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Gallery: Chinese Police Deny Requests for Lawyer Visits With Detainees

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Gallery: Chinese Police Deny Requests for Lawyer Visits With Detainees

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Chinese authorities’ refusal to allow lawyers to meet with their detained clients has become a worsening problem in China. Such a restriction not only violates international human rights norms, but also China’s own laws that stipulate detainees are permitted to see a lawyer within 48 hours of a request. Police often cite Article 37 (3) of the China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), which allows authorities to deny a lawyer’s visit if a case involves “endangering state security,” in particular when human rights defenders have been detained. This pretext is often used to block lawyer visits in cases where detainees are accused of “political” crimes, such as “inciting subversion of state power” or “separatism.” Police have claimed that visitations (either by lawyers or family members) may “obstruct investigation” or lead to “leaking of state secrets.” However, police have also turned to citing such rationale in cases where detainees are held for “creating a disturbance” or other crimes that do not appear to involve any “state security” concerns.

Besides being deprived of lawyers’ visits, many detainees in “politically sensitive” cases can be subjected to prolonged detentions beyond legally permitted periods of time, and often without any involvement of the judiciary. Such detentions are often secretive, including when individuals are held under “residential surveillance” in police-designated locations. This has become increasingly prevalent, such as during a crackdown against human rights lawyers that began in July 2015. According to Chinese law, this type of “residential surveillance” can last for up to six months, essentially constituting a legal form of “enforced disappearance.”

The gallery below includes Chinese police documents denying lawyer visits with their clients, all citing “political” reasons.

Chinese authorities’ refusal to allow lawyers to meet with their detained clients has become a worsening problem in China. Such a restriction not only violates international human rights norms, but also China’s own laws that stipulate detainees are permitted to see a lawyer within 48 hours of a request. Police often cite Article 37 (3) of the China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), which allows authorities to deny a lawyer’s visit if a case involves “endangering state security,” in particular when human rights defenders have been detained. This pretext is often used to block lawyer visits in cases where detainees are accused of “political” crimes, such as “inciting subversion of state power” or “separatism.” Police have claimed that visitations (either by lawyers or family members) may “obstruct investigation” or lead to “leaking of state secrets.” However, police have also turned to citing such rationale in cases where detainees are held for “creating a disturbance” or other crimes that do not appear to involve any “state security” concerns.

Besides being deprived of lawyers’ visits, many detainees in “politically sensitive” cases can be subjected to prolonged detentions beyond legally permitted periods of time, and often without any involvement of the judiciary. Such detentions are often secretive, including when individuals are held under “residential surveillance” in police-designated locations. This has become increasingly prevalent, such as during a crackdown against human rights lawyers that began in July 2015. According to Chinese law, this type of “residential surveillance” can last for up to six months, essentially constituting a legal form of “enforced disappearance.”

The gallery below includes Chinese police documents denying lawyer visits with their clients, all citing “political” reasons.

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Gallery: Chinese Police Deny Requests for Lawyer Visits With Detainees

  1. 1. Imprisoned activist Liu Ping (刘萍) was denied a lawyer’s visit in May of 2013, with police claiming the meeting would “obstruct investigation” or “may leak state secrets.”
  2. 2. Human rights lawyer Tang Jingling (唐荆陵) was not allowed a lawyer’s visit in August 2014 because he had been charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” According to a police notice, concerns over “obstructing investigation” and “leaking state secrets” are cited as the reasons for denying the visit.
  3. 3. Human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang (王全 璋) has been detained in a secret location since July 2015, when he was seized in a crackdown against rights defense lawyers. Wang’s attorney was denied a visit with him on September 2, 2015. A police notice stated the denial was because his case involves “endangering state security.”
  4. 4. Three days after he disappeared, human rights lawyer Xie Yang (谢阳) was denied a lawyer's visit on July 14, 2015, because he has been detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.”
  5. 5. On August 26, 2015, after more than one month of disappearance, the status of activist Bao Longjun (包龙军) was only confirmed from a notice of a denied lawyers’ visit, which stated that Bao was detained on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.”
  6. 6. After multiple failed attempts to visit activist and legal assistant Liu Sixin (刘 四新), his lawyer finally obtained an official police notice denying visitation on September 18, 2015, citing “endangering state security” as the reason.
  7. 7. Activist Wu Gan (吴淦) was arrested in July 2015 on charges of “inciting subversion” and “creating a disturbance,” and denied a visit with his lawyer in October 2015.
  8. 8. Human rights lawyer Zhang Kai (张凯) and his assistant Liu Peng (刘鹏) were secretly detained in late August 2015. Both were then denied a lawyer’s visit on September 2, 2015.

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