7/12/03 Agence Fr.-Presse
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Saturday, July 12, 2003

UN urges China to release prominent dissident after "arbitrary" sentencing.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has declared China's arrest and jailing of prominent overseas Chinese dissident Wang Bingzhang a violation of international law, documents seen Saturday said.

The commission urged Beijing to bring the case in line with international human rights standards and questioned the Chinese government's lack of evidence in sentencing Wang to life imprisonment for terrorism and espionage.

"The detention of Wang Bingzhang is arbitrary, being in contravention of articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," the ruling, signed Friday by Miguel de la Lama, head of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, said.

"The working group requests the (Chinese) government to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Wang Bingzhang and bring it into conformity with the standards and principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," it said.

Copies of the ruling issued in Geneva on Friday, were faxed to AFP's Beijing bureau Saturday.

Wang was kidnapped in Vietnam near the northern border with China in June 2002 with two other overseas-based Chinese dissidents, Yue Wu and Zhang Qi.

He was taken to China, where he was tried by a court in southern Shenzhen city, Guangdong province in a day-long closed trial in January 2003 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

"While the court charged Wang Bingzhang with the most serious of offences, including terrorism and espionage, it refused to release any evidence of his wrongdoing," the UN ruling said.

The sudden disappearance of the three outraged China's dissident community, which immediately accused Chinese secret police of kidnapping the three on foreign soil, a charge China has refused to comment on.

It was only in December 2002 that Beijing authorities admitted the three were in police custody. Yue and Zhang were later freed and allowed to return to their overseas homes.

"During Wang's initial six-month detention, during Yue's six-month detention and Zhang's nine-month detention, they were never charged with any crime nor were a warrant issued for their arrest and detention," the ruling said.

"No judicial hearings were held on the legality of their detention and no judicial order of detention was ever issued."

China's foreign ministry was not immediately available to comment on the ruling.

The Washington-based Free China Movement brought the cases before the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in April 2003 and litigated the case before the working group.

"We are gratified that the United Nations has declared the unjust and morally reprehensible sentence of life imprisonment handed down by Beijing to Dr. Wang Bingzhang for his so-called 'terrorist activities' to be a flagrant violation of international law," Timothy Cooper of the Free China Movement said.

"At last, China's sinister action has been exposed to the world for what it was and what it is - a serious and continuing violation of international law, unacceptable by any standard of human decency."

Cooper urged the international community to "redouble its diplomatic efforts" to help free Wang from Chinese custody.

sai/bjn.