Five workers from the Stella shoe factory in Guangdong province were sentenced in October 2004 with a further five in November for their part in mass protests over low wages, excessive working hours and poor working conditions at two different factories.
At the same time news emerged of the release of Chen Gang a worker sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in organizing a strike at the Xiangtan Electrical Factory in Hunan, in support of the pro-democracy protests in 1989 as well as news of the planned release of the long term detained activist Liu Jingsheng, one of the co-organizers of the CFTU Preparatory Committee in 1989, who was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with Hu Shigen.
The ICFTU letter welcomes these releases but asks that the continued arrest and sentencing of workers involved in protests such as the ones at Stella be ended immediately, and that other labour activists such as Hu Shigen who remain incarcerated for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of association, be released unconditionally. The letter also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of those imprisoned with Hu Shigen and Chen Gang, such as Kang Yuchun, Peng Shi, Liu Zhihua and Liu Jian.
Most of those imprisoned in the early 1990’s with Liu Jingsheng and others were sentenced to harsh prison terms for crimes such as “counter-revolution” or “hooliganism”, neither of which exist in present Chinese criminal law.
Since the letter was written it has been confirmed that Liu Jingsheng was released on 27 November after some 12 years in prison.
According to one media report Liu Jingsheng told news reporters; “I am an ordinary citizen, I have no ambitions but I am very concerned about the lot of the Chinese people."
Liu Jingsheng is reportedly suffering from stomach problems and high blood pressure and has reportedly lost almost all his teeth. He was involved in both the Democracy Wall movement in 1979, alongside Wei Jingsheng, and the 1989 demonstrations and is an active and outspoken advocate for Chinese workers' rights.
Mr. Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
C/o Ministry of Justice
1 Huajiadija, Chaoyangqu, Bejingshi
People’s Republic of China
By fax: + 86 10 647 298 63
By e-mail: minister@legalinfo.gov.cn
TUR-IHLO/DM/fw 24 November 2004
Dear Mister President,
Continuing ill-treatment of labour activists
You will certainly recall that the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which represents 148 million unionised workers through its 233 national affiliated union centres in 152 countries and territories, including China’s Hong Kong SAR, has written to you on two occasions, the most recent being 4 November 2004, to denounce the detention and sentencing of workers involved in labour protests in Guangdong, Shaanxi and Jiangsu provinces. It is with great regret that I find myself having to write to you again to protest at the continued sentencing of workers from the Stella plant in Dongguan, Guangdong province, who participated in mass protests involving some 5,000 workers over unpaid and missing wages, excessive overtime, lack of rest days and poor meals provided by the factory, in April 2004.
According to our information, a further five workers from a Stella shoe factory in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, have now been sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in the April protests at two Stella factories. Two of the five convicted workers were reportedly below the legal minimum working age at the time they were hired by the company. The sentences are: Liu Jufei, 29, Ding Kui, 19, and Liu Rongneng, 19, each sentenced to three years imprisonment; and Geng Chunfei, and Liu Haiyang, both only 16, each sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for three years.
The sentencing of these five workers now brings up to ten the number of workers sentenced from the two Stella Factories – the five other workers from the Xing Ang Shoe Factory who were sentenced in October include Wan Jiafeng, sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment; Chen Nanliu, Ma Changwei and Qu Pengtao, sentenced to three years; and an under-aged female worker, Chen Suo, who was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for three years. Dozens of other workers were summarily dismissed for their involvement.
The Court proceedings failed to make any clear link between the defendants and specific acts of damage to property or other criminal acts, nor was it proved that they were the instigators of the protests. Instead, it appears that the ten sentenced workers have been chosen as scapegoats and convicted to lengthy prison terms as a warning to other workers. Numerous witness statements described the protest as a spontaneous action resulting from anger over insufficient pay and illegal working conditions.
I must call on you, Mr. President, to use your authority to order the immediate release of the ten imprisoned workers from Stella International factories in Dongguan.
At the same time I am also forced to write to you about the case of Hu Shigen, a labour activist involved in organising the China Free Trade Union (CFTU) Preparatory Committee in 1989, who is reported to be in critical health after some 13 years in prison. Repeated requests have been made for medical parole and proper medical care while in prison, but these appear to have been ignored. Hu Shigen is currently detained in Beijing No. 2 Prison and is reported to be suffering from chronic migraines, intestinal illness, back pain, malnutrition and possible paralysis. According to the “Measures for Carrying Out Medical Parole for Prisoners”, “Prisoners who have contracted serious and chronic illnesses that have not been successfully treated after a long period of time . . . and who have served at least one-third of their fixed term sentence” are eligible for medical parole. We hereby urge you to release Hu Shigen immediately in order for him to receive appropriate medical attention as a step towards his unconditional release from prison.
This news and the news of the further sentencing for Stella workers comes in the face of recent good news concerning the release in April of Chen Gang, a worker sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in organizing a strike at the Xiangtan Electrical Factory in Hunan, in support of the pro-democracy protests in 1989. We are also pleased to hear reports of the planned early release of Liu Jingsheng, one of the co-organizers of the CFTU Preparatory Committee in 1989, who was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with Hu Shigen.
We welcome the early release of Chen Gang and the possible release of Liu Jingsheng, but we must insist that the continued arrest and sentencing of workers involved in protests such as the ones at Stella be ended immediately, and that other labour activists such as Hu Shigen who remain incarcerated for their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of association, be released unconditionally.
We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of those imprisoned with Hu Shigen and Chen Gang, such as Kang Yuchun, Peng Shi, Liu Zhihua and Liu Jian, of whom little is known. Most of those imprisoned at this time were sentenced to harsh prison terms for crimes such as “counter-revolution” or “hooliganism”, neither of which exist in present Chinese criminal law.
As a member of the ILO, China is bound to uphold its basic principles, including the right to freedom of association. Therefore, I strongly urge you, Mr. President, that in addition to the release of imprisoned activists, you also call an independent inquiry into all aspects of the Stella workers’ protests, including illegal working conditions. As no reliable evidence has been presented to justify the five workers’ convictions, we further urge you to order their immediate release.
Yours sincerely,
General Secretary
