deals with China, and large scale private
commercial interests within Australia are vying for major contracts including
pay television rights in China. These matters should not be permitted to
override Australia’s, or any other civilised countries’ commitment to
preventing human rights violations”.
Mr Nyst applauded the involvement of the young Australian law students who
helped research and compile the complaint. The fledgling group are part of a new
Australian University project, founded by Mr Nyst, in an effort to heighten
youth awareness of international human rights violations.
Posting date: 14/April/2004
Original article date: 13/April/2004
Category: Media Report
